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If there's one thing that Maxis' life simulation The Sims 4 captures better than anything else, it's that sense that life flies by all too quickly. Caught up in the details of the mundane, the prosaic, you can have your head down for far too much of it until, all of a sudden, it's your birthday and you're an Adult, or even an Elder. You've gained weight. Your hair is thin. The toilet is broken. While you will never find yourself in another part of the world or behind the wheel of a large automobile, you may at least ask yourself, how did I get here?You travelled down a long straight road. Life in The Sims 4 can be routine and repetitive, a slow if comfortable accumulation of capital and possessions that act as a sort of consumerist compensation for the labour your Sim devotes to the unseen gods of employment, all resulting in a slightly bigger house, a slightly shinier kitchen, a slightly higher income. There's a lot that is prosaic along the way, although its Sims are also smarter than ever, more articulate and even a little bit moodier. Change has come, but not too much.
The series has always been a capitalist fairytale, a world where hard graft always wins out, where there is no privilege or prejudice or patriarchy and where everything can be earned in the end. While the fourth Sims game is still a fair one, it can also be tough. Bills are high, progress is slow and life can be short. Just a day or two into their final age bracket, apparently healthy Sims can croak with no warning. It takes time to build skills. It takes time to be able to afford that new oven. Hell, it takes time to finish breakfast. In Kevin Smith's film Dogma, the angel Loki suggests that all life is is a series of moments, moments to be seized. Seizing them in The Sims 4 isn't always easy. Everyday activities can get in the way.
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