The Sims is, at its core, a virtual dollhouse. They are released into the world, fresh and new, accumulate updates and expansions, then are put out to pasture when a sequel is announced.

Your games start as micromanaged struggles for survival, evolving into a more sedate rhythm of career progression and acquiring more stuff. The series is all about stages! Sims grow from babies through childhood and adulthood, before eventually passing away. I can't disentangle the stages of my life from that of The Sims. Watch on YouTube Here's a look at the High School Years expansion pack for The Sims 4, which came in late July. We've changed for the better since then, The Sims 4 and I, so let's talk about that. My life wasn't in great shape at the time, but neither was the game. Robin Burkinshaw's 'Alice and Kev', a blog chronicling the adventures of a homeless Sim and his daughter, really struck a chord and inspired me to try my hand at something similar. Not so much the game itself, although many would say it's the high point of the series, but the writing about it. Number three meanwhile was inspirational.

I was 21 when it was released in 2004 and, like much of my life back then, the memories are a bit fuzzy. The Sims 2? Not sure if I even played it. Monetisation: Full-price game with large number of paid-for add-ons, bundles and packs (from £4.99 to £34.99).

One of them forgot where the toilet was and peed himself, then cried about it. We created a replica of said common room, populated it with facsimiles of friends and mostly left them to their own devices. My first time playing the original was a communal experience in the sixth form common room, crowded around a friend's laptop. The Sims has been around for 22 years now, with even the fourth, and most recent, numbered entry being a venerable eight years old.