If you played the original Sims game, you’ll remember various eccentricities of its community-simulating antics. Without a toilet, Sims would wet themselves. In a swimming pool without steps, Sims wouldn’t be able to get out, would drown, and then summon the Grim Reaper. Its loading screens had intermittently funny messages detailing what the computer might be doing – like “Perturbing Matrices”, or that old chestnut “Reticulating Splines”.

Think back to the music, though, and the only tunes that stick out are the seriously nostalgic ones from the game’s building and buy modes. That gold is no longer the musical focus of the newer games. Instead, From Sims 2 onwards, EA has had actual charting musicians performing versions of their songs in gobbledegook language ‘Simlish’, to seamlessly flow into the game. For starters, how about Carly Rae Jepsen, with this undignified version of her sax-filled 2015 banger ‘Run Away With Me’?


That’s just the latest iteration of the phenomenon. Here’s 16 more smash hits from The Sims – which celebrates its twentieth birthday this week.

Here they are ranked in order of most to least predictable – a real highlight is Jason Derulo not singing his own name for once.

16. Natasha Bedingfield – ‘Pocketful of Sunshine’

15. Superorganism – ‘Everybody Wants to be Famous’

14. The Knocks – ‘Classic’

12. Mxmtoon – ‘Prom Dress’

11. Mike Posner – ‘Cooler Than Me’


10. Jason Derulo – ‘Don’t Wanna Go Home’

9. Pussycat Dolls – ‘Don’t Cha’

8. Lily Allen – ‘Smile’

7. Rita Ora – ‘Shine Ya Light’

6. Katy Perry – ‘Last Friday Night’

5. OK GO – ‘This Too Shall Pass’

4. Nelly – ‘Hot in Herre’

3. Paramore – ‘Pressure’

2. My Chemical Romance – ‘Na Na Na (Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na Na)’

1. Depeche Mode – ‘Suffer Well’