EA and Maxis announcedThe Sims 5in a live stream in October. Codenamed Project Rene, the game doesn’t have a release date yet and is likely many years away. However, that hasn’t stopped Maxis from making big promises about the game, sayingThe Sims 5offers “new ways to play” and “a foundation of charming Sims, powerful tools, and meaningful stories.” Still, it will probably be some time before developers have anything ready to show.
While many players enjoy creating their custom Sim families, each game has always offered a range of premade characters. Some of them have appeared in multiple games, and at least a few might be due for a comeback inthe upcomingThe Sims 5. This includes the Doe family, one of the more mysterious and potentially sinister households inThe Sims 3.
The Sims 3’s Doe Family
The Doe family lives in Midnight Hollow, aspooky DLC world available forThe Sims 3. Released almost a decade ago in September 2013, it is a sleepy town with a dark color scheme, eerie architecture, and numerous references to popular horror franchises. The locals are known for being a little eccentric, even downright creepy in some cases.
Compared to some of their neighbors, the Doe family stands out for how normal they appear on the surface. Residing at 25 Swallow Street, the Does resemble a stereotypical nuclear family from a 1950s sitcom. John Doe is a businessman, while his wife, Jane Doe, cares for their three children, Joseph, Jennifer, and James, and has a fourth baby on the way. The kids all get along and seem well-behaved and perfectly normal. However, there’s something off about this unassumingfamily of Sims.
The first and most apparent oddity is their names. John Doe and Jane Doe are common placeholder names for unidentified adults. Meanwhile, James Doe and Jennifer Doe are variants sometimes used for unidentified children. While the placeholders are used in other contexts, they are mainly associated with unidentified corpses, such as murder victims. However, even without the murder association, there’s something odd about a group of Sims named “Unknown Man,” “Unknown Woman,” and their kids “Unknown Boy” and “Unknown Girl.”
The family’s sitcom persona is also a little out of place and stands out in the horror-themed Midnight Hollow. It’s as if they are trying so hard to seem normal that it circles around to being suspicious. The Doe family’s official descriptionfeatured inThe Sims 3is also a little odd, making them sound almost too perfect. The final line also reveals that the Does house used to have a basement but doesn’t anymore, which raises all kinds of red flags.
The Sims 3producer Lisa Smith added fuel to the fire in a September 2013 blog post. The post reads as a brief interview where Smith tries to learn what brought the family to Midnight Hollow. However, things quickly go off the rails, with Jane becoming frantic when the interviewer turns down a cup of tea. The teenage Joseph storms out as Jennifer stares blankly ahead, and James giggles in the corner. It’s an off-putting little scene that raises a lot of questions about this strangefamily of premade Sims. They are clearly hiding something, butThe Sims 3never offers an answer as to what.
The Simsfans haven’t seen the Doe family in about a decade, butThe Sims 5has an excellent opportunity to do something with the suspicious household. Solving the mystery might take some of the fun from this creepy family, but developers could sprinkle some more clues around to keep the intrigue train rolling. Perhaps Maxis could do something with the creepy basement angle or expand on the odd behavior of the family members. However, regardless of which route the studio takes, the mysterious Doe family has too much potential for developers to leave them out ofThe Sims 5.
The Sims 5is in development.
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