Jurassic World: Evolution isn't the only dinosaur park sim due out in 2018, even though it is one of the biggest. Parkasaurus is a cuter, more cartoony take on the genre, with some really cool ideas around exhibit design.

The Sims is a very additive game. It never really stops or "ends" the way many single-player games do; it just keeps getting bigger and bigger. This week, a handful of small but much-needed new tools dropped into The Sims 4.

I imagine that parents get struck with a revelation in the process of rearing a child that helps them appreciate the enormity of the task before them. I say "imagine" because I've never had a child. At least, a real one. But I was struck by that revelation recently thanks to a small, weird Nintendo game of all things.

It's hard to keep up with sim games. All those little virtual pets demand your attention constantly, crying out from behind the screen to make sure you know they're hungry or tired or lonely or bored or whatever.

One thing people have always loved about The Sims is its quirky made-up language. It's become so popular since the series debuted that fans now affectionately refer to it as "Simlish." It doesn't make much sense, but half the fun comes from deciphering what sims are trying to tell you by the tone of their voice and the little emoticon-style icons that hover above their heads.

Making Miis and watching them grow is the best part of Tomodachi Life. So why not share some of that joy with the rest of the world? What's that you say... because doing so is unnecessarily confusing?

How do I describe Tomodachi Life? I'll start with the name. "Tomodachi" (友達) is the Japanese word for "Friend", so the title of Nintendo's new 3DS sim game translates literally to "friend life". That's a bumbling phrase. But it helps illustrate why I've had such a hard time explaining the game's appeal to friends and colleagues, even the ones who are more seasoned gamers than myself.