Woohoo sexual mechanics, normalized same-sex relationships, and expansion packs with vampires and spellcasting occult content. The Sims 4 became free-to-play in 2022 making it more accessible to younger players. Caution — parental account management and awareness of expansion packs essential.
The Sims (EA, 2000-present) is the landmark life simulation franchise where players create and control virtual people ("Sims") through their daily lives — building homes, developing careers, forming relationships, and pursuing goals. The franchise has sold over 200 million copies and spawned multiple sequels. The latest mainline entry, The Sims 4, is free-to-play with extensive paid expansion content.
The Sims' appeal is genuine: it provides a creative sandbox for building homes, telling stories, and exploring social dynamics in a low-stakes environment. Many players use it primarily as an architecture and interior design game; others focus on family storytelling; others play as a character creator and filmmaker.
The Sims is not a children's game despite its cartoonish aesthetic. Sims can have sexual relationships (depicted abstractly through "WooHoo" mechanics behind closed doors), same-sex relationships are fully supported and normalized, and gameplay can involve cheating, lying, and other morally problematic behaviors. The Sims 4 in particular has embraced LGBT themes throughout its expansion packs and character customization. For Christian families: The Sims is appropriate for adults and teenagers with parental awareness of the content. Not appropriate as an unsupervised game for children under 12. Available on EA's website and major gaming platforms. See our Christian Video Game Reviews hub.
Children's media shapes formation in ways adult media does not — children are not yet equipped with the critical distance to evaluate what they're consuming. The question is not just "is this harmful?" but "what is this teaching?" GodlyScore evaluates children's content with heightened sensitivity to family depiction, LGBT normalization, spiritual content, and whether the overall tone encourages virtue or passivity. Score: 45/100 Caution.
See our Christian TV Reviews hub for similar content evaluated with the same framework. Common Sense Media provides detailed age-by-age content guidance.