Life simulation game

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Life simulation games form a subgenre of simulation video games in which the player lives or controls one or more virtual characters (human or otherwise). Such a game can revolve around "individuals and relationships, or it could be a simulation of an ecosystem".^[1] Other terms include artificial life game^[1] and simulated life game (SLG).

Definition

Life simulation games are about "maintaining and growing a virtual life",

Digital pets are a subgenre of artificial life game where players train, maintain, and watch a simulated animal.[1] The pets can be simulations of real animals, or fantasy pets.^[2] Unlike genetic artificial life games that focus on larger populations of organisms, digital pet games usually allow players to interact with one or a few pets at once.^[1] In contrast to artificial life games, digital pets do not usually reproduce or die,^[2] although there are exceptions where pets will run away if ignored or mistreated.^[1]

Digital pets are usually designed to be cute, and act out a range of emotions and behaviors that tell the player how to influence the pet.^[1] "This quality of rich intelligence distinguishes artificial pets from other kinds of A-life, in which individuals have simple rules but the population as a whole develops emergent properties".^[2] Players are able to tease, groom, and teach the pet, and so they must be able to learn behaviors from the player.^[1] However, these behaviors are typically "preprogrammed and are not truly emergent".^[2]

Game designers try to sustain the player's attention by mixing common behaviors with more rare ones, so the player is motivated to keep playing until they see them.^[1] Otherwise, these games often lack a victory condition or challenge, and can be classified as software toys.^[2] Games such as Nintendogs have been implemented for the Nintendo DS, although there are also simple electronic games that have been implemented on a keychain, such as Tamagotchi.^[1] There are also numerous online pet-raising/virtual pet games, such as Neopets.^{[citation needed]} Other pet life simulation games include online show dog raising games, and show horse raising games.

Biological simulations

Some artificial life games allow players to manage a population of creatures over several generations, and try to achieve goals for the population as a whole.

Social simulation games explore social interactions between multiple artificial lives. In some cases, the player may simply be an observer with no direct control but can influence the environment of the artificial lives, such as by creating and furnishing a house and creating situations for those characters to interact. These games are part of a subcategory of artificial life game sometimes called a virtual dollhouse.^[1] The Sims is the most notable example of this type of game, and was itself influenced by the 1985 game Little Computer People.^[11][12]

In other games, the player takes a more active role as one character living alongside other artificial ones, engaging in similar life pursuits as to make money or sustain their character while engaging in social interactions with the other characters, typically seeking to gain beneficial relations with all such characters. Several of these fall into the subgenre of farming simulations, where the player-character runs a farm in a rural setting, growing crops and raising livestock to make money to keep their farm going while working to improve relations with the local townspeople.^[13] Such games include the Story of Seasons and the Animal Crossing series, and Stardew Valley.^[14] Dating sims are related to this type of game, but generally where the play-character is seeking a romantic relationship with one or more computer-controlled characters, with such titles often aimed at more mature audiences compared to the typical social simulation game. Dating sims may be more driven by visual novel gameplay elements than typical simulation gameplay.^[15]

Examples

This section may contain excessive or irrelevant examples. Please help improve the article by adding descriptive text and removing less pertinent examples. (March 2021)

Biological simulations

• Creatura – virtual evolution vivarium, with focus on scientifically accurate genetics and enclosed ecosystem simulation, made by Koksny
• Creatures
  series, by Creature Labs/Gameware Development
• Lion
  – the sequel to Wolf; simulates the life of a lion
• Odell Lake and Odell Down Under, simple educational games about aquatic life and food chains
• Rain World – simulates a post-human, post-industrial ecosystem^[16]
• Saurian – simulates the life of non-avian dinosaurs in the Hell Creek formation
• Science Horizons Survival – an early game which also teaches about food chains.
• Shelter – simulates the life of a badger family, made by Might and Delight
• Shelter 2 – simulates the life of a lynx family, made by Might and Delight
• SimAnt – a Maxis game that allows the player to assume control of an ant colony
• SimEarth – another Maxis game that deals with terraforming and guiding a planet through its geological and biological development.
• SimLife – another Maxis game which experiments with genetics and ecosystems.
• SimPark
• Seaman – a virtual pet game that simulates the raising of a talking fish that develops into a frog-like creature.
• Star Wars: The Gungan Frontier simulates a planet which the player populates with creatures that compete for limited supplies of food.^[17]
• Wolf
  – simulates the life of a wolf, made by Sanctuary Woods.
• WolfQuest

Loosely biology- and evolution-inspired games

Some games take biology or evolution as a theme, rather than attempting to simulate.

• Ancestors: The Humankind Odyssey (2019, Panache Digital Games) – a survival game, in which the player guides a clan of primates in their open – but hostile – environment, while overseeing their evolutionary course.
• Creatures (artificial life program)
  (1998–2002, Creature Labs) – an early 'artificial-life' program, the Creatures franchise features creatures called 'Norns', each of which has its own 'digital DNA' that later generations can inherit. The Norns are semi-autonomous, but must be trained to interact with their environment to avoid starvation.
• Cubivore: Survival of the Fittest (2002, Nintendo) – an action adventure.
• Eco
  (1988, Ocean)
• E.V.O.: Search for Eden (1992, Enix) – an arcade game which portrays an evolving organism across different stages. "Evolutionary points" are earned by eating other creatures and are used to evolve.
• flOw
  (2006, Jenova Chen) – a Flash game similar to E.V.O.
• L.O.L.: Lack of Love (2000, ASCII Entertainment) – a role playing game; the player assumes the role of a creature which gradually changes its body and improves its abilities, but this is done by means of more varied achievements, often involving social interactions with other creatures.
• Seaman (2000, Vivarium) – a virtual pet video game for the Sega Dreamcast.
• Seventh Cross Evolution
  (1999, UFO Interactive Games) – an action game.
• Spore (2008, Electronic Arts) – a multi-genre God game. The first and second stages are biology-themed, although the second stage also has more role playing game elements.

Social simulations

• computer game released by Activision
  in 1986
• GiFTPiA.^[18]
• Avakin Life – a multi-user virtual community by Lockwood Publishing
• Castaway Paradise
• Eccky – by Media Republic.
• Façade
  – An artificial-intelligence-based interactive story
• The
  Story of Seasons series – by Marvelous Entertainment
  , farming simulator, role-playing game, and dating sim rolled into one.
• The Idolmaster – an idol raising sim by Namco.
• Jones in the Fast Lane – by Sierra Entertainment is one of the earliest life simulators.
• Kudos series – by Positech Games.
• Little Computer People – by David Crane, published by Activision in (1985)
• My Life My Love: Boku no Yume: Watashi no Negai – a life simulation for the Japanese Famicom
  system
• The Princess Maker series – by Gainax, a raising sim which the player have to raise an adoptive daughter until she reaches adulthood. The final result varies from a ruling queen to an ordinary housewife, or even a prostitute if the player looks after her poorly
• Real Lives – an educational life simulator by Educational Simulations where the player is randomly "born" somewhere in the world and often must deal with third-world difficulties such as disease, malnutrition, and civil war.
• Roots of Pacha – life simulator in prehistoric setting in development by Soda Den.
• NEC PC-9801 computer that same year.^[6]
• PC (2000), and sequels, The Sims 2 (2004), The Sims 3 (2009) and The Sims 4
  (2014).
• Tomodachi Life – by Nintendo
• True Love – (1995), a Japanese erotic
  dating sim and general life simulation game where the player must manage the player's daily activities, such as studying, exercise, and employment.
• The Virtual Villagers series – by Last Day of Work.
• GiFTPiA
• New York Nights: Success in the City – a social simulation created and designed by Gameloft released for mobile phones.
• Second Life – a multi-user virtual community without a specific objective or traditional gaming mechanisms, created and designed by Linden Lab in 2003.
• Shenmue – an open world video game series that simulates life in Japan and China in the year 1986.^[19]
• Wall Street Kid – a life simulation about balancing love with high finance
• Paralives – an upcoming indie life simulation game for the PC
• Life by You – an upcoming life simulation game, developed by Paradox Tectonic and published by Paradox Interactive.