Life simulation game
subgenre of simulation video games
Life simulation games form a subgenre of simulation video games in which the player lives or controls one or more virtual characters (human or otherwise). Such a game can revolve around "individuals and relationships, or it could be a simulation of an ecosystem". Other terms include artificial life game and simulated life game (SLG).
Definition
Life simulation games are about "maintaining and growing a virtual life", where players are given the power to control the lives of autonomous people or creatures. Artificial life games are related to computer science research in artificial life. But "because they're intended for entertainment rather than research, commercial A-life games implement only a subset of what A-life research investigates." This broad genre includes god games which focus on managing tribal worshipers, as well as artificial pets that focus on one or several animals. It also includes genetic artificial life games, where players manage populations of creatures over several generations.
History
Artificial life games and life simulations find their origins in artificial life research, including Conway's Game of Life from 1970. But one of the first commercially viable artificial life games was Little Computer People in 1985, a Commodore 64 game that allowed players to type requests to characters living in a virtual house. The game is cited as a little-known forerunner of virtual-life simulator games to follow.
“Life simulation game” enters the record as subgenre of simulation video games. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Life, simulation and game can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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This entry incorporates text from “Life simulation game” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.