Kvores Daniel

I think she would be really happy. I am currently using the M2 13" MacBook Pro (8c/10c) and I am really satisfied with it. Out of the 3 games you mentioned I've only tried Sims briefly, but I worked well and iirc it's Apple Silicon native. I haven't tried the other games, but I have experience with others, like CS:GO, Metro Exodus, Minecraft, World Of Tanks, Hades. These all run as well as I would expect, although I am a very casual gamer.
In every other aspect this laptop is amazing. The battery life is outstanding, I charge it every 3 days or so, but if I really wanted to stretch it with low power mode, I could even get 5 days with. (after 2 full school days, albeit lighter ones, in low power mode, I ended the second day, with 73% percent left) 
Also, I am using macOS Sonoma Beta and the switching of AirPods between iPhone and Mac is so much faster than before.

I just wanted to quote this because it's my experience with my M2 MBP 13. It's simply the best laptop that I've ever owned, and in the last couple of months I've tried lots of them (Thinkpad T490, XMG Fusion 15, Surface Laptop 4, MacBook Air M1, Zephyrus G14 2020), and now the MacBook Pro M2, and I just love it.

Wait untill Apple announces the M3 Macs, and get that one. Will be even faster and more efficient than current Macs, and maybe they might upgrade the 8gb Base Ram to 12 or so.
Probably even more batterylife on the Air.
 
My M1 Macbook Pro 13" did 20 hours on basic Office stuff, that's insane.
 
The current Macbook Airs are basicly perfect for you.
They are high quality, best trackpad, great Display and speakers, great Keyboard, they are very very fast and snappy in everyday workload and have a great batterylife.
Current m2 Air can do like 14-15 hours batterylife with doing basic tasks.
You might do 2 full Days without charging. When you're done, just close the lid, it consumes almost no energy. You never need to boot, it's always ready.
and despite it beeing so snappy, it doesn't have a fan, and stays silent and quite cool.
 
Windows does have some options, but nothing will come close to what a Macbook Air can do (speed & Batterylife & lack of fan noise and heat). And those that do, aren't cheaper.
 
Make your decision based on if you want to stick to MacOS, or rather use Windows.
If you want to switch, i would prefer Ryzen 6000 or 7000. 7000 with at le ast Zen3+ technology (7000 series can have Zen2, Zen3, Zen3+ and Zen4).
 
Just let me tell you, Apple Silicon Mac is a whole other Experience than Intel macs were.

For the games you mentioned it should be more than fine, along with the other extras and considering how she's already into the ecosystem, I'd say your pick is a great one, she'll be plenty happy 🙂

@drmlnr1 Framework is fine, if you're all in for maximum repairability and modularity. But stay away from Intel 11th Gen, they are slow. That will be MUCH slower than your m1.
 
You might want to take a look into the new Ideapad 5 Pro 14APH G8 generation.
It comes with a sexy 2,8k Screen with 120 Hz, Zen4 (Ryzyen 7 7840HS) that can actually draw some Power, can be configured with 32gb Ram, and has a huge 75 Wh Battery for a 14" device.
Here in Germany, there's a student version for 899€ with 1TB/32gb Ram, Ryzen 7 7840HS. Soo there's chances, something similar is around 1000 bucks in other countries.
 
Maybe Thinkpad Z13 with lower 6-Core and 1200p Screen, that can last a while on battery, but not sure how quick it drops while videoediting.
 
It's legit to switch back to Windows, however do NOT expect to find a single Device with a similar batterylife whiel doing video editing on the go. Nothing is as efficient as Apple in this Area.

As much as I want to give you some laptops to choose from, unfortunately newer Macbook is probably a much better choice.
All Macbooks will give you full power on battery power alone, be much more efficient, be very light and last you the whole day. If you need more power, just buy Macbook Pro if Air is insufficient for you.

I tried choosing a new Windows laptop myself and ended up with Macbook Air. All other laptops just had too many flaws. That is a sad truth because there are no competition right now because Macbooks are simply too good.

A look at "older" (probably post ultrabook introduction - sandy bridge and newer) used premium laptops (eg. T or X series thinkpads, XPS, Latitude, MBP/MBA) and comparing them to new alternatives (in terms of build, input devices, screen, i/o, features, ease of simple upgrades (ssd and battery would be important), performance etc) in the same price category could be interesting.