Escapism, plain and simple.

I live my fantasy life through my sims.
Marry a hot guy, awesome career, unlimited amount of $, as many kids as I like, the house and car of my dreams ...

Plus, it's fun.

I,ve played TS 1 for years and only just recently got into TS 2 but so far i have found TS2 to be Great and enjoying it enormously i especially find those university fights to be hilarious especially when those uni mascots get into a fight when i first seen that i lol'd so hard that i was almost ROFL'ing i also enjoy building houses and the build Music in TS2 i find far more relaxing almost inspirational whilst building then TS 1 still love TS 1 though

I play Sims because they make me laugh, I love messing with thier genetics. I like building houses and making sims as well, I also do it to escape reality you need to once in awhile.

Because in the sims I am god.

No, really I like making all my sims super happy. In TS2 I believe I have had a grand total of 3 divorces in the game. When my sims marry they marry for life, believe me. I divorced Daniel and Mary-Sue Pleasant, and then another self-made couple, and Brandi Broke from her new husband because I resurrected Skip. Other than that things are as perfect as I can make them. Occasionally I do feel evil though...

I can't help thinking of them as sort of barbie dolls/dollhouses for grown-ups though. I love the imaginative side to the sims. Anything is possible.

Yep, and, in my case, it keeps my "Material Girl" under control. I may not have the money to have an endless closet of amazing outfits, one of those new Mustangs and a fabulously decorated house (I'm working on the last one...starting with my kitchen and living room), but it doesn't bother me as much while I save up and/or have to put a freeze on spending anything beyond basic necessities, because my sims can have them in the meantime. And my self-sim is dating Johnny Depp and Orlando Bloom clones...at the same time. Yep, she is *so* bad.

I play this game because it's one of many game titles that allow me to have control over everything. Sum would say I have a complex...