When it comes to life sims, the two biggest franchises around are surely Animal Crossing and The Sims. Nintendo’s effort places us in the shoes of a human avatar who makes a home in a town (or on an island) populated by anthropomorphic animals, while The Sims sees the player indirectly controlling their little human playthings by guiding them from task to task.
Genre fans have probably spent a good deal of time with both series, though their approaches are drastically different. Let’s take a look at both established formulas to see where each tops the other.
10 ANIMAL CROSSING: The Player Has More Freedom
The biggest, most fundamental difference is, of course, that the player controls their character directly in Animal Crossing. This can be done through mods and such in The Sims, naturally (more on that later), but in terms of the games as presented, Animal Crossing gives players a lot more freedom in that way.
Without direct control, making progress can be a rather clunky affair in comparison. While this gives players the feeling of commanding the Sims they’ve created, like some power-hungry Sims deity, this system also has its downsides. In the end, it depends whether you prefer a more voyeuristic, passive life sim or one that lets you experience ‘life’ for yourself.
9 THE SIMS: Ageing Characters And Generations
Now, where The Sims is concerned, ‘realism’ may not be exactly the right word. Still, the series isn’t populated by ruthless profiteering tanookis and talking octopi, so it’s certainly more realistic than Animal Crossing.
The Sims, for instance, addresses the concept of the life cycles of Sims. Your beloved creations will grow, age and eventually pass away. These are fundamentals that Animal Crossing doesn’t really acknowledge, let alone implement.
8 ANIMAL CROSSING: Exploration Of Your Home Town/Island
As The Sims 4 players will know, it’s certainly possible to create a little Animal Crossing-esque community in the game. Not only can you create a Sim, a couple or a family, but you can devise a whole neighborhood or fill out a city.
Having said that, the experience is still primarily limited to one household at a time. You can’t really flit between your whole little world in the same way you can in Animal Crossing. As of Animal Crossing: New Horizons, the player has more freedom than ever to customize the place, with landscaping, waterscaping, outdoor furniture and all manner of other options.
7 THE SIMS: Relationships And Families
As quirky and unique as Animal Crossing is, there’s something about the human experience that you just can’t capture when you’re dealing with a fez-wearing squirrel that shrieks UNIWOW at you (oh, Hazel). The Sims mostly presents us with human relationships, which, again, helps a great deal with the realism side of things.
After all, nothing screams life sim like the opportunity to make new life and watch your families advance through generations. While Animal Crossing allows you to form friendly relationships with your villagers, tongues would start to wag if your character had a half-human, half-eagle baby, wouldn’t they?
6 ANIMAL CROSSING: The Fantastically Written And Extensive Dialogue
Some gamers just can’t abide an excess of dialogue. Just stop talking already, NPC, I want to charge over there and blast that alien/zombie/pirate horde. Even if this mindset is absolutely you, Animal Crossing’s writing is always pure gold. Whether it’s the brilliantly bizarre things the villagers say or the glorious nonsense they write in letters to you, you won’t want to miss a word of it.
Why do Animal Crossing titles take so long to localize? Because there are reams and reams of writing involved. As we reported last year, a Redditor calculated that Animal Crossing: New Leaf contained more text than the entire Harry Potter novel series! The Sims just can’t match up there.
5 THE SIMS: House Customization Options
As we’ve mentioned, New Horizons offers such extensive island customization options that players can spend hundreds of hours tweaking the smallest details. Outdoor decorations, building placement and the very geography of the place itself can be fiddled with.
One disappointing thing, though, is that the player’s house itself can’t really be changed. Cosmetic options for the exterior are about the extent of it, as the design and upgrades are totally linear. In The Sims 4, meanwhile, there’s a huge amount of freedom available in terms of house sizes, shapes, styles and more.
4 ANIMAL CROSSING: The Drive To Play Every Day
If you’re a fan of the Animal Crossing series, you’ll know exactly what we mean by this. That itch you get to set aside a little time each day to do your usual New Horizons routine.
You’ve got to check the stores, each of which having rolling stock. You’ve got to water your plants. See which special character is on your island today (check your beaches for Gulliver, say, or your mail to see which gift he sent you for helping him out yesterday). Is there a visitor in your campsite? Are your turnip prices good (they change twice a day)? Is that new event still going on? There’s really nothing quite like this series for little-and-often bursts of gameplay.
3 THE SIMS: Personalities And Aspirations
Here’s another of the limitations of Animal Crossing’s adorably odd creature villagers: personalities, aspirations and the like are a little limited. Each villager has a set personality, but they aren’t many different ones to choose from and they can get a little repetitive (no, jocks, we don’t want to join you for weight training and/or a patrol jog at 5am).
In The Sims 4, players choose traits, goals and so on for each of their Sims, which influence their motivations, hopes, dreams and futures. Are they romantics? Career driven? Outgoing? Introverted? Fun-loving? Super serious? All of these things have a big impact on how their lives play out.
2 ANIMAL CROSSING: The Cast Of Iconic Characters
True enough, The Sims series features a lot of fan-favorite families, some of which have been around since the very first days of the franchise. The much-beloved Goth family, which all their baggage and drama, are the most popular example.
At the same time, though, the sheer numbers of icons that Animal Crossing brings to the table cannot be denied. From infamous hairy money-grubber Tom Nook to villagers like Bob the Cat, from K.K. Slider to Wilbur and Orville of Dodo Airlines (who debuted in New Horizons and instantly became favorites), this series pumps out an incredible number of legendary character. Where the heck is Brewster and his café, already?
1 THE SIMS: It’s More Accessible In Terms Of Platforms (And Has Endless Mod Potential)
With Animal Crossing being a Nintendo IP (one of their biggest of late at that), it’s no surprise that it has an exclusive home on Nintendo platforms. Mobile offshoot Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp is the only real exception there. As such, players have only the core official experience to enjoy, sans mods or any of the usual PC advantages.
With The Sims being primarily a PC title, a dizzying world of mods is available, allowing the player to customize the experience to their liking. The games have also been ported to home consoles, allowing players without gaming PCs to hop on board. New Horizons, by contrast, is one of the greatest Switch exclusives to date, but it’s just that: exclusive.