ErotiSim: Sex and The Sims

It was the phone calls that made me certain. The Sims was going to cross over, one way or another. I worked in a cramped games magazine office for just shy of

The broad appeal of The Sims has always been fascinating, but it’s always had a lurid undertone as well. This 2007 article by Kieron Gillen unpacks that, examining how The Sims functions as a particularly effective safe space to explore, experiment with, and work through interpersonal issues, especially in the fraught areas of romance and sexuality. (It’s also one of a small handful of classic articles that demonstrated to me that it is interesting and worthwhile to write about games and which inspired me to start Pixel Poppers.)