The growth of the entertainment industry: is this where more young people will reach home ownership? | | Sports

Name: Fun game.

Age: It originates from simulation games such as Harvest Moon (1996) and The Sims (2000).

Appearance: Real, imaginary, distant.

You mean video games? Yes, but simple.

What makes this game fun? A slow, less time-consuming kind of farming — Stardew Valley farming, they say — that people relax.

I relax by shooting zombies Everyone is different, but calm, non-violent world-building continues to be the main trend in video games: in 2020 only 19 interesting games were released on the Steam distribution network; in 2025 there were 616.

And what’s new in the entertainment industry? Owning a home.

Come back? Recent fun games include Hozy, which allows players to “clean, paint, and decorate abandoned buildings with satisfying mechanics and smart controls”.

Sounds like community service sentence. Think of it as making the world brighter, cleaner, more beautiful, one abandoned building at a time.

But not really. No, it’s just a game. But some people find painting real walls more rewarding.

The kind of people who I didn’t paint a real wall, I bet. These surprises go some way to explaining the popularity of the younger generation: games like MakeRoom, Unbox the Room and Renovation Plan provide a satisfying version for a generation that may not have their own homes.

No? Unemployment is high, and today’s youth are priced out of the housing market, possibly for the rest of their lives.

Is it really that bad? It’s true: in the UK, 29% of young people aged between 20 and 34 still live with their parents.

If it helps I’m sure Mother is Dad will be happy that he repaints the kitchen, or sands the floor a bit. It’s not the same.

No, it’s not – real decorating is boring and difficult. In uncertain and difficult times, free games give young people a level of control that they don’t usually have in real life.

This is very disappointing. Why? At least millennials and gen Z enjoy the joy of owning a home.

Owning a home isn’t really worth it, by the way. There is a lot of frustration, fear and heartbreak. Well, boomer.

There is taxation, scarcity, dry rot, agreements on the roof of the party, broken boilers… You go ahead – I’ll just sit here and move the bookshelves on my phone.

Say: “Adventure games provide players with a calm and predictable environment that helps them deal with their stress.”

Don’t say: “Sorry I’m late – I was in my pretend house waiting for a real plumber.”