10 Video Games That Were Secretly Judging You The Whole Time

The Sims series has always been chock-full of odd little secrets that make each title feel like a bizarre but wonderful fever dream. The Sims 2 is no exception here; however, aside from your typical Grim Reapers and alien abductions, it also features a unique mechanic that secretly judges you as you build your lots.

One of the expansion packs for the game, Apartment Life, includes a new type of NPC called the Social Group Townies. The townies belong to different social cliques in your neighborhood, such as jocks, gearheads, socialites, etc. Each group has its own preferences for how they act, what types of interactions they value, and finally, what location is their primary spot for mingling.

When you build new lots for your community, the game secretly grades them on how appealing they are to each social group in town. Based on the lot's size, the price of its furniture, and even things like wallpaper and flooring, it divides each lot into low, medium, and high-class establishments and then assigns them to different social groups.

So next time you build a super expensive park for your sims, don't be surprised that only rich people want to visit it.