The Sims was significant for PC gaming in the 2000s. It was a game that simulated life itself, allowing you to live out whatever life you could dream of, make friends and connections, and fully lean into the freedom of interaction. InZoi is the latest game to take the reins of this genre, attempting to push the boundaries and possibilities further than ever.
So why does it feel so isolating? Maybe it’s me; maybe it’s the game. But I don’t dislike it.
Well, Well, Look Who’s Inside Again
I started the game as I always did in The Sims: I made me, I picked a cheap house with barely any furniture, and I set out in my new life. The choices of cities in InZoi are currently an American LA-esque city, a Korean-esque city, and a tropical location.
I’m just a British boy, so these are all far from myself, but I tried out a save in both the Korean city and the American city to get a feel for them and the mechanics of the game. Both are distinct, and I loved seeing how the game presented each in a different light, from the locations available to visit to the Zois you can meet.
Unlike The Sims, however, I got a feeling in both of these cities that I haven’t felt before: I felt like I’d moved to a new country with no one I knew, no plans, and a blank slate ahead of me. Exciting, sure, but incredibly lonely.
I moved to a new town only recently, away from the places I knew, so it resonates particularly well at the moment.
There It Is, That Funny Feeling
While I think these feelings come from the settings of InZoi being more grounded in real-world culture, a large part of it is also my own tendencies. I’m an introvert, I deal with neurodivergency, and my social skills are lacking if we want to put it nice and simple. This means that, even in a video game like InZoi, it’s not in my nature to go out and make friends.
I mean, the Zoi version of me is also an introvert, and after going outside to do some exercise, I crashed out and went home in a bad mood. Sounds pretty accurate.
But it was the moment when my Zoi was at home, on a morning like any other, eating some pancakes at a table, sat on a stool, with walls empty of decoration, that I realised just how lonely this life looks. And it is lonely, but it’s my life through and through, and I’m not sad about that.
I have family, I have friends – albeit most of them are a few thousand miles away – and I have people I can turn to. But it’s that outside perspective, those moments I don’t see when I’m sitting in a room, on my own, completely content with the way things are. It’s certainly not for everyone, and that has caused personal conflicts in the past, but I’ve come to realise that it’s how I live. And I’m okay with that.
But then again, maybe it’s the game. I can’t even create my dog until they add pets, so that’s probably the sole reason, actually. Forget I said anything.
