Has any other game series run unchallenged in its genre as long as The Sims?

[Lauren Morton]

Hey PC gamers, welcome back to the chat log! This week it's just Mollie and me talking about life sims. Specifically life sims like The Sims, which basically don't exist. But some are in development and they're coming out. Soon! Hopefully! I've been keeping track of it all over here in this story: The next generation of The Sims will finally have some much-needed competition. Emphasis on the "finally." I know we aren't exactly rolling in fellow life sim enjoyers, so instead I'll ask you something related:

Has any other game series run unchallenged in its genre as long as The Sims?​

Seriously, can you think of one? Usually, huge success in a genre begets plenty of imitators and spinoffs and a whole slew of -likes. But not so with The Sims, which has barely ever had any real competition. We could say that Harvest Moon was really singular for a long time but as soon as Stardew Valley went wild on PC we now have all sorts of things like it. Immersive sims can feel a little niche, but Dishonored isn't the only option. Do you have a favorite subgenre of games where there's really only one series to choose from?

 

[Frindis]

Ummm, not sure about this one, but perhaps Bomberman would be unique enough.

 

[Zloth]

X: Beyond the Frontier came out in 1999 and the X series continues to this day. That makes X one year older than the Sims. The only other games I know that might be like it are the Evochron series, and that's probably just because I never looked too deeply into what those games do.

 

[Brian Boru]

Good Q, not easy to come up with much.

Not my genres so I may be unaware of good competitors, but how about Minecraft and Pokémon Go?

 

[Colif]

My question is, does it have to be the only choice or the game that has survived the longest and generally outlasted the opposition?

Wonder where the next sims is.

X: Beyond the Frontier came out in 1999 and the X series continues to this day.

just going from the link it says it was compared to Elite at the time, and it falls into the Space flight sim genre (or does now) and there are other choices there

Notable examples of the genre include Elite, the X series, Wing Commander: Privateer, Freelancer, and No Man's Sky.

Space flight simulation game - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

and obviously the Star Citizen if it ever gets released.

So game may have been first but its hardly a household name. Its not known like The Sims is for charging you for almost everything in one version that was free in the previous.

 

[Lauren Morton]

Not my genres so I may be unaware of good competitors, but how about Minecraft and Pokémon Go?

Oo I think Pokemon Go might be close, yes! Admittedly, mobile games are not my expertise but I know that after Ingress, Niantic has gone on to do lots of reskins with other big brand partnerships beyond Pokemon. They may have the corner on doing that exact thing that they do.

 

[Zloth]

just going from the link it says it was compared to Elite at the time, and it falls into the Space flight sim genre (or does now) and there are other choices there

The very first game was a 'spiritual sequel' to Elite. However, Frontier: Elite 2 came out in 1993 while X: Beyond the Frontier was in 1999. By the time Elite 3 showed up (ten years ago now!), the X games had become very different. You fly your own ship in Elite. You can own a few kinds, but you only buzz around in one. In X, you can have hundreds of ships, all flying around and doing their own thing, with or without you - and you can have your own stations, too. But X's map is VASTLY more limited, too - you won't find a sector that thousands of people haven't seen before.

Elite, Freelancer, X, and EVE all came from the Elite trunk, but putting them in the same genre would like saying Doom, Horizon: Zero Dawn, and Overwatch are all the same genre because they all grew out of Doom.

 

[steeleman21]

In terms of asymmetrical multiplayer, Dead By Daylight is having a pretty strong run, just one game but it's been around 8 years now. There's been numerous competitors over the years (Friday the 13th, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, VHS, latest one probably being the Killer Klowns game), but nothing that's come close to having the same longevity. It's reached a kind of critical mass where it's been around for so long with so much content and playable characters, it's a huge task for any new game to try and stand out.

Again, somewhat niche, but if you want any kind of assassination sandbox, Hitman is your go-to. Something like Dishonored or Sniper Elite could be considered similar (and moderately successfully in their own right), but similar to DBD, Hitman has the sheer volume of content and far more replayability than those other series to really stand head and shoulders above them I'd say.

I don't know how you can adequately describe the Yakuza series to someone not familiar (at first glance it looks like open world crime action, a la GTA, but it's really not), but I'd argue Yakuza stands on its own as a... open world crime saga caberet club managment pocket racer simulator dating sim real estate simulator soap opera beat 'em up RPG

 

[Lauren Morton]

In terms of asymmetrical multiplayer, Dead By Daylight is having a pretty strong run, just one game but it's been around 8 years now. There's been numerous competitors over the years (Friday the 13th, Texas Chainsaw Massacre, VHS, latest one probably being the Killer Klowns game), but nothing that's come close to having the same longevity. It's reached a kind of critical mass where it's been around for so long with so much content and playable characters, it's a huge task for any new game to try and stand out.

Again, somewhat niche, but if you want any kind of assassination sandbox, Hitman is your go-to. Something like Dishonored or Sniper Elite could be considered similar (and moderately successfully in their own right), but similar to DBD, Hitman has the sheer volume of content and far more replayability than those other series to really stand head and shoulders above them I'd say.

I don't know how you can adequately describe the Yakuza series to someone not familiar (at first glance it looks like open world crime action, a la GTA, but it's really not), but I'd argue Yakuza stands on its own as a... open world crime saga caberet club managment pocket racer simulator dating sim real estate simulator soap opera beat 'em up RPG

Those are all good examples! Hitman is sort of one of a kind, you're right. I try to equate it sometimes to things like stealth tactics games but as you say, that's pretty different from the stealth sandbox.
As for Yakuza, which I love, I think the Shenmue series has sort of a similar vibe. I've not played it personally but I gather it's also a 3D brawler with weird side activities. That doesn't encompass everything that Yakuza is by a longshot but I've gotten the impression it has the same undefinable dramady qualities.