There are a lot of games like The Sims out there, whether on Windows, Mac, Linux, consoles, or mobile smartphones. It’s no surprise that this scenario happens, considering how the original The Sims game released in 2000 took the world by storm and carved its own niche in the gaming scene. More than just a life simulation game, throughout its iterations and expansions, The Sims franchise has expanded into a house builder, economic management, and a dating simulator, among other genres. With its many facets and sub-genres, it is a bit hard to choose which games are closest to The Sims franchise. Thankfully, we are here with our list of the 15 best games like The Sims!
Also read: The Sims Mobile Review
Best Games like The Sims
The Best 15 Games Like The Sims
Before we start off with this list, we will explain how we ranked the games on it. As we said earlier, it is hard to rank games like The Sims 4 without splitting them into genres. To help readers find which game is best for them, we will add a “genre” description to each game, like life simulation, social simulation, building game, and management. Aside from that, we will also note the platforms they are available on and their developer. Let us begin with the list of the best games like The Sims!
1. Avakin Life
Genre: Life Simulation, Building, Management, Social Simulation
Platform: iOS and Android
Developer: Lockwood Publishing
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Avakin Life is the first game on our list of games like The Sims and, for us, is the game closest to the renowned franchise. Starting with an extensive character creation system similar to those found in the mainline The Sims games, this system lets you create the looks of your character to your liking with a whole catalog of clothes and styles to choose from. After creating a character, you can then start your adventure with the game’s home-building system for your dream house. One big difference Avakin Life has compared to The Sims games is its online community of players that you play with. It does mean that you cannot play this game offline, and rather than focusing on a group of characters, you only control your own. This feature is similar to the ones found in The Sims Online. Overall, if you want The Sims experience without actually playing The Sims, Avikan Life should be your first choice.
Get Avakin Life on the Apple App Store
Get Avakin Life on the Google Play Store
2. Virtual Families 2
Genre: Life Simulation, Building, Management
Platform: iOS and Android
Developer: Last Day of Work LLC
Price: Free with in-app purchases
A more conservative choice for a game like The Sims, Virtual Families 2 does its best to emulate the core concepts of The Sims series. Focusing on creating your own family and watching them grow, find love, and make a family and children of their own, Virtual Families 2 has the secondary title of “Our Dream House,” which fits this focus. Aside from that, the game is pretty orthodox and plays the closest to The Sims 3, especially with its home creation and decoration features. Other similarities include its career and character growth systems that change your characters as they age and grow. If you want a good single-player offline Sims game, Virtual Families 2 is for you!
Get Virtual Families 2 on the Apple App Store
Get Virtual Families 2 on the Google Play Store
3. Virtual Sim Story: 3D Dream Home And Life
Genre: Life Simulation, Building, Social Simulation
Platform: iOS and Android
Developer: Foxie Ventures
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Our third pick for this list of games like The Sims is Virtual Sim Story: 3D Dream Home and Life. This game plays quite similarly to our first pick, Avakin Life. The similarities include its online-only gameplay, focus on a single “Sim,” world exploration, home building, and character customization. Where it differs, though, are in two places. Virtual Sim Story has a dream career feature that lets your character have a job that progresses as you do tasks. These jobs can be anything from an animal rescuer to a restaurant owner. Related to that is its second difference as the game heavily features your character obtaining and taking care of a pet ranging from mundane animals like dogs and cats to exotic ones like penguins!
Get Virtual Sim Story on the Apple App Store
Get Virtual Sim Story on the Google Play Store
4. Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp
Genre: Life Simulation, Building, Management, Social Simulation
Platform: iOS and Android
Developer: Nintendo Co. Ltd.
Price: Free with in-app purchases
The fourth on our list of games like The Sims and one of the most polished is Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp. An offshoot of the ever-popular Animal Crossing series and specifically made for smartphones, Pocket Camp changes the standard premise of Animal Crossing games. Instead of moving into a new town and owning a house in your community, Pocket Camp instead places you in charge of a vast campground.
While you do not own a house, you can do almost everything else, the same as in the main Animal Crossing games. This includes fishing, gardening, decorating, and interacting with over 100 different characters and non-player characters (NPCs).
Also read: Mobile Games Like Animal Crossing.
Get Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp on the Apple App Store
Get Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp on the Google Play Store
5. Idle Life Sim
Genre: Life Simulation, Building, Management
Platform: iOS and Android
Developer: Codigames
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Our fifth chosen game similar to The Sims is Idle Life Sim. This is a game that looks and feels like an odd combination of two franchises, The Sims and Animal Crossing. While its graphics and art look pretty cutesy and cartoonish similar to Animal Crossing, it has fun buying and decorating systems closer to those in The Sims series. While mostly a casual game, it does have a pretty good career management system that lets you slowly better and progress your avatar’s life. Overall, it is a fun game that is good for those down times in-between.
Get Idle Life Sim on the Apple App Store
Get Idle Life Sim on the Google Play Store
6. Stardew Valley
Genre: Life Simulation, Building, Management, Social Simulation
Platform: iOS and Android
Developer: Chucklefish Limited
Price: $4.99
Considered as one of the best Android games you can spend money on, Stardew Valley is an excellent game like The Sims. While falling into the general genre of “life simulation,” the game is actually a bit more niche since it is a farming life simulation game. Although it has a big focus on farming and animal husbandry, Stardew Valley also has the core ideas of The Sims in its gameplay. Starting with a very intuitive character creation screen to wooing a partner with gifts and creating a family, Stardew Valley relies on you to help your character grow and thrive in their new environment.
We have a Stardew Valley beginner’s guide available that goes point to point with the basics of the game and what you should do when first starting out.
Get Stardew Valley on the Apple App Store
Get Stardew Valley on the Google Play Store
7. Fallout Shelter
Genre: Life Simulation, Building, Management
Platform: iOS and Android
Developer: Bethesda Softworks
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Another game with a storied pedigree, Fallout Shelter is the mobile spin-off of the famed Fallout franchise by Bethesda Softworks. A stark departure from its computer role-playing game (cRPG) roots and the RPG-shooter, Fallout Shelter is, instead, a life simulation and population management game. Our seventh choice on this list of games like The Sims, Fallout Shelter makes you the overseer of one of Vault-Tec’s many nuclear shelter vaults in the post-apocalyptic wasteland. You are in charge of continuing and expanding your vault and making sure that the remnants of society can continue to live inside its walls.
Also read: Fallout Shelter Tips, Tricks, and Cheats
Get Fallout Shelter on the Apple App Store
Get Fallout Shelter on the Google Play Store
8. Dream House Days
Genre: Life Simulation, Building, Management
Platform: iOS and Android
Developer: Kairosoft Co.
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Dream House Days shows off a lot of Kairosoft’s strengths. This game lets you play as a landlord owning a large subdivision filled with potential “dream houses” for tenants. Compared to other games like The Sims, you do not control the characters directly. Instead, you influence their lives and decisions through the changes you make in their surroundings. From changing the items in their rooms to who their neighbors are, your choices could lead your tenants to life success or failure. While a bit different from the other games on this list, Dream House Days is a solid game with an almost unlimited amount of replayability and game time.
Get Dream House Days on the Apple App Store
Get Dream House Days on the Google Play Store
9. House Flipper
Genre: Building, Management
Platform: iOS and Android
Developer: PlayWay SA
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Another unique choice when it comes to games like The Sims is House Flipper. While the original Sims game focused on avatar creation and their social connections and well-being, further games in the series like The Sims 3 and The Sims 4 have transformed the franchise and the genre by adding in extensive house building and decorating features. These features are what House Flipper is all about. Although you lack the actual “sims” in this game, you instead have the houses you buy and renovate as the main character.
From overhauling the most dilapidated shacks or termite-infested cabins to creating the best family homes money can buy, this game lets you do all of it. With a motto of “buy, renew, décor, sell,” House Flipper is enjoyable and lets you bring out your artistic side more than any other game on this list.
Get House Flipper on the Apple App Store
Get House Flipper on the Google Play Store
10. Godus
Genre: Building, Management
Platform: iOS and Android
Developer: 22Cans
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Godus is a game spearheaded by the famously notorious game creator Peter Molyneux. Godus is another of Molyneux’s attempts to create a “God sim.” Created as a spiritual sequel to the cult game Populous, Godus is a life and civilization simulator where you are literally God. This game is cartoony and blocky but has a lot of things to offer; after all, you are the shepherd of your people.
Godus is the type of game that is hard to explain in words and is easier to understand by playing instead. Just know that this game, while pretty fun, does have its slow times and might make you open up your wallet to “hasten” your civilization’s development.
Get Godus on the Apple App Store
Get Godus on the Google Play Store
11. Virtual Villagers Origins 2
Genre: Life Simulation, Building, Management
Platform: iOS and Android
Developer: Last Day of Work LLC
Price: Free with in-app purchases
From the same creators of Virtual Families 2 comes Virtual Villagers Origins 2. This game is a vast departure from its similarly-named game as it focuses on managing an entire island of villagers and castaways instead of just a family. While the two games do feature the same character creation and building mechanics, Virtual Villagers Origins 2 focuses more on managing your settlement. This management includes making sure your people are fed and trained to explore their new world. While a bit different from The Sims, the same idea of nurturing a group of virtual people and helping them thrive is comparable.
Get Virtual Villagers Origins 2 on the Apple App Store
Get Virtual Villagers Origins 2 on the Google Play Store
12. Home Street
Genre: Life Simulation, Building, Management, Social Simulation
Platform: iOS and Android
Developer: Supersolid
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Home Street is another game like The Sims and is quite similar to previously discussed games like Avakin Life and Virtual Sim Story. There is not a lot to say about this game, especially after the other two games have been discussed. We do have to point out, though, that rather than the expansive world to explore in Avakin Life or the whole island you get to see in Virtual Sim Story, Home Street’s story happens in an unassuming neighborhood. Other than that, the game has pretty similar gameplay and art styles as well as features like house renovation, sim creation, and social interaction with other online players.
Get Home Street on the Apple App Store
Get Home Street on the Google Play Store
13. BitLife: Life Simulator
Genre: Life Simulation, Management
Platform: iOS and Android
Developer: Candywriter LLC
Price: Free with in-app purchases
Since we have been going through the different genres of games like The Sims, we want you to imagine The Sims as a text-based game. That is exactly the premise of BitLife: Life Simulator. Those who remember Tamagotchi’s might find the game a bit familiar since your goal in BitLife is to rear and bring up your created character. Whether your decisions lead to your character’s early death due to accidents or sickness or a long and fulfilling life in old age is up to your choices and your conscience. Overall, BitLife is a simple game that anyone can get into and have fun with. For those that want a more complicated text-based The Sims game, though, they should at our next option instead.
Get BitLife: Life Simulator on the Apple App Store
Get BitLife: Life Simulator on the Google Play Store
14. AltLife
Genre: Life Simulation, Management
Platform: Android
Developer: QmzApps
Price: Free with in-app purchases
AltLife is also a text-based simulation game. Made to be a lot more complicated compared to BitLife, AltLife gives you full control over your simulated character. This control includes where your character studies, what job they have, their pets, even their social media, and if they buy cryptocurrencies or not. If you want a good time waster game and do not mind the mind-numbingly large amount of charts, tabs, and numbers you have to sift through to play this game, then AltLife might just be for you.
Get AltLife on the Google Play Store
15. From Zero to Hero: Cityman
Genre: Life Simulation, Management
Platform: iOS and Android
Developer: Heatherglade Publishing
Price: Free with in-app purchases
The last on our list of games like The Sims is From Zero to Hero: Cityman. Part of the From Zero to Hero smartphone game series, the game is basically the story of a guy who rises up from homelessness into a multimillionaire through your decisions. A good example of an idle game, Cityman has the same amount of intricacies as AltLife, although a little dumbed down. While it does have an interesting story, the unknowingly sarcastic take on economics and the genre itself has us place this game on the verge of being repetitive and being interesting enough to play.
Get From Zero to Hero on the Apple App Store
Get From Zero to Hero on the Google Play Store
Pick a Game Like The Sims
There you have it — a solid list of 15 games like The Sims series. While we did focus on the games that were the most similar to the franchise in form and spirit, we did throw in a few curve balls we thought you might want to take a look at too.
This is not the only game list we have on the site, though, as we also have a few for specific genres and topics. These include a list of 31 of the best JRPGs, the 15 best mystery games, and some of the best dungeon crawlers ever.
