The Sims 2

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The Sims has been a hugely successful franchise for Maxis and it was only a matter of time before those impressionable little Sims were invading your mobile. With so many different Sims titles available on so many different platforms, the experience across all the titles is not equal. For instance, the Nintendo Gameboy Advance and Nintendo DS Sims titles involve more storyline and adventure aspects than their PC partners. Lets see how the mobile incarnation stacks up against other Sims games and mobile games in general.

The Sims is a game where you cease control of a person to live out a virtual life. You are in control of the persons actions in normal every day tasks. You control when and what the person eats, who they talk to, even when they choose to use the bathroom, or not if you are feeling cruel. As mundane as the premise sounds, controlling a Sim can be very rewarding as you get attached to their daily struggles and triumphs.

The Sims 2 mobile takes the traditional approach of controlling one Sim occupying a house in suburbia. You start by choosing your Sims appearance, gender, and star sign. After moving into your home, your Sim will have a few aspirations such as being able to purchase that coffee machine for those much needed morning caffeine jolts, getting a job, making friends, kissing someone, and even marrying someone. Your Sim will normally have four aspirations at once and as each is completed, new ones take their place.

A job can be found by talking to neighbours who know about jobs on offer in the area. A job brings you income which will go towards paying your bills, buying new stuff to fill your house, and building extensions to your house. The type of jobs vary but each has a number of hours for the job, a pay rate, and skill requirements before the job can be obtained. Skill points are rewarded as your Sim improves at specific tasks. For example, your Sim will get better at cooking as they cook more meals.

A large part of the game involves interacting with the neighbours. You can invite an neighbour over to your house by calling them, or you can just talk to them on the phone. If you invite somebody over, you will also have the opportunity to further your relationship through hugging and kissing. If you become romantically involved with a neighbour, you can ask them to move in and even marry them. If you then get tyred of the same old Sim taking up space in your house you can divorce them and kick them out on to the streets.

The Sims 2 mobile also has a Connected Edition which allows you to integrate your mobile experience with your web experience. Custom Sims can be created or used from your PC version allowing a greater variety on appearance than the unconnected version. Gift items can be traded, and just like the PC version of the Sims 2, your Sim will generate memories for viewing later. The connected edition is certainly a step in the right direction for mobile ports of popular games, heightening game play experience.