The Sims 2 Corruption Creepypasta

If you've played The Sims 2, odds are you have been freaked out by stories of how easy it is for the game to get corrupted, and the crazy things that can happen if it does.

I want to start by saying that I was greatly impressed with The Sims 2 Corruption Creepypasta (aka TS2CC). While it’s more of an essay than a conventional Twine game, it strikes a balance between the two by combining fascinating, in-depth analysis with surprising interactivity. It's also a submission to Bare-Bones Jam 2025.

The Sims is a popular life simulation series. There have been rumors that its second installment, The Sims 2, can be horribly corrupted if the player performs certain actions, with unsettling results. Ultimately, there is no basis for these rumors. A mere myth. TS2CC seeks to understand why this myth flourished so easily…

What is it about these myths that has convinced, and, in some sense, captivated people for so long? Why have they been shared, amplified, built upon, and believed?

…and why it manages to retain its allure even after being discredited. To answer these questions, TS2CC compares The Sims 2 corruption myth to creepypastas about technology-related fears.

PART A: Gameplay/Design
The execution of this game is fantastic. It’s what earns TS2CC its fifth star.

Gameplay
Despite being an essay, TS2CC makes good use of the Twine format to include interactive content, elevating the essay from merely something we read to something that provides an experience. Something playable.

Interactivity is surface-deep and does not affect the gameplay’s linearity. Its potency lies in building atmosphere and providing ways for the player to engage with passages while reading. What’s remarkable is how this interactivity injects a subtle weirdness that pairs well with the essay’s topic. For example, the section that discusses intentional corruption has a link that, when clicked on, causes a passage’s text to shift and distort.

Even the cover art is spooky.

My only complaint is that the game (Spoiler - click to show)simply ends with a link-less passage and no indicator that the game is over. The writing implies that it is, but at the same time, players are left wondering if they’ve landed on a broken passage. A small confirmation would be appreciated.

Design
The Bare-Bones Jam is a perfect fit for this game. Entries are required to stick to their system’s default format. As a Twine game, TS2CC has a black background, white text, and blue links: Twine’s default. Jam or no Jam, this appearance works well for an essay because it’s easy to read and avoids distractions. The simplicity of this also keeps the spotlight on the interactivity.

And yet, the game finds ways to keep things visually interesting. One of my favorite moments is (Spoiler - click to show)when the game explains how glitches alter the familiarity of a game… and a creepy face appears. It’s composed of dozens of periods (“.”) which adds a visual element without breaking the Jam’s rules.

PART B: Content
TS2CC takes an analytic approach to its subject matter. The author clearly did their research- literally. The in-game Reference page will take you to the sources that the author used for writing the essay.

The player is introduced to a range of ideas and concepts, which can initially feel overwhelming. I had to play the game multiple times before I could follow the main arguments. But I loved gaining new insight in the process.

I will now share some things that stood out to me. Consider this part of the review as how I understand the game's concepts. Input welcome.

General ideas
TS2CC contemplates the "game object" which refers to the game itself, not the gaming experience we get from playing it. By responding to the player’s choices, the game object grants that person agency over it. But when a glitch occurs, "it's something the game object does in spite of the player's intentions," resulting in the loss of this agency over something you previously controlled and thought you understood.

This dynamic is showcased in “glitch horror,” a genre of horror that capitalizes on these fears and anxieties about technology. An example of a glitch horror game is "Ben Drowned."

Creepypasta like Ben Drowned dramatize a fear of loss of agency before the machine. Not only that, but loss of agency over something that used to be deeply familiar.

Glitch horror is often used in creepypastas. Creepypasta refers to horror stories/legends that are posted and circulated around the internet, often inspiring new iterations. Slender Man is a popular example. The Sims 2 corruption myth also fits the bill given how it continues to lurk in the minds of players and online forums.

From the sound of it, content that preys on our fears fascinates us in equal measure.

Corruption myth
The author claims that while the magnetic draw of The Sims corruption myth is akin to the fascination around glitch horror creepypastas, the base fear factor- or what makes this corruption particularly frightening to the viewer- is different.

The scariness of corruption in The Sims is "because it speaks to the lack of mastery of the overwhelming majority of people who use computers." Less about losing control and more about finding yourself face-to-face with something too complex to understand.

This is where I start to lose focus.

It sounds like the author is saying that when a Sims game is corrupted, it forces the user to engage with the technical side of the simulation, and that the user’s inability to understand this side is what makes corruption in The Sims so unnerving (I assume the author is referring to the average person). Apparently, the fear of this happening is so strong that some players avoid the game altogether.

Regarding this argument, I don’t entirely see how the technical details of The Sims would trigger a fear of corruption. I could understand being disturbed if this corruption produced horrifying results, as is the case with the corruption myth.

…bizarre effects such as attaching furniture to Sims' heads, turning Mrs. Crumplebottom into a bald and barefoot stalker…

But not so much with being unable to understand the ins and outs of how the simulation works. In this sense, I would just find it frustrating because the game isn’t working and I don’t know how to fix it. Well, I suppose a glitch is the same way: a machine fails to work the way it should. Still, I have a harder time drawing a parallel between the two.

Besides, a quick look online shows people using mods and fooling around with the game’s settings. Your knowledge of how the game works may be limited, but that won’t necessarily stop you from finding ways to tinker with it beyond what the game was intended for.

Or is the fear of corruption in The Sims 2 because of how supposedly easy it is to trigger a corrupted state through basic actions? I’d love to hear more from the author on this!

Further discussion
Reading through the essay’s points on glitch horror, I couldn’t help but think of a Twine classic, the uncle who works for nintendo. Its premise is based on the urban legend that kids could gain early access to video games if they had a family member, often an uncle, employed by Nintendo.

I’m not sure if it can be fully categorized as glitch horror, but there are elements that elicit the nervousness of seeing a computer act in unexpected ways. SPOILERS.

Final thoughts
The Sims 2 Corruption Creepypasta is a stellar interactive essay made with Twine. It outlines the corruption myth and how it functions as a creepypasta. Fueled by our fear and fascination of corrupted technology, the myth lives on despite the consensus that it has no practical basis. I learned a lot.

Players may be turned off by the fact that it’s an essay, especially if the subject doesn’t interest them. But even if you merely skim the text, you can still appreciate the overall experience of its creepy interactivity.

I hope to see more of the author’s work in the future.

Quick note: