There’s no secret that I really don’t like mobile games and that no matter how hard I try to improve this ‘relationship’ we just never seem to become friends. It’s not for a lack of trying on my part either, I lie in bed and go through the new games on IOS almost nightly, its just that after I’ve downloaded a game and gone into it once or twice I’m pretty much over it.
Nothing really sticks or stays around for too long.
So no one was more surprised than I was when last week I uncharacteristically spent a good hour of my life trying everything I could to get my hands on to get The Sims: Mobile. I actually don’t think I’ve ever worked so hard to get hold of a mobile game before (the game soft launched in Brazil’s App Store to test people’s reactions and so far it’s the only store you can get it from) but man was it worth it.
This is hardly EA’s first attempt to bring the Sims onto a mobile platform, but in my option, this is the first time they’ve succeeded.
Create the Sim of your dreams
When it comes to creating your Sim, they seem to have taken a leaf straight out of Sims 4’s book. The Sim creator feels and looks almost identical, allowing you the freedom to customize your Sims beyond anything I’ve ever experienced on mobile before. You use sliders to adjust the most subtle of details, letting you create Sims with distinct appearances. After you’re happy with how you look you can choose your dreams, aspirations and personality traits to match.
Create and grow a family that’s worth remembering
Start out as a young adult and shape your Sims legacy over multiple generations. When your Sims accomplish their life and career goals, you’ll be rewarded with Heirlooms. Heirlooms unlock hobbies and careers for future generations, allowing the new generation of Sims to do and experience so much more. Your Sims age in real life days (3 days from Young Adult – Adult and Adult – Elder) and this life cycle includes babies and toddlers.
Show off with your amazing house building skills
Yet another part of this game that feels shockingly familiar is the House Building. Customize almost every part of your Sims home, fine tune layouts and designs then decorate with a variety of furniture, appliances, and decorations that you unlock as you play and level. When you’re done, host a party at your house and socialize with/show off to other real life The Sims: Mobile players. You can even strike up a conversation with them if the mood strikes you.
Work hard to play hard
You get to control your Sims while they work, also when and how they work. Working earns you Coins and XP which you then use to level up your player profile allowing you to buy more things and unlock more places, and as with other versions of The Sims, each Sim has needs. Only these needs don’t expire with time, instead every action you take uses a certain amount of each need.
For example if you choose to go to work you have to ‘pay’ 5 energy, 5 fun an 2 hygiene, and when your needs are depleted you have two options: let your Sim go to sleep for 1 hour (real world time) or pay real world money to get their needs back up again without the wait.
This is effectively a ‘pay for impatience’ system, you can do everything without paying, it’s just gonna take you longer.
But funny enough I really don’t mind the wait times, it’s actually one of the reasons why I am in love with this game (another reason I love it is that your Sims will occasionally glitch into the most wonderfully terrible ‘murder dolls’ which just brings back so much nostalgia)
For me the Sims has always been more of a toy than a game, it’s like playing with virtual dolls, something I do to relax and de-stress. A virtual fidget spinner if you will, and with this wait system I find myself coming back to play with my sims for 5-10 minute bursts throughout the day. Just long enough to give me that happy feeling, but not long enough for it to be a major distraction.
That’s what makes this the perfect “gateway” game.
Anyone can enjoy it.
Whether you’re a gamer or not, whether you enjoy playing games on your phone/iPad or not – it’s just a fun break from everything else going on in your day… and after just 2 days it’s become a part my daily habit and I don’t even care.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I have a birthday party to hold, someone’s becoming an Adult… WOOHOO! 😉
