There are 5,200 results if you search the words “ Sims torture chamber ” on YouTube.
Among these are videos of virtual people locked in rooms with mirrored walls, trapped in skydiving simulators with blocked exits, and – of course – flailing in swimming pools from which, after the removal of the ladder, the Sim cannot escape.
“PLEASE NOTE THAT I WOULD NORMALLY NEVER DO THIS KIND OF STUFF WITH MY SIMS!! I ONLY GOT BORED OF THE SIMS 1!!!” reveals a disclaimer on one video created by the unnervingly-named user StarSweetieSqueaker , who forced eight Sims to wet themselves before setting them alight in a single room decorated with circus wallpaper.
Eight sleep-deprived Sims set alight in a windowless room, via YouTube
StarSweetieSqueaker is probably not a deranged psychopath living out sick, twisted fantasies of murder and torture. They are, most likely, an ordinary person – or at least, an ordinary The Sims player.
Sandra Donselaar runs the tutorial website sims-online.com and reveals that the page “ The Sims 4 Death Guide, Killing your Sims ” is the second most-visited this month (the first being the cheats page). “The total unique pageviews for this guide are 287,222 and 90 per cent of them landed on this page by searching through Google,” she says.
It is clear, then, that many people enjoy murdering their Sims. The question is: why?
“When people are immersed in virtual environments, a phenomenon called the disinhibition effect may be evoked,” says Berni Good, the founder of Cyber Psychologist, a team of academics specialising in the psychology of the gamer. “In this state, people do not perceive any authority and even if their names are clearly apparent they perceive anonymity. Thus, the normal social interactions people have face-to-face fall to the wayside and people may act in virtual worlds in a way they would not in the real world.”
A Sim being electrocuted, via Imgur
Adam, a 16-year-old student who wishes to be identified only by his first name, explains his motivations for acting sadistically in The Sims. Last month, he adopted a Sim child, locked him in a glass room in the garden, forced him to watch a pool party going on around him, and slowly starved him to death.
“I guess my motivations were boredom and a desire to play the game outside of conventional play styles,” he says. “I suppose it was also a way to relieve some anger that I had been feeling that day, if I recall correctly. Just a harmless way of taking it out on something. .. It didn’t have any effect on a real person, and I’m certainly not going to torture a kid in real life because I did it in a computer game.”
Good notes that this behaviour can be psychologically beneficial. “Taking out one’s aggression out in videogames may be a safe way to deal with difficult thoughts and allows the player to have elements of control that they could not display in the real world,” she says.
Five identical Sim toddlers left to die, via YouTube
I understand Adam’s motivations. After purchasing a copy of Sims 4 last week, I played for an hour, found an in-game boyfriend, engaged in some titillating WooHoo and then grew bored with the traditional way of playing the game. That is how I found myself, without a single trace of emotion, uttering the words: “I want to cheat on him and set him on fire.”
But is this a worrying insight into my psyche? Are all humans fundamentally bad? Does the way we play The Sims prove that none of us can be trusted with power?
“There is a concern about social learning theory, ‘I see I do’,” says Good, referring to the age-old debate about whether violent video games inspire children to act violently in the real world. “But the research does not suggest those people playing violent games are any more violent in the real world than those not participating in this kind of play.”
I personally believe that murder in the The Sims is enjoyable because it differs from murder in games that are intended to be violent. When you stab someone in Grand Theft Auto or mutilate someone in Skyrim , you are fulfilling the gameplay and advancing with the game as was intended. When you force someone to swim themselves to death in The Sims , you are simultaneously breaking the rules, getting creative, and exploring the boundaries of the game. These same experiences are gained with many other nostalgic simulator games intended for children, including Theme Hospital and Rollercoaster Tycoon.
Sims, dressed as hot dogs, being forced to work in a sweatshop creating art, via Imgur
Ben Brock, a 27-year-old who works in publishing, experienced this while playing a game called Zoo Tycoon as a child. Brock discovered that he could make his zoo visitors be mauled by animals, and he could click on an individual to read their thoughts. “They would actually repeatedly think to themselves, ‘Oh no! I’m being mauled by Bengal Tiger 7!‘ if such a thing happened to them,” he says.
Since the visitors couldn’t actually die, Brock enjoyed watching them running around and screaming, and trapping them when they tried to escape. “God, I should probably be locked up,” he says.
Brock agrees with my thesis that it isn’t so much about the violence as it is about experimenting with the game, saying he was never a “gamer” or into outwardly violent games. “Videogames, even open-ended ones, often feel so restrictive – there’s only so many buttons you can press – so playing them against the grain feels very freeing,” he says.
Good concurs. “It’s about people having autonomy and choice when playing games. Autonomy is a basic psychological need that feeds into motivation and happiness, whereby in the real world people have many obligations. In video gameplay being the master of one’s own destiny without constraints can be very compelling,” she says.
Yet although Sim murder and/or torture isn’t usually a sign of anything pathological, sometimes it can be.
A woman in her mid-twenties, who wishes to be identified only by the pseudonym “Eve”, tells me she was diagnosed with Antisocial Personality Disorder and has scored 33/40 on the psychopathy test PCL-R. “I think my real-life diagnosis ties into how I play games somewhat,” she says. “My reasons for creating my Sim torture chamber were partially as a way to vent and partially as a way to entertain myself. If I had a particularly annoying encounter that day, I’d blow off steam by creating a Sim of the person who wronged me and putting them through hell. These days I use therapy to vent my desire to harm and kill, but games are still a great outlet.
“The thing is, if I could run the same experiments on real people without any chance of being caught, I absolutely would.”
But only 1 per cent of the population are psychopaths, whereas thousands of The Sims players enjoy murdering their creations. The fact that drowning your Sim by removing the pool ladder has become a trope and a meme in its own right proves this.
A hot dog ghost, via Imgur
For the most part, then, killing our Sims doesn’t make us bad people – though, I suppose, nor does it make us good. While I built four walls around my virtual neighbour and enclosed her in there with multiple plates of rotten food and an unflushed toilet, other players were acting more innocently.
“I consistently switched a Sim to wear their swimming trunks every time a fellow Sim visited,” says Dan Bougourd, a 34-year-old business intelligence analyst, when I ask about his experiences playing the game as a child. “I’m not sure what I was thinking, but I made myself smile with the regularity with which I did it. I fear he may have found it difficult to form relationships.”
/* */
Turkey was the main topic of conversation for my family over the Christmas break. Not in the usual way, when we discuss which celebrity chef’s turkey roasting technique we’re faddishly going to mimic this year. (The blessed bird always tastes exactly the same, without fail.) On the day my family was first reunited for the holidays, news came of the assassination of Russia’s ambassador to Turkey. “You don’t want to mess with the Turks,” my youngest brother offered, predictably. “Or the Russians, for that matter,” he said.
The room was heavy with worrying about global politics. With peace in the world so fragile, my father was looking around at his sons and grandsons and thinking of the young men of his 1940s childhood. A week later we shared the announcement of the ceasefire in Syria, brokered seemingly against the odds by Turkey and Russia at the UN. Let’s hope that my brother is right and that no one will mess with the Turks and the Russians, and that the Syrian people, whose lives and losses haunt us all, can have a glimmer of hope for 2017. No one in my family is convinced that peace is on its way, but we made promising noises nonetheless.
Wish upon a star
As I’m sure he will be doing for the next six years, my son demanded a family outing to watch the latest Star Wars flick. Rogue One did not disappoint. We’re a bunch of Star Wars fanatics. My brother Luke was named by our older siblings in homage to Mr Skywalker. My mother vetoed calling me Leia.
The news of Carrie Fisher’s death hit us hard, but none more so than my eldest son, who took to YouTube (as all of his generation do) to watch every interview with her. He sat down at breakfast and said: “Carrie Fisher had a mental health problem, Mom, and she was a really big feminist, did you know?” “Yes,” I answered, “I did know, and the fact that she was willing to talk about it made her pretty special.” “She was pretty ace, wasn’t she, Mom?” he said.
Yes, bab, she really was.
Straight to video
Perhaps until this year I lived under a rock, or was a normal person who didn’t seek out the New Year messages of political leaders. My metamorphosis into a Westminster bubble-dweller must be complete, though, because this year I watched the offerings of both Jeremy Corbyn and Theresa May. Next year I mightn’t bother.
I watched Mrs May’s at 1.15am on 1 January – after returning from an evening out dancing and drinking with my mates. Perhaps this set it up for a fall, because I felt she wasn’t really grabbing the New Year spirit. It left me thinking that although the message of unity wasn’t bad, she could have cheered up a bit.
Jeremy’s offering was hampered by the version I watched sounding as if he was on a building site. I think expectations let this one down, as it had been trailed as the beginning of a new move to grasp the populist nettle. I was expecting the pizzazz of a slogan such as “Make Labour great again”. Aside from mentioning the establishment, the text of his message could have been written by Ed Miliband’s speechwriters.
I think neither of these videos will launch a thousand ships and, alas, the privileged few chided in both videos will, I am certain, be resting as comfily in their establishment beds in 2017 as they were in 2016. I’m not pleased about this, but I am more of a realist than a populist.
All’s fair in love and war
I like to poke fun at the idea of resolutions, and to pretend that I’m a cynic who can’t be won over by the endless “new year, new you” lifestyle articles about losing weight or becoming a better version of yourself, which are all so heavily gendered in tone. I’ll be the same shape and size and as good as I’m going to get at the end of 2017 as I am at the start. In 2013, inspired by the Boney M hit (“Ra-ra Rasputin”), I made a resolution to become Russia’s greatest love machine. Had I put in the effort, perhaps geopolitics today might be in better shape.
Land of hope and glory
Despite my cynicism, I find myself looking forward to 2017 with hope. I’m as terrified of a Donald Trump presidency and the unknowns of Brexit as the next person, but I spent the break with my friends and family, who range from political nerds to people who don’t vote and couldn’t name a single member of the cabinet. I find that most people are just crossing fingers for the best in their own lives. They don’t give a toss about half the stuff that haunts us in Westminster, but they do give a toss about each other.
French connections
My brother and sister-in-law are classic examples of what Theresa May calls the “just about managing”, or Jams. When we chatted about it on Christmas Day, they rolled their eyes at being the new Tory target audience. They want things to be easier and better for them and their young son, but they wouldn’t use their vote to damn other people. My other brother and his family live in France and, for them, 2017 brings an impossible choice between a Continental version of Thatcherism and the BNP. They are both convinced that liberté, égalité, fraternité will remain in their lives and in those of their neighbours, regardless of the vote.
Critical events
This year could see a huge crisis in the world, for all sorts of reasons. My mother used to say, “Never waste a crisis,” and I hope we won’t. If we do our best, 2017 and all the possible macro horrors will be counteracted by simple British shrugging and getting on with making sure that the way we live does not look like the crazy hate fuelled by figureheads like Trump.
I expect that most people wouldn’t call themselves socialists, yet deep down we all believe that we are all better off when we are all better off – and I hope that in 2017 we show it. It’s the only chance we have to clear out the gloom.
Jess Phillips is the MP for Birmingham Yardley (Labour)

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/* */
Journalist and TV presenter Charlie Brooker has come under intense scrutiny for mocking Jeremy Corbyn in his 2016 Wipe – the latest instalment of his annual dose of spiky mockery of the past year.
And by “intense scrutiny”, your mole is of course referring to that great organ of free expression, the nation’s last bastion of speaking truth to power, The Canary. Yes, those click-thirsty conspiracy mongers over on the alt left “news” site have written a DEVASTATING BLOG POST about what Brooker’s show should and shouldn’t have said about the Labour leader and other politicians.
The piece takes issue with an Ant and Dec pun Brooker makes in an aside about Corbyn being unable to recognise the presenting duo: “If you think that’s tough, try getting him to recognise Ant n’ Semitism.”
Your mole’s chuckles at this quip at the time could be heard in neighbouring burrows.
But The Canary was not amused. “The quip cements a fabricated smear campaign from media pundits, the pro-Israel lobby, Conservative MPs, and Blairites who all have a common enemy: Corbyn,” it moaned, before going on to complain that Brooker dared mention “ Traingate ” – that beautiful time in August when Corbyn sat on the floor of a train for a little bit and then Virgin produced some CCTV footage suggesting there were seats available.
This Twitter conversation between the writer of the cutting-edge investigation and Brooker is particularly revealing, with Brooker at long last admitting: “We originally planned a 25min pro-Corbyn musical number but our shadowy Blairite handlers insisted we scrap it.”
@wrightismight I don’t understand the question. What do you mean by „agenda“?
— Charlie Brooker (@charltonbrooker) January 3, 2017
@wrightismight We (that is, the show) have free reign. BBC never suggests or requests anything be specifically covered / ignored.
— Charlie Brooker (@charltonbrooker) January 3, 2017
@wrightismight We originally planned a 25min pro-Corbyn musical number but our shadowy Blairite handlers insisted we scrap it.
— Charlie Brooker (@charltonbrooker) January 3, 2017
The Canary argues Brooker should have made more jokes about Theresa May, although it does admit: “No one is asking political items to be ‘pro-Corbyn’.”
So, as some baffled commentators have been asking , what kind of digs would it accept at the Labour leader’s expense? Here are a few suggestions:
How many Jeremy Corbyns does it take to change a lightbulb?
None. Jeremy Corbyn inspires change from within.
*
What’s the difference between Jeremy Corbyn and Owen Smith?
Principles!
*
Why did Jeremy Corbyn cross the road?
Because the trains had all been privatised.
*
Why did the chicken cross the road?
There was a coup against Jeremy Corbyn on the other side!
*
How do you tell the difference between Jesus and Jeremy Corbyn?
The MSM only crucified Christ once.
*
Knock knock.
Who’s there?
Jeremy.
Jeremy who?
Is that the Blairite commentariat pre-September 2015 at the door?
*
Jeremy Corbyn walks into a bar. The barman asks: “Why the long history of campaigning against all forms of racism?”
*
What’s black, white and red all over?
Jeremy Corbyn’s favourite newspaper!
*
Doctor, doctor – I feel like Jeremy Corbyn!
So do I. It’s time for a real alternative to the neoliberal consensus.
*
An Englishman, a Welshman and a Scotsman walk into a bar. “What’ll it be?” asks the barman. “We all want the same thing,” they reply in unison. “A Labour leader who supports a wider discussion about devolution policy across the whole of the UK.”
“Jeremy Corbyns all round then!”
*
What do you call a man with two left feet?
Jeremy Corbyn when he’s kicking the establishment!
You’re welcome, Charlie.
If you’ve been struggling to come up with a suitable New Year resolution, may I suggest a determined plan to drink more? That might sound superficially attractive (depending on what kind of New Year you had) but I should make clear from the outset that it’s water, not alcohol, that I have in mind.
Ensuring adequate hydration has certain benefits, medically speaking. A good fluid throughput reduces the chance of urinary tract infection, and helps prevent attacks of gout and kidney stone formation in people prone to these conditions. If we’re short of water, the bowel will reabsorb every last drop from what doctors euphemistically term the “stool”, which can lead to constipation. And our kidneys function best when there is plenty of water around – they respond to dehydration by concentrating urine to conserve body water, but in doing so they can sustain damage through metabolic stress.
Aside from these medical aspects, there may be softer benefits. As the body starts to dehydrate, water within cells is drawn out into the circulation. The resultant cellular water loss can affect function in a variety of tissues. Athletes’ fluid balance has been the subject of extensive research, and even mild levels of dehydration measurably reduce physical performance. Studies of brain function have shown conflicting results, but overall it appears that mild to moderate dehydration impairs concentration and the ability to think through complex tasks. Headache is a common symptom of water depletion and, although it’s not a miracle cure, studies show that the severity and duration of headaches can be reduced by optimising hydration. So frequent swigs from a bottle of water may help ensure we’re in top condition to tackle our day.
Beyond this, water is a critical ally in the fight against the modern plague of obesity. Quenching our thirst with pretty much any other drink freights in energy along with the H2O, adding to our overall calorie load. There is also some suggestion that we readily confuse thirst for hunger. This might sound daft, but both sensations are mediated by the same region of the brain, and our highly adaptable brains rapidly forge associations between behaviours and the biological drives that they satisfy. All foodstuffs contain water, so it has always been possible to ease thirst by eating; but many of the fluids we consume nowadays are highly calorific, so we often sate our hunger by drinking. As a consequence of these crossed wires, we may be taking substantial excess energy into our bodies when all we’re after is some H2O. Anyone wanting to tackle an expanding waistline should respond to apparent hunger pangs with a good drink of water. If twenty minutes later you no longer crave food, then what you were experiencing was thirst.
As we age, our sense of thirst diminishes, and many elderly people completely lose the cues that ordinarily prompt fluid intake. Of itself, this increases susceptibility to urinary tract infection, but dehydration is also a frequent and severe complication of otherwise minor illnesses such as flu or gastroenteritis in this age group. The rapid downward spiral of low blood pressure, kidney failure and mental confusion frequently leads to hospital admission, or even death. We assume that if someone isn’t thirsty then they’re not short of fluids, but the most important advice I give elderly patients is to ensure that they drink regularly, even if they don’t feel like it.
If you are interested in increasing your own daily water intake, get yourself a bottle to refill from the tap, rather than adding to the mountain of plastic waste we produce. How much to drink varies according to individual circumstances, but two litres over 24 hours should be fine – three at a push. The best gauge is your urine colour: pale straw is what you’re looking for. Darker suggests you should drink more, but if you’re constantly peeing stuff that’s as clear as Evian then you’re overdoing it. And with that, I wish you a happy, hydrated new year.

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Chris Berman has taken his Swami Sez NFL picks segment, seen on SportsCenter, to ESPN Chalk. He’ll give his favorite picks against the spread here with a little further analysis.
Season record: 51-32 ATS (last week: 2-3)
Oakland Raiders at Houston Texans
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This is a very difficult game to handicap. It’s hard to imagine Connor Cook generating a ton of offense in his first NFL start, especially against a very tough Houston defense. If Oakland runs the ball 38 times for 100 yards, the Raiders are in trouble. If they can run it 38 times for 140 yards or so, then it will be a ballgame. Brock Osweiler played perhaps his best game of the season against Oakland in Week 11 in Mexico City and threw the ball well. Maybe he has a bunch of confidence from that game. In the end, however Oakland tries to move the ball, I think Houston’s D carries the day. Texans advance.
Score: Houston 19, Oakland 17
Detroit Lions at Seattle Seahawks
Will the real Seahawks please stand up? I’m waiting for them. These are pros who know when the playoff button has been pushed, but it’s clear they miss safety Earl Thomas. Seattle is just 2-3 without him, and he’s out for the rest of the year. But this defense usually steps up at home in front of its 12th Man. Even though Detroit’s Darius Slay is a good corner, I like Seattle’s offense to do pretty well against the Lions‘ defense, especially tight end Jimmy Graham. Keep an eye on receiver Paul Richardson , who will be Tyler Lockett ’s replacement. I have a ton of respect for what Matthew Stafford has done this season, but I think the Lions are running out of gas a little bit. I’m looking for Seattle to be the team I picked to represent the NFC before the season.
Score: Seattle 27, Detroit 16
Miami Dolphins at Pittsburgh Steelers
Running back Jay Ajayi isn’t going to run for 200 yards again, as Pittsburgh has had plenty of time to get a game plan ready. Quarterback Matt Moore doesn’t scare me like Connor Cook does, as Moore has started more than 20 games and has a good record in them. This was a very hot team until it ran into New England in Week 17. Miami has a chance to hang around but only if Ndamukong Suh , Cameron Wake and the defensive line get after Ben Roethlisberger. Pittsburgh has too many offensive options, though, and I think the Steelers pull this out. Big Ben is 5-1 at home so far this season. He makes it 6-1.
Score: Pittsburgh 27, Miami 20
New York Giants at Green Bay Packers
I understand that Eli Manning and the Giants have gone into Lambeau and won in the postseason in 2007 and 2011, but I’m not sure that matters much. Eli is the most important player left from those teams, and he’s not going to shrink from the big stage anyway. The question is: Can a very good Giants defense make Aaron Rodgers good, not great? Rodgers has 15 TDs to zero INTs during this six-game winning streak. He’s feeling it and finding Jordy Nelson early and often. To me, the big matchup on the other side of the ball is if Green Bay can get a pass rush against Manning. If the Packers can’t, then Odell Beckham Jr. could burn a depleted Packers secondary. But Rodgers is so hot right now, I think he melts the tundra. Packers get it done.
Score: Green Bay 23, NY Giants 16

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The Cleveland Cavaliers filled a need at guard by acquiring Kyle Korver from the Atlanta Hawks in exchange for Mike Dunleavy , Mo Williams and a protected future first-round selection, the teams announced Saturday.
„We are extremely pleased to be able to add a player and person the caliber of Kyle Korver to our Cavs family,“ Cavs general manager David Griffin said in a statement. „Among the most prolific and dynamic 3-point shooters in NBA history, a selfless and team-first competitor, Kyle brings all of the elements of Cavs DNA that we covet on and off the floor. “
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How much does Kyle Korver help the defending champion Cavs? How did the Hawks do in the trade? Kevin Pelton grades the deal.
The move comes one day after the Cavaliers shipped their first-round pick in June’s draft to the Portland Trail Blazers for a 2018 protected first-round pick, which Cleveland originally sent to Portland along with Anderson Varejao in exchange for a future second-round pick at the February trade deadline last year.
The protections on the pick Cleveland sent to Portland are the same they were when they sent the pick to them before: top-10 protected in 2019 and 2020. If it doesn’t happen in those two years, it becomes second-round picks in both 2021 and 2022.
Korver, a 14-year veteran, is one of the league’s best 3-point shooters, making 43 percent of his 3-pointers during his career. The Cavs have been looking for depth on the perimeter after the loss of J. R. Smith in December for three months to a broken thumb. They also lost Chris Andersen for the remainder of the season to a torn ACL.
„It adds another dynamic piece to our team,“ LeBron James said. „Hell of a sharpshooter and just a great guy. Great professional, as you’ve seen over his career — a guy that’s played at a high level for a long time, has championship aspirations. And he has another rocket launcher. “
The 35-year-old Korver, who is earning $5.2 million this season in the final year of his current contract, is averaging 9.5 points per game and shooting 40.9 percent on 3-pointers. He was an All-Star in 2015.
Korver has 72 hours to report to the Cavs and will still need to undergo a physical. It’s possible he could join them on Sunday in Phoenix, the first of five games out West for the Cavs, whose trip will conclude with a Jan. 16 matchup at Golden State.
„There’s definitely mixed emotions,“ Korver said after Thursday night’s game regarding potentially leaving Atlanta. „There’s a lot of hard ties to Atlanta, for a lot of reasons. A lot of friendships, relationships. It’s where I had my best basketball years, honestly. It’s where I had all my kids. It’s hard to leave that behind.
„Obviously, it’s a great opportunity for me to go to Cleveland. So I’m very excited about that part of it. But there’s a lot of relationships that I care about here that I’m going to miss. From a basketball perspective, [Cleveland is] a great, great fit for me. And I know that. “
Dunleavy appeared in 23 games for the Cavs this season, averaging 4.6 points and 2.0 rebounds. The 14-year veteran has averaged 11.4 points and 4.3 rebounds with five teams over his career.
Williams, a 13-year veteran, is averaging 8.2 points and 2.4 assists this season. The Hawks will be his 10th stop, including two stints with the Jazz since entering the league in 2003. He has averages of 13.2 points and 4.9 assists per game over his career.
ESPN’s Dave McMenamin and Marc Stein, and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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