Life simulation is what gaming is about. The Sims series concentrates on simulating ordinary everyday life, making it brighter and funnier. Some play it to visualize their dreams or to take a deeper look inside through the characters they create. And some just enjoy it, like we enjoyed playing with dolls when little. But these dolls are interactive, complicated and requiring lots of attention.

Gameplay 9/10

This life simulation game offers you two simultaneous tasks. Building your own life, you build the town around you at the same town. Like a superhero living a double life, you are a regular citizen and a kin fog Mayor of this town (but don’t tell anyone).

The game starts with a rather long tutorial, teaching you to handle both your own home and your town, not forgetting about your person. You only control one character in the beginning, though then you’ll be able to populate the city with more Sims. And when you do, you can watch them living, making their living, falling in love, dating, marrying or parting, having kids, losing weight and jobs.

Your characters have six basic needs: eating, cheering, hygiene, communication, leisure, and (that’s life) visiting a toilet. You earn more experience points when your character is inspired. So try to live a good, jolly, interesting life! Unlock items to decorate your house, master new professions, try new hobbies and make choices!

It takes upgrading to VIP to unlock more population, more items to buy, more rewards for what you do. As you progress, you earn Simoleons (the local currency) and experience points. If you haven’t got enough of them for a purchase or an upgrade, you can purchase more for real money.

Visuals 10/10

Both the town and your home look a bit schematic, like taken from a poster, but it’s okay, as the design gets the balance right between cartoonish and realistic styles. All the objects are drawn in 3D, and your camera can move between them and switch its angle. The life of this city seems much cleaner and ordered than any real life; but if you want more disorder and dirt, you can install The Walking Dead or something like that. This toy-like order and cleanness is what we love The Sims for.

Play Play Repeat 8/10

It’s no fun to start over games with virtually endless progress (like The Sims). Luckily, you can save your progress in the Game Center or on your Facebook account that can be connected to the game. So there’s no need to replay it and lose your progress… Unless you really want it. The Sims FreePlay can be your field of experiments, providing more freedom in most unexpected ways, and that makes the difference between it and some virtual farm.

Controls 10/10

If you have ever played SIMS games, you know all the how’s. Drag the finger on the screen to move the camera along, do the same with two fingers to turn it around, do the two-finger gesture to zoom in or out. The tutorial explains how to position objects, how to do the shopping, how to change your appearance and do your everyday routine, and, though it may take different types of gestures, you’ll learn easily.

The Verdict

It’s a great mobile take on The Sims. Though you may feel the need to invest some money when you’re deeply involved, it’s not necessary (though FreePlay mode slows your pace).