What would a 'Sim' from West Virginia look like?

CHARLESTON, WV (WOWK) – The video game franchise “The Sims” first launched 23 years ago in February 2000.

Over the years, four generations of the game, multiple gaming platforms and mobile apps, the life simulation video game has become one of the all-time top-selling video game series. The game allows players to design and create their Sim, their home and navigate their Sims’ lives, careers, relationships, etc.

A new survey from Solitaired, a computer card game company, looked at some statistics from players, and also asked AI to design a Sim and that Sim’s home for each state.

The study found that 84% of Americans say they play or have played some version of the Sims. Of those respondents, 26% say they currently play the game, and 28% plan on purchasing the Sims 5, which is in the “early stages of development,” according to Solitaired.

The survey also asked gamers which of the four current main versions of the game is their favorite, with only 8% separating the favorite and the least favorite.

“The Sims,” the original generation of the game, received the least amount of votes with only 20% of respondents saying its their favorite, and 25% of respondents said The Sims 2 was their favorite version. The Sims 4 came in second with 27% preferring the game. The Sims 3 took the top spot among the survey’s respondents, with 28% calling it their favorite Sims generation.

The survey also found that for 17% of players, exploring their Sims’ neighborhood is their favorite part of gameplay; 32% prefer controlling their Sims’ social interactions; and 51% said building and furnishing homes is their favorite part of playing the games.

According to Solitaired, among those who currently play the game, 37% are Gen Z gamers, 24% are Millennials, 20% are Gen X and 21% are Baby Boomers.

Sometimes Sims gameplay can take a darker turn. In a game of life simulation, sometimes that includes death, and not just from “old age.” As each generation of the game includes several ways for a Sim to perish, approximately 50% of women who answered the survey said they have intentionally killed off one of their Sims. For men who answered the survey, 44% said they had intentionally killed off a Sim.

With buzz about the Sims 5 after Electronic Arts recently confirmed they were working on early development, Solitaired also used AI to simulate what a Sim from each U.S. State would look like.

Here are the designs the AI program Midjourney created for West Virginia and its surrounding states: