If you’ve played any of The Sims games (and if you haven’t you’re in a very odd place) you’ll be familiar with the (if your Sims are in good spirits) colourful green gem that sits overhead of your Sims when you select them. You may even know the proper title for it, Plumbob. But what exactly is a plumbob? And how does it tie into the wider themes of the series? Well, at the risk of a rather generic opening, let’s dig in.
Plumbobs & Architecture
A plumbob is an architectural tool that, in brief, ensures that a given structure is actually built straight. When suspended it’s meant to hang in a straight line – if used to measure a wall – or directly over a “plumb point” that’s placed on the ground. Basically, if it hangs straight and points at the proper point on the ground, and doesn’t swing or sway in a given direction, you know that your structure is stable and vertically sound.
Nowadays, of course, most builders just use a spirit level but for thousands of years the plumbob was a standard tool in the architect’s kit going back to the days of the pharaohs in ancient Egypt.
In-fact it’s still in use today in some areas of the world because of its simplicity and ease of use (I mean it’s just a fancy weight at the end of the day). You might also notice professional golfers holding their putter in a loose grip to measure distance and inclination on a putting green, referred to as the plum bob method.
So why a Plumbob?
Well, back ye’ olden times Maxis’ catalogue was as much a collection of artistic pieces about architecture and urban planning as it was a fun way to watch interpersonal drama play out between your Sims. There’s been a lot of writing about whether or not the original Sims was supposed to be a critique of the “American dream”, but given it came with its own dedicated appendix and reading list featuring some very academic tomes I don’t think it’s a stretch to say Maxis wanted to make a statement with it; and they very much did considering it’s become a staple of the series’ branding and merchandise (there’s even an official challenge map themed around it!)
With that in mind, the plumbob would be a recognisable piece of iconography for anyone with even a passing familiarity with architecture, and that garish green colouration means it’s visually striking and clearly shows whichever Sim you’re manipulating at a given moment. In itself, it’s also an interesting little way of making a visually distinct version of the “pointer” you’d see in many older games to point out a location, or selected units and structures in many city-builders and strategy titles.
So now you know for your next trivia night! And while you’re here be sure to check in on the latest Sims 4 Businesses & Hobbies livestream, and maybe see how many of the plumbobs you can spot?
