My name is Sunny Crittenden. I’m a NSFW artist, writer, photographer, and content creator who lives in Elmvale, Ontario, Canada. This site is just one of my many web projects. (And you will not see nudity here, Sim Sunny or otherwise!)
I’ve been playing The Sims since its inception! I’ve also been writing about my struggles with mental health online for over two decades, examining my mental illnesses and figuring out ways to cope with them “out loud” in front of an audience. The Sims video game franchise and the “Sims Bunker” has been featured prominently in these writings.
When The Sims launched and became an overnight cultural phenomenon in 2000, I was a student of advertising at Centennial College in Toronto and my friend Nicole was the lead singer of the band Scratching Post.
We were both fans of the game and would talk to each other in our own form of Simlish based on our Sims’ thought and speech bubbles.
For example, when we disliked something IRL we would make an “x” with our arms and say “NO AIRPLANE!” because we noticed some Sims in the original Sims would have a thought bubble with an airplane icon with an “x” through it if they were displeased. We thought that was hilarious, and it became a private, in-person joke we made with each other for ages!
What we also noticed was that due to having demanding creative lives, we both liked to play in long stretches, usually when we were stressed or burnt out. We called it our “Sims Bunker”, where we had our comfy blankets, drinks, snacks, pajamas, and anything else we’d need to spend a prolonged amount of time in a fallout shelter where the only thing to do was play Sims. I always felt better after spending some time in The Sims Bunker.
When I discovered the benefits of The Sims Bunker, I was just a stressed out college student and didn’t think too much about it, but in 2006, I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder I, generalized anxiety disorder, and agoraphobia, and The Sims (and gaming in general) became a key part of my mental health strategy.
My type of bipolar disorder mainly manifests as extreme depression and anxiety, and I utilize the “Sims Bunker” as a way to cope. It helps me escape persistent suicidal thoughts and helps me be creative when I don’t have the “spoons” to be creative IRL.
When I can’t function properly in my day to day life due to depression, I can make sure my Sims are taken care of and they can live fulfilled, often idealistic lives. Or I can use them to creatively express a personal narrative, on Twitter, Patreon, or this site.
So that’s how the term Sims Bunker came to be. When I’m playing Sims, I’m in my Sims Bunker!
Other games that qualify as Sims Bunkering are Stardew Valley, Pokemon, Animal Crossing, and World Of Warcraft, but no matter what, I always come back to The Sims!
PS. Wondering why all my Sims’ last names are Moody? Because The Sims 4, launched in 2014, was the first in the franchise to introduce moods and emotions, which we now refer to as “moodlets” in the game!