The Sims Bunker began as a way to relieve extreme stress, anxiety, and depression from being a single mom in college, when the original “The Sims” game was released in 2000.

I was going to school in the competitive field of advertising and found that The Sims were great as almost a psychological spa treatment, where, if I “entered” for 3-4 days as a raw, nervous, depressed, wreck of a person, I would be recharged creatively for several months or more, until life got too hectic again and I needed another “treatment”.

I also found that The Sims allowed me to be creative, when I was too burnt out, from being creative professionally, to function. There are probably few feelings worse to an artist, than feeling so wrung out that a shower seems impossible, let alone an actual creative project!

Decorating a room or designing a house in The Sims 4, then staging screenshots, is just as creative to me, as creating an original photograph or digital collage, it’s just a different medium. It’s “post-photography“, if anything ever was, and gamers have had this figured out for decades!

The Sims Bunker is simple:

Step 1: Download & install The Sims 4. It’s literally free. You don’t have to spend money, as long as your computer or gaming system is good enough to play the game. This part probably takes the longest, so do this first! If it’s already installed, fire up the game since it takes so long to load for most of us! If you play with mods, update them now! This part can take an hour (more if you’re installing all the DLC, which costs money!)

Step 2: Decide where you want to be for the next 3-4 days and set up your PC or gaming system for optimal relaxation. Pick a cozy spot where you can comfortably use a game controller, a mouse or your track pad. I also light lavender candles, cuz I’m extra and I like to engage all five senses like they would at a spa! It helps me clear my mind and stay in the moment!

Step 3: I know this part sucks, but try to FORCE yourself you have a shower. It’s not mandatory, I’ve definitely gone trash panda chic in the Sims Bunker a time or two, but trust me, you’ll feel better and enjoy this more if you start off fresh and clean. Plus, this gives the game time to load/download/install and for your scented candles to fill the room. (Disclaimer: don’t leave candles unattended! *cough*)

Step 4: After showering, put on your favourite, most comfiest clothes. (Preferably clean ones! If you’re having executive dysfunction, choose clean over comfort!) This could be pajamas or sweat pants, satin or flannel, it doesn’t matter! Be naked if you want! The only people who are gonna see you for the next few days are the people who live with you, and possibly Uber Eats drivers!

Step 5: Gather your softest, fluffiest blanket, your favourite pillow or Squishmallow, and TWO beverages of your choice. (I do not recommend alcohol, the point of this is hydration because this is a marathon, not a sprint, but you do you.)

Step 6: Grab a snack. (More on snack selection at a later date, but basically you want something you can eat with one hand, because you’ll be using your other to play the game!)

Step 7: GO PEE! You don’t want to have to get up just as you get into the game! Getting up = IRL interruptions!

Step 8: Get comfy and immerse yourself in Sims (or a similar game) for as long as your schedule allows, or until you feel like doing something else! For me, the process usually takes about 3-4 days.

Like I said, it’s pretty simple, but somehow magic!

When I come out the other end, my mind is clearer and whatever problem I was having or state I was in when I started seems to have a solution or has dissolved!

So, The Sims Bunker became a way of life.

Now, when I’m burnt out from life, professional or just in general, I retreat to The Sims Bunker, immerse myself in a game for a few days, and usually all is well!

I’ve been doing this for 25 years, since The Sims game franchise began, and I’m pretty sure that without this neutral outlet, my bipolar, anxious nature would have gotten the better of me by now, to disastrous results!

This site is where I chronicle my Sims stories and mental health journey through gaming, the way I used to on LiveJournal, Patreon, and Twitter/X. Hopefully it’s of benefit to someone somehow.

I think it’s especially important for women to make space in their days to do play video games, if only to make space for us in this industry in general, but also because I feel like a lot of us have a tendency to get caught up in whatever our primary occupations are, and we go so hard at everything, that gaming allows the brain to rest & flow on its own, without much force, with achievable goals (if you find the right games). It can also release anger & frustration while not hurting anyone or yourself by either allowing you to let it go by way of passive, casual games, or by releasing it by being competitive & aggressive, like in games where you have to kill things or play against other people.

I think it’s important for women to take time for themselves on a regular, if not daily, therapeutic basis in general because so many of us traditionally haven’t. I was not encouraged to play video games as a child, even tho I liked them, because my grama thought they were lazy and for boys, and that she was instilling a healthy work ethic in me, when all she was doing was giving me an adult complex that it took a lot of therapy & time to come to terms with & learn to fucking relax! Now I get a lot more done and I’m a lot happier!

I don’t care if the game is Candy Crush on your phone every day, or something crazy competitive pew pew pew like Overwatch, it doesn’t matter what the game is, as long as your brain is engaged in a fun, low stakes activity with achievable goals, that you can do comfortably, in your own home or office.

People keep asking me why I’m so “okay” now, and honestly, figuring this out and allowing myself time & space to play guilt-free when I need to has been part of my mental healthy journey and why I began this site. I literally think it’s needed for my brain to be calm, productive & happy. Maybe you need it too. YMMV.

We have a new logo! And I revamped the whole site to be more in line with what my original vision for it was! I’m very pleased with it so far! (But I wish I could get off of Twitter/X, still trying out alternatives. )

Well, it’s been a minute since I updated this site, not that anyone goes here anyway, but I’m currently preparing to hit the Sims Bunker for a few days, so I thought I’d post an update before I did.

“Preparing” to hit the Sims Bunker involves tying up loose ends in my work, finishing commitments, and setting aside a solid chunk of time to dedicate to taking care of myself and my mental health!

Right now my brain is badly in need of a vacation!

Spring and summer are super busy times for me socially. There’s BBQs, bonfires, private parties and music concerts in the city to go to! And this summer is shaping up to be no different!

I just came off a 3 week run of events a couple of days ago, and my social battery is more or less depleted. It’s time to jump into The Sims and I am so ready for the mental break! I have ONE more social engagement to get through tonight and then it’s smooth Sim sailing until the end of the weekend! w00t!

The Moody Family State Of The Union

It’s been a while since I’ve had the chance to immerse myself fully in the world of Charlie Moody and his disciples, but like I mentioned, it’s been even longer since I posted an update on them, so let me catch you up to speed.

When I first started playing The Moody Family, I was having a hell of a time keeping everyone clean because you need a Handiness skill of 7 to craft a wooden bath tub, and the skill needs to be maxed out at 10 to craft a wooden toilet!

In the meantime, everyone was stuck with peeing in dirty bushes, which made them extra dirty and miserable, and less likely to want to craft anything!

The best solution to this I found to not having tubs yet, was getting my Sims to shower in the rain during the spring and summer. This, unfortunately, lead to one of my teens being hit by lightning! She was okay, but she was actually DIRTIER afterwards!

For my mermaids, who were drying out as fast as if we were playing in the Sahara, I had to utilize the community pool with them daily if I wanted to keep them happy! It takes a long time for mermaids to hydrate this way, to it was pretty tedious and time consuming! And their hydration decays faster than a regular Sims’ hygiene, I’m pretty sure! I was so relieved when one of them was finally skilled enough to craft a tub and soak in the water! FINALLY!

Meanwhile, Back At The Farm…

I had to make an executive decision at some point last year, regarding the community garden lot.

I had built a BEAUTIFUL community garden and stocked it with every single fruit and vegetable in the game. All my Sims had to do was plant and maintain everything.

Charlie and Faith Moody planted the whole garden and I expected the rest of the community to take care of it from then on autonomously, when I was playing various families. That did not happen. I think the family you were currently playing was expected to tend the garden, which would have made tending the community garden a full time job for all of my Sims.

Since I have other goals in the game, and Country Living was released, I decided to bulldoze the 50×50 community garden lot and move Charlie and The Moody Family HQ to the same lot to start a farm!

Since the Horse Ranch expansion was also released during this time and wine/nectar making became an actual profession, I decided to make the cult’s economy wine-based. At least until I’m able to get them established in cannabis growing and selling.

So far, Charlie has some chickens, a cow, a llama, and a tiny greenhouse full of grapes! His compound also has several dew collectors and wind turbines to gather water and electricity! That means that select items, that ordinarily wouldn’t work off-grid, actually do! I’ll make a separate post at some point with items I’ve found that work off-grid or with limited electricity, that are fine for this challenge! (And why!)

Love Is In The Air!

Charlie decided he needed some help running the cult and recruiting members, so he enlisted Faith to be his assistant!

So, Faith and her sister Gemma moved onto the Moody Compound, and I dunno if it was the shack’s close quarters, or if Charlie’s just that enigmatic of a leader, but Faith soon found herself falling in love with him. Gemma likes Charlie, but ultimately could not care less.

Faith is now hoping that Charlie will ask her to marry him, but first, he has to realize she’s even a viable candidate. Currently, Charlie is solo polyamorous and is tied down to no one! What will Faith have to do to change that?

Dead Dog Society

So I have good news and bad news.

The bad news is that my dogs keep getting sick from getting in fights with squirrels in the pee bushes. One of them even died!

The original rules of The Moody Family Challenge that I set out in the very beginning, said that if a pet gets sick, they either have to get better on their own, or they simply have to die.

The reason for this was because The Moody Family’s only transportation at the time, were bicycles, and the whole town of Brindleton Bay, with the exception of the Lounge, was off-the-grid, so I couldn’t move in a pre-made veterinarian. Plus, I didn’t want to lose the real estate or have to put in an NPC.

Currently, the town has no NPCs!

So, I put a pre-fab veterinarian in Newcrest and allowed them to travel there with a sick dog once, but I found the experience completely inauthentic to the story, and decided I needed a new solution.

Enter: Robin Moody

So, the good news is that I’m bending my own rules to allow for Robin Moody to become a veterinarian for the community. She’s been given a free community lot right beside her house, but I didn’t give her any Simoleons to start her business.

My goal for Robin is for her to slowly earn enough money to purchase and build everything she needs to open a veterinary clinic. I’m not sure if anything needed for a vet clinic works off-the-grid – I kinda doubt it, there are scanners and things – but I’m fully prepared to give the lot electricity and water if it’s absolutely necessary. Although, I still plan to do everything in my power to have an off-the-grid lot, by having her invest in dew collectors and wind turbines.

Due to the expense involved in starting a vet clinic, I expect that this subplot is going to take me a while to achieve, especially since Robin’s doing it by selling one $700, hand-crafted, wooden bath tub at a time!

We Have Cult Puppies!

I found another way for the cult to make money: breeding puppies!

Or at least, they would if I could sell the damn things! As of the last time I played, the mechanic for selling or surrendering pets appeared to be broken! Same with adopting mini goats! What the actual!

Hopefully it’s fixed before I login later tonight!

Putting Kids To Work

Scrambling for money in your off-grid challenge? Kids can knit! And some of them really like it! Then they can gift those knitted items to a teen or adult Sim to sell on Plopsy! Or just use them in your decor, as anything handmade fits the cult aesthetic perfectly!

That’s It!

I guess that’s all the updates I have right now. My last social engagement of the week is almost over, I’ve been writing this on my laptop as I sit at a table in a public square in downtown Barrie, Ontario, Canada with about 20 other people who, are all laughing and socializing. The sun is just setting and the heat of the day has dissipated.

When I get back to my partner’s house after this event, I have to pack up all of my stuff from spending the night here, then we’ll both make the half hour trek to my house in Elmvale where I’ll be for the rest of the week.

When I get home, I plan to put on my comfiest black & white striped pajama pants, my biggest, coziest, pinkest SunnyGrrrl t-shirt, and snuggle into my fluffy pink blanket, which was the best $30 I ever spent on Amazon!

Then I’m gonna settle in for a full week of working from home, eating snacks, sleeping weird hours, and being in and out of the Sims Bunker. I hope whatever you have planned for the week is successful or fun, and if not, feel free to join me in the Bunker!