I’ve never been a big fan of Will Wright’s games — when I was a kid, I foundSimCityandSimEarthtoo deep and confusing and, as a teenager, was quickly bored byThe Sims. A games desgin student at Anglia Ruskin University namedRobin Burkshaw, however, has me singing a different tune. It seems that with a little bit of wit and originality, you can create, or at least catalyze, a really interesting narrative out ofThe Sims 3: he created two homeless sims, gave them a few character traits, and then let them run loose.
From his blog, it sounds like the results could be awfully hilarious:
This is Kev and his daughter Alice. They’re living on a couple of park benches, surviving on free meals from work and school, and the occasional bucket of ice cream from a neighbour’s fridge.
When you create a person in The Sims 3, you’re able to give them personality traits that determine their behaviour. Kev is mean-spirited, quick to anger, and inappropriate. He also dislikes children, and he’s insane. He’s basically the worst Dad in the world.
But the experience quickly becomes sad: “His daughter Alice has a kind heart, but suffers from clumsiness and low self-esteem. With those traits, that Dad, and no money, she’s going to have a hard life.”
I don’t want to put words in Burkshaw’s mouth, nor do I want to talk on a subject that I don’t know much about, but Alice and Kev shed a lot of insight into games’ potential for social criticism and awareness. Indeed, there are severallinksto social organizations and charities at the end of Alice and Kev’s tale.
Do yourself a favor and hop over toaliceandkev.wordpress.com— it’s compelling, fascinating, and heart-wrenching stuff. I’m not going to spoil it for you, but I read every entry in one sitting.
[ViaBoingBoing]
