I'm sure I am not the only one who notices a house in a video game and thinks "Wow, this is nice. I wonder if I could afford this in real life?". Usually, the closet we come to achieving our dream home is when we jump into The Sims and build ourselves a huge mansion all decked out with its own swimming pool and tennis court while we are living the high-life having massive parties every night. But you know what they say about curiosity so the folk over at money.co.uk have decided to put together some data to show us how much these iconic homes from our most beloved video games would cost us if they were in the real world.
Buying a home outright isn't always an easy task unless you have extra deep pockets like a certain Racoon from Animal Crossing so getting on the property ladder via a mortgage is normally the way to go. Have you ever wondered how much it would set you back to get yourself a fully upgraded, three-storied house from Animal Crossing: New Horizons in the lush location of Elephant island? Let's just say, it isn't cheap and close to half a million dollars as it comes in at $482,561 or a monthly mortgage payment of $2,058 a month. In fairness, you will have a sea view and the company of some pretty awesome neighbors but I'm wondering if I could actually keep the fossils I find for that price tag? I should hope so.
As sad as it was to lose Joel in The Last of Us Part 2, I couldn't help but think about the house he had as I was walking around it. It was pretty decent for a home in the post-apocalypse, right? and really, how much space did one man need - the place was huge. Based on a 25-year term with a 10% deposit, Joel's house would knock you back $2,626 per month and the value of his house is set at $805,749 if you were to purchase it in real life.
If something a little grander and more on the downright spooky side is more your cup of tea, how about the Spencer Mansion from Resident Evil? I'm honestly not too sure who exactly would want to spend their nights in a place that looks like something from the movie Psycho but if that's you, you're going to splash out $1,984,518 or $8,468 a month of this creep show of a house. Let's hope you don't also find some nice "surprises" in the hallways and basement.
Something a lot less terrifying but just as imposing is Croft Manor from Tomb Raider. This is the house that Lara Croft inherited from her aunt and where she lived with her elderly butler, Winston who we've all done awful things to while playing the game like putting the poor chap in the fridge, it's a wonder why he ever bothered. For something as impressive as this manor in real life, you're looking at dishing out $42,125,285 or $179,785 a month which is pretty nuts and you'd hope it does come with its own built-in butler and a huge freezer.
Surprisingly, the cheapest property to own is Goth Manor from The Sims series. To get your mitts on this establishment, you'll need to fork out $156,774 or $668 which isn't too bad at all if you could put up with it being haunted and all. But since it's bigger than Joel's house which is $805,749, that's quite a drop in price. If you'd like to see a short list of a few other houses from video games and if you could actually afford one, check those out below:
- Bowser's Castle, Mario Universe - $5,903,820/$25,201
- Starting house, Pokemon Sword & Shield - $461,847/$1970
For non-video games related homes like Schitt’s Creek: Rosebud Motel, Killing Eve's Paris apartment, The Lord of The Rings hobbit house, or Elsa’s ice castle from Frozen, head over to this article to check the full list out.