Homeless in The Sims 3

Alice and Kev is the story of a family of two homeless Sims. The blog follows their lives from the day they became homeless, and the story is still going.

What makes Alice and Kev a worthwhile read and not unvarnished digital cruelty is that the author of the blog and player of the game, Robin Burkinshaw, is telling a story, not just performing an experiment. He's created two compelling characters, and he doesn't control every aspect of their lives--in The Sims 3, created characters come with more "free will," so to speak.

Alice and Kev reminds me of one of my favorite plays, Six Characters in Search of an Author by Luigi Pirandello. The idea in that play is that once created, characters each posess their own "plot drive," and basically tell the story on their own. Alice and Kev are two characters so interesting that they're just overflowing with plot drive.

Alice, a young girl, is kind-hearted, but clumsy and not very assertive.

Kev, the father of the family, is mean-spirited, inappropriate, and clinically insane. He hates children and has a nasty temper.

Although it may sound over-the-top, it works, and well.