The Steam Deck is all the rage these days so, we decided to test a classic on it, namely, The Sims 3.
We’ve tested The Sims 3 on the Steam Deck over the course of the past month and compiled our findings in this post.
We’ll discuss the pros and cons of running The Sims 3 on the Steam Deck as well as how it performs.
The Sims 3
The Sims 3 on the Steam Deck is a wonderful experience as you can manage your Sims while on the go. Furthermore, it performs surprisingly well on the handheld console and the controls feel pleasant to use as well. We faced little to no issues getting it to run.
Alternate #1
Cities: Skylines
While Cities: Skylines is obviously modeled after the older SimCity, it brings various improvements. City building is smoother than ever with bulk controls, easy orientation buttons, and more. We found it super easy to build neighborhoods in particular.
Alternate #2
SimCity™ 4 Deluxe Edition
SimCity 4 is much slower-paced than many of its predecessors, making it a great game to get cozy with. The stakes get much higher as you play which makes for an invigorating experience. This game had us hooked for hours on end.
Quick Summary of the Main Product
The Sims 3 runs fairly smoothly on the Steam Deck. However, it does come with its own set of issues. There definitely is some amount of troubleshooting involved when you run the Sims 3 on the Steam Deck.
These issues may be different depending on how many expansions you have, your Steam Deck version, and more. On the other hand, we’ve also seen reviews of people who had little to no trouble running it on the Steam Deck as well.
When it comes to the gameplay, The Sims 3 is pretty expertly ported onto the Steam Deck. The controls are intuitive and easy to learn. Furthermore, the Steam Deck’s controls are super responsive in all of the different modes such as Buy mode, Move mode, and Live mode.
Features and Benefits
Different Difficulty Levels
You can change the difficulty level depending on how “hardcore” you want your Sims’ living experience to be.
When you increase the difficulty, the different “bars” such as Hygiene, Fun, Sleep, etc. will drain faster. Naturally, you’ll have to pay more attention to these, and balancing your Sims’ mood will become more difficult to manage.
Live Mode
Live mode is basically the mode in which you play the Sims 3. This is when all your Sims are actively performing tasks when you ask them to. Depending on their bars, you’ll command them to perform certain tasks to fill those bars.
For example, if your Sims’ hygiene is low, you can instruct them to take a shower.
Buy Mode
Buy mode is what you’ll most likely use when you first load up the Sims. The Buy mode allows you to buy furniture, household items, kitchen items, etc. for your Sims. It’s what you use to build them a home.
Factors to Consider Before you Decide to Buy The Sims 3 for the Steam Deck
Price
The Sims 3 is available at a fairly cheap retail price on the Steam Store where you can download it for your Steam Deck.
When you consider the endless possibilities and different ways in which you can customize your Sims, the price tag starts seeming much smaller.
In our opinion, the price tag is pretty justified.
Replayability Value
As briefly mentioned earlier, the different ways in which you can build up your Sims as well as their relationships make for a super dynamic experience.
You can have a family and just work on them to see where their life goes. On the other hand, you can also have several different types of households and manage them independently.
Of course, the way you play the Sims 3 will depend on what you enjoy and how you like to customize your Sims. However, since there are so many possibilities, you can do this for months, if not years.
Fun Factor
The Sims 3 is not for everyone. Some people don’t really see the appeal of managing a virtual character’s life while they have their own lives to manage.
However, others really enjoy all the customization, social options, clothing options, and interior decoration options that the Sims 3 has to offer. For such gamers, the Sims 3 is an extremely fun game.
Performance on Steam Deck
As mentioned earlier, some gamers have faced issues while running the Sims 3 on the Steam Deck. For some users, some expansions don’t load and we’ve also read reports of second-long frame stutters.
When we tested it on our Steam Deck, we were unable to run it at first due to missing the DLL files, which were found manually on the internet.
Pros and Cons
- Live mode can be fast-forwarded and paused
- Smooth and well-ported controls
- Dynamic gameplay with moods, relationships, and friendships
- Great collection of items in the Buy mode
- Variety of difficulty modes
- Compatibility issues with the Steam Deck
Social Proof
Most people who love the Sims 3 are super impressed with its versatility and the variety of items you have access to.
This doesn’t just include household items but also clothing and more. Others have also talked about how intuitive it is to learn the game.
Here are some reviews we found:
Similar to The Sims 3 (Alternatives & Recommendations)
#1: Best City-Building Alternative - Cities: Skylines Review
Cities: Skylines provides a modern experience compared to SimCity, even though it’s modeled after it.
There are a variety of convenient tools and resources that you can use to construct your city with ease while saving time. Furthermore, making cities is super fun too since you can add all sorts of different structures to sort out the city’s problems.
Problems include things such as infrastructure, roads, electricity generation, easy access to groceries, etc.
Factors to Consider Before you Decide to Buy Cities: Skylines
Price: Cities: Skylines is fairly cheap and most consumers can easily pick it up on the Steam Store.
Replayability Value: If you enjoy city builders, then this game provides endless value. There are so many different combinations and creative ways to make your city that it can keep you entertained for years.
Fun Factor: Not everyone enjoys city builders so you’ll have to ask yourself if that’s something you’re interested in. If it is, then this is one of the most fun city builders out there.
- Dynamic and fun problem-solving tools
- Bulk building tools
- Convenient controls
- Good graphics
- Easy to learn
- UI can bug out at times
Best City-Building Alternative
The best city-building alternative is Cities: Skylines thanks to its intuitive interface, fun building tools, and user-friendliness.
#2: Best Simcity Alternative - SimCity™ 4 Deluxe Edition Review
SimCity 4 is a great addition to the Simcity franchise since it brings the old vision of Will Wright to life.
It offers great versatility as you can build small agrarian communities or large and booming metropolises with relative ease. It has a variety of bulk-building tools that make customizing a region a breeze.
Factors to Consider Before you Decide to Buy SimCity™ 4 Deluxe Edition
Price: SimCity 4 is quite fairly-priced and most consumers can easily buy it. If you’ve never tried a city builder and want to give it a shot, this might be a great place to start.
Replayability Value: City builders always have great replayability value and SimCity 4 is no different.
Fun Factor: Again, city builders are not for everyone so we can’t guarantee it’ll be enjoyable for everyone. However, if you’re the sort of person that enjoys them, this would be right up your alley.
- Can import your Sims into it
- Manageable but fun difficulty
- Variety of structures available
- Intuitive interface
- Great graphics
- Some bulk building tools are annoying to use
Best Simcity Alternative
The best Simcity alternative is SimCity 4 thanks to its user-friendliness, fun city building tools, and more.
Buyer’s Guide
Price
Let’s get the obvious out of the way first: Of course, you’ll need to consider your budget before you start browsing a game.
Think about how flexible your budget is, how high you can raise it, and more. Some games are highly-priced but still justify their price through replayability. We’ll talk about replayability later on in this section.
When looking for games on the Steam Deck, it’s also a good idea to keep an eye on sales and discounts. There are great deals running for the Steam Deck on the Steam Store all the time since the hype is quite real at the moment.
You might just be able to snag your favorite game for cheap if you keep an eye out.
Fun Factor
The fun factor of a game is a very subjective factor to consider since fun can mean different things to different people. Some people require action and adventure from their games whereas others just need a quiet, chill, and cozy time.
Some players want to grind for hours whereas others just want to experience the story.
Looking for the latest news and updates on the Steam Deck? Check out our collection of articles on this portable gaming console.
Wrapping Things Up
The Sims 3 runs fairly well on the Steam Deck but don’t be surprised if you run into issues while trying to run it.
However, once you do, it’s a great and fun experience that you can have on the go as well.
What do you think of the Sims 3 on the Steam Deck? Have you run into any issues?
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