Simulation · January 27, 2011
The Sims™ 3 (2011)
Play with Life. Create the lives you've always wanted! Ready to live a freer, more creative life? In The Sims™ 3, you can let your fantasies run wild as you design your ideal world. Start with your Sim, refining each shape, color and personality trait until you get the precise person that pleases you. Design your dream home, but don’t let a grid limit you; place, rotate and stack furniture and walls freely and to your heart’s content. Once the “hard work” is over, it’s time to be a mentor. Guide your Sim’s path through life, developing a career, finding love, and pursuing dreams and desires. Spending time with friends and family is just as important as mastering painting or accumulating knowledge. Take things to the next level and record movies of your Sim’s adventures and share them with the ever-growing and thriving community. With a huge catalog of expansion packs and fun objects to discover, there is no end to the possibilities awaiting you. It all begins here; your adventure awaits! Key Features Customize Your Sim: Mix and match a vast range of facial features and body types to get the look you want. Infuse your Sim with personality traits and help realize their dreams. Stage Your Own Extreme Makeover: Decorate your Sim’s home however you want, neat or messy. Use odd angles, create tall stacks of items, and apply your favorite self-made pattern to the walls and floors. Range From the Home: Get out of the house and explore the lively and entertaining neighborhood for the first time. Be a part of the larger online community!
Position in Simulation
| Metric | This title | Genre position |
|---|---|---|
| Review volume | 32.9k Steam reviews | Top 15% in Simulation |
| Positive rating | 87% positive | Genre average: 79% — this title sits in top 38% |
| Metacritic | 86/100 | Genre average 75 — top 12% of Simulation titles |
| Concurrent peak | 1.3k players | Top 16% in Simulation by live player count |
| Engagement hours | 76 h average | Top 20% for session depth among Simulation |
Community Tag Signals
Tag weights reflect how many Steam users voted each descriptor — larger pills = stronger consensus.
- Life Sim · 1.9k
- Simulation · 1.6k
- Character Customization · 1.0k
- Building · 850
- Sandbox · 842
- Singleplayer · 800
- Casual · 620
- Funny · 438
- Moddable · 432
- Romance · 362
- RPG · 343
- Family Friendly · 327
- Comedy · 292
- Adventure · 272
- Replay Value · 268
Peer Simulation titles
Comparable titles in the same genre and review-volume band — ranked by Steam positive percentage.
Reception Metrics
Steam community
87%Very Positive · 32.9k reviews
28.6k positive · 4.3k negative
Metacritic
86/100 critic aggregate
Metacritic user score
7.8/10
Curator recommendations
30.3k
Peak concurrent players
1.3k
Localization Coverage
Interface / Subtitles (12)
- Czech
- Danish
- Dutch
- English
- Finnish
- French
- German
- Hungarian
- Italian
- Korean
- Norwegian
- Polish
Release & Availability
| Release date | Jan 27, 2011 |
|---|---|
| Developer | The Sims Studio, Maxis |
| Publisher | Electronic Arts |
| Base price | $19.99 |
| DLC / Add-ons | 19 released |
| Platforms | Windows |
| Estimated owners | 1M–10M |
| External links | Official site · Metacritic page · Support |
Engagement Profile
All-time avg
76h
substantial (40–100 hours)
Median
15h
Typical completion time
2-week avg
7h
Current engagement
Editions & Packages
Buy The Sims™ 3





