The Sims™ 3

Category: games, time management, simulation
Price: $9.99
App Store Link: [Full] / No Lite Version

Review: Love it
Recommendation: If you're a fan of the Sims series, you'll probably enjoy the iPhone version. It should keep you busy with hours of playtime and objectives built in. However, it's worth noting that "build mode" is absent from this game. Players can still fully decorate, customize and upgrade their house, but cannot build a custom house (an oversight that might steer some fans away).
Replay Value: Very High

The Sims 3 for iPhone is a great casual player's game. In this version of the game, players control only one Sim that they create from scratch at the start of the game. Essentially, players help guide their Sim through daily life by making critical (and not so critical) choices for their Sims, such as where to work, what to eat, when to sleep, whom to fall in love with, and how to spend leisure time. The intended goal of the game is to help your Sim become successful and fulfill as many "wishes" as possible, though many gamers take pleasure in finding less conventional paths for their Sims.

Besides the traditional Sims gameplay patterns of "eat, pee, shower, job, eat, entertain, sleep, and repeat," Sims 3 throws "wishes" into the mix to add a little variation to the old routine. Sims can have up to 4 wishes at a time that function as gameplay goals. These goals can be as simple as "catch a fish" to as odd as "sleep in three beds other than your own." This mechanic helps keep the game fresh and goal oriented. There are 73 possible wishes to discover and fulfill. In addition, the iPhone version offers 3 mini games (four if you count gardening, which I don't), including fishing, cooking, and repairing; each of which utilize the iPhone's unique platform strengths (tilt, shake, touch).

The game does have a few flaws. Despite the new mechanics, the gameplay still feels repetitive and/or empty at times. I often found myself with nothing exciting to do for several sim "hours" while waiting for sim work. It'd be great to see lots of random extra's in the game to pass the time. It'd also be nice to be able to control more than one Sim. the absence of build mode is a sad setback to the game. The controls are well designed, but take a bit of getting used to because the app disregards some traditional iPhone standards (e.g. instead of using pinch to zoom, players use a slider on the side of the screen). Yet when all things are said and done, none of these reasons (save maybe the absence of build mode) give cause to disregard the game. It's still an engrossing game with more replay value than most other premium apps and debatably worth the $9.99 asking price.

Obviously this game is not a direct port of the PC/MAC version; anyone expecting that kind of similarity to the computer version will be sorely disappointed. That said, EA did an excellent job on this toned down, mobile version. The game delivers the atmosphere and feel of the Sims series one should expect to find in a fun and graphically pleasing package.

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Gameplay Video:

What we'd like to see in future versions: House building mode; Fast Forward Button; Life Happiness Points to spend for fulfilling wishes (Like in the computer version); more goals; more characters; more objects; more mini games; basically... more!

~M@