I've never really been able to get into The Sims , for a few reasons. For starters, I don't have the patience to meticulously recreate my friends or favorite celebrities in its highly detailed character creator. Beyond that, much of its gameplay by default revolves around managing meters to make sure your Sims stay happy and don't die. It's compelling to many and one of the most popular games of all time for a reason, but it doesn't really work for me.

Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream , on the other hand, might be the kind of life-sim I can get into. I've played a few hours of Nintendo's quirky new island management simulator for Switch (as in the first one, though it'll also work on a Switch 2), and I really dig it so far.…