All the Games Like The Sims at E3 2021

Looking for new games like The Sims? Some interesting life-simulation games were highlighted during E3 2021, and some look promising.


Published: June 14, 2021 6:43 PM /

By:


All The Games Like The Sims at E3 2021 - cover

There were a lot of E3 2021 announcements this year, and fans of The Sims have a few things to look forward to — here are all of the games like The Sims we saw at E3 2021!

The Sims is undoubtedly the leader in the "life simulation" genre. It lets you create one or more characters and live whatever sort of life you'd like to in a virtual world filled with interested characters, some of whom you may have created yourself. It hasn't had much in the way of competition in the genre, though — until now.

All The Games Like The Sims at E3 2021 - Alterlife

Games Like The Sims at E3 2021 – AlterLife

AlterLife is one of the more recent reveals for games like The Sims showing up at E3 2021. Created in the Unreal Engine, it looks pretty darn fantastic, but there's more to games like The Sims than just graphics.

Pretty visuals aside, AlterLife looks like it's aiming to deliver much of the same gameplay as The Sims. You can create a character, get a job, build a house, and even customize your furniture to an impressive degree.

Unfortunately, this is such a new release that we don't have much in the way of firm details, and that's where the real meat of this game is going to be. How many people can you have in a household? Are there full life cycles? What kinds of jobs and activities will be available at launch? There are all things that will make or break this game.

Check out the AlterLife trailer that premier late last week to see alpha gameplay footage in motion! No release date for this game has been announced just yet, but you can add AlterLife to your wishlist on Steam.

All The Games Like The Sims at E3 2021 - Paralives

Games Like The Sims at E3 2021 – Paralives

Paralives is the oldest one of the games like The Sims here — its existence has been public knowledge for almost two years. This solo project from Alex Massé is already looking impressive with its distinct visual style.

This upcoming game has some key advantages over The Sims, starting with the fact that it's going to have mods available via the Steam workshop. As a longtime fan of The Sims and an enthusiastic modder of that game — anyone remember 7 Deadly Sims? — it's certainly nice to see the modding community openly supported in this fashion. Naturally, this means that there may be a good amount of community content released if it proves to be a popular game, just like we saw with games such as Cities: Skylines.

As a 2019 Game Informer interview explains, Massé's early focus was on building mechanics. That interview also highlighted some innovations on the gameplay from The Sims such as the ability to build without the use of a grid whatsoever. The fruits of that labor were recently shown off in a lengthy 11-minute video, showing off how building a house works. Much like AlterLife, this game is still in a pre-alpha state.

Despite this recent early look at building, there's still an awful lot we don't know. We've certainly heard about how things are planned, but there isn't much in the way of details of the exact features in the game just yet (much less how the people will work in this game). There are promises of customizable characters, pets, and an open-world neighborhood, but none of that content has been revealed just yet.

You can watch the Paralives E3 2021 trailer to see a bit of the game in action. Sadly, there's no release date just yet, but you can add Paralives to your wishlist on Steam. You can also support the developer's work on Patreon.

All The Games Like The Sims at E3 2021 - Lakeburg Legacies

Games Like The Sims at E3 2021 – Lakeburg Legacies

Finally, we have Lakeburg Legacies. This game isn't quite the same as AlterLife and Paralives — you're managing a much larger community of people.

Lakeburg Legacies is a "social-based village managed sim" with a big focus on family. Specifically, your job is to pair up villages into couples with the goal of making the village happy and prosperous. Every person has their own traits, skills, and stats. Couples will have children which will inherit those characteristics, helping your village grow larger as time goes on.

It won't just be a matter of playing matchmaker, though — you'll also have to navigate all sorts of potential pitfalls like a person's preferences (and flaws) along with the occasional random event. The people in this game are also procedurally generated, so no two playthroughs will be the same.

You'll be able to buy this game sometime in 2022; you can check out its PC Gaming Show trailer to see some gameplay. For now, you can add Lakeburg Legacies to your wishlist on Steam.


If you want to check out more of TechRaptor's E3 2021 and related summer event coverage, click here.

Have a tip, or want to point out something we missed? Leave a Comment or e-mail us at tips@techraptor.net


A photograph of TechRaptor Senior Writer Robert N. Adams.
| Senior Writer

One of my earliest memories is playing Super Mario Bros. on the Nintendo Entertainment System. I've had a controller in my hand since I was 4 and I… More about Robert N