THE SIMS MOBILE REVIEW

Image Credit: EA

Finally, Electronic Arts have released their mobile game for The Sims. We already have The Sims Freeplay on the market which is riddled with app purchases and horrible wait times. But what does this game offer?! Before you get super excited, lemme tell you that this mobile game is the same as every game out there. There are wait times during game play and in app purchases but it's not as ridiculous as it's sister app that is "Freeplay" which is also made by EA. Come on, EA. Did you really need two versions of a mobile sim game? Was "Freeplay" a tester. And Free play is a loose word for that game since I could hardly do anything but wait for something to be built. No body has time to wait for a piece of furniture to be built for 24 hours. NOBODY.

The Sims mobile is available on Android and Apple and its pretty easy to play but everything in the game has a timer. Which is a little off putting & you do run out of energy quite quickly and even though you can use the bed for energy, you need to wait 24 hours before you can get free energy again, you can also buy cupcakes or just wait for energy to refill. It can get very annoying very fast when doing an "event" such as working a shift or building a relationship. So far my timings have only been for 1 to 2 seconds per task but these will quickly change throughout the game. 

I've been playing it for a few days now, waiting for my energy levels to refill because for my entire gaming life, I've never paid for in app purchases or loot boxes for anything. Not even Overwatch. If I can get that shit for free, I will take it but I won't let my wallet succumb to in app purchases. Spend that money on something else! Sim currency and Energy can cost you up to $100 for a bundle. Pfft. I'm going to need my own "motherlode" cheat just to be able to pay to get any where in this game. Patience is key here. If you have it. You can enjoy this game at a leisurely pace. Just use the option to boost everything with ads. 

The customisation of your character is nice and you have a lot more freedom with how you'd like your sim to look compared to other Sim type games on the mobile market. But what was the most interesting part of this game is the multiplayer aspect as well as being able to build families for generations. The little blue plumbobs are other players of the game, you can choose to become friends with them in game and in your contacts so you can host parties to interact with them. I've already added some of my friends. Here is my friend code if you'd like to add me : LJNPCDC

Once you've created your sim, you are dropped into your home and basically shown how to buy furniture and how to complete various life goals etc. Of course most furniture needs simoleons or actual sim "dollars" which is real life currency. These are the currency you have to buy with your hard earned money in the real world. You can also earn these dollars with various in game adverts or events, but they usually spit out one or two dollars if you're lucky. When you've learnt the aspects of your new home, you are thrown into the world of having a job and completing Events.

My character is Frejya, a geeky chef who works in a Cafe as a barista and soon later my other character came into the picture called Tyler and is now Frejya's roommate who works as a chef in a restaurant downtown. He is also a bit of a geek and I'm currently building up their relationship to the next level. My house is slowly getting there. My kitchen is full of gadgets and accessories due to both being foodies. 

Their daily jobs take place in a separate environment in what I guess would be areas of the town your sims live. These jobs include career events where you can level up and earn various things for your sim including money and eventually clothing and furniture which vary depending on the career path. It takes either 4 hours in real time to complete a job and sometimes longer depending on which option for the shift you choose. Of course there are tasks to complete to speed up the job, including washing tables, chatting to customers etc but this will suck up most of your energy.

I've been playing this each day since I've downloaded it. This game is wonderful if you just want to casually play something or just get bored on your way to work. But if you want that Sim Experience please buy the PC version. Don't get me wrong, it has that feeling of the being in a Sim game, but timers and in app purchases bring you back to remind you that this is after all a cash grabbing app.

What kind of mobile games do you play?