Virtual Homes: How Games Like The Sims, Minecraft, and Animal Crossing Shape Digital Dwelling
In virtual environments such as Minecraft, Animal Crossing, and The Sims, players design their own residences. Philosophers Martin Heidegger and Gaston Bachelard discuss the concept of inhabitation as a form of orientation. The Sims, which debuted in 2000, allows users to build homes, drawing inspiration from Will Wright and Christopher Alexander. Released in March 2020, Animal Crossing: New Horizons lets players reshape their islands during the COVID-19 pandemic. Research by Michael Yin and Robert Xiao in their 2023 CHI paper examines VRChat users who sleep in headsets. Since 2012, UN-Habitat's Block by Block has utilized Minecraft for urban planning. The Uncensored Library features censored journalism, while You+Pea and Space Popular analyze virtual spaces. Final Fantasy XIV has a limited number of housing plots, and PlayStation Home was active from 2008 to 2015.
Key facts
- Players build homes in games like Minecraft, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and The Sims, turning virtual spaces into places of dwelling.
- The Sims, first released in 2000, lets players construct houses and watch inhabitants use them, influenced by Will Wright and Christopher Alexander's A Pattern Language.
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons launched in March 2020 during COVID-19 lockdowns, letting players reshape islands with cafés, markets, libraries, and parks on a real-time clock.
- In VRChat, some users sleep in headsets, a practice examined by Michael Yin and Robert Xiao in their 2023 CHI study Drifting Off in Paradise.
- UN-Habitat's Block by Block initiative has used Minecraft for participatory planning workshops since 2012.
- The Uncensored Library, created with Reporters Without Borders, is a virtual library in Minecraft containing censored journalism.
- Final Fantasy XIV's limited housing plots can be lost, and Square Enix has suspended demolition during certain crises.
- Sony's PlayStation Home operated from 2008 to 2015, offering apartments and social spaces before shutting down and leaving only fragments preserved by fans.
Entities
Artists
- Martin Heidegger
- Gaston Bachelard
- Will Wright
- Christopher Alexander
- Michael Yin
- Robert Xiao
- Luke Caspar Pearson
- Sandra Youkhana
Institutions
- Minecraft
- Animal Crossing: New Horizons
- The Sims
- Electronic Arts
- Nintendo
- VRChat
- CHI
- UN-Habitat
- Block by Block
- Reporters Without Borders
- The Uncensored Library
- You+Pea
- Space Popular
- Final Fantasy XIV
- Square Enix
- PlayStation Home
- Sony
- designboom
Locations
- London
- United Kingdom