The Sims 2: Apartment Life

Apartment Life was inspired by player demand both for higher-density living options and for witchcraft, the latter of which had featured in the earlier installment The Sims: Makin' Magic. According to the developers, it was a complex expansion to create; the game had not previously allowed for multiple separate player-controlled families to live in the same area, and the designers researched real-world communities interested in magic while developing the game's magic system, influencing its portrayal.


Reception for Apartment Life was positive, with particular praise for its magic system and social opportunities. The expansion's release late in the game's lifecycle was a focus of many reviewers, who felt it would be overshadowed by the 2009 release of The Sims 3. The variety of concepts included, particularly the choice to introduce magic in an expansion pack not specifically themed around it, drew critical attention and remained the subject of note in the years following its release. Apartment Life's disparate themes have influenced several later expansion packs for The Sims 3 and The Sims 4.

Background and development[edit]

The Sims is a franchise of life simulation games developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts. It has sold over 200 million copies amongst all platforms and installments, making it one of the best-selling video game franchises of all time.^[1] The Sims 2, sequel to the original, was released on 14 September 2004. It expanded upon the original game's features, introducing elements such as an aspiration system based around short-term and long-term goals; expanded character and neighbourhood customization; and the ability for sims to raise families, age, and progress through generations.^[2][3]


All main entries in the series have had multiple expansion packs, which add further gameplay options. Rather than being relatively simple downloadable content, expansion packs for the first three games in the Sims series substantially expanded upon the base game's life simulation; Kieron Gillen, writing for Eurogamer in 2005, stated the first game's expansions "could have been expanded [...] into games of their own" and argued their complexity was a component in why The Sims had few competitors in its genre.^[1][4] Eight expansion packs were released for The Sims 2 between 2005 and 2008.^[1][5]


The Sims 2: Apartment Life, the eighth and final expansion pack for the game,^[5] was announced in early June 2008. It was announced alongside The Sims 2: Apartment Pets, a similarly themed stand-alone game for the Nintendo DS.^[6] The series' senior producer Rod Humble stated that both releases were intended to "reflect an aspect of real life that players can relate to".^[7] The expansion pack's focus on high-density urban living was remarked upon by early analyses as a differentiation from the base game, which defaulted to a suburban setting.^[6] Apartment Life was demonstrated at an EA Games software showcase on 14 August 2008^[8] and released on 27 August 2008.^[5]


According to an interview with the developers, the theme for Apartment Life was inspired by long-standing player demand for both apartments and the ability for sims to cast magic spells. The technical process of making apartments work was reportedly difficult; the game had not previously allowed for multiple separate player-controlled families to live on the same lot, which one developer referred to as an "engineering feat". When developing the game's magical system, the designers researched real-world communities interested in magic. This research influenced how magic worked in the game; in response to a question from a player about whether the voodoo doll from The Sims 2: Bon Voyage would improve a sim's magic capabilities, a developer replied that such objects were part of a "very different type of magic" to that the game was intended to represent.^[9]