The Sims is true to its name: First you create your Sims, give them names, choose their outfits, their personality, etc. You then can choose a house to move you and your family (if you have one) into. You start out with $20,000, which in this game, is a lot of money, but it can't buy you that mansion you've always wanted. Your family is moved in and your house is empty. You now have to buy objects for your house: Refridgerators, bathtubs, toilets, sinks, pantry's, etc. The list goes on and on. As soon as you run out of that twenty grand (which will be rather quickly), you will need to find your Sims a job. They start out with a really crappy job- a test subject, for example. But if your attitude is fine, and you have met the necessary qualifications, then a promotion should come soon. By qualifications I mean abilities. For example, if you select the job icon, it will tell you what abilities need to be improved- for the military, you must workout. There are many of these abilities, including body, charisma, logic, cooking, and mechanical. At the beginning of the game, all of these abilities are at zero. If you are in the military, in order to get a promotion, your body (fitness) must be a level two. in order to do this, you must purchase a weight bench and have your character workout. This is the same for the other abilities-need logic, play chess or read a book. Need creativity? Play the guitar or piano or even paint a picture. Also, if you practice a lot at things with creativity points, like the guitar and painting, it might payoff one day. If you are really good at the guitar, you could sell a song to a major company and make a lot of mula. If you paint a really great picture, you could also sell it for a lot of mula.

 

If you don't like any of the houses to chose from, or need to add on to your new house, you can build one. It is actually very easy-only a complete moron wouldn't know what to do. The only downside to this is that it only allows two stories. I mean, if you can make a forty room mansion, why can't you make it three stories? I just don't get people sometimes.

 

Believe it or not, The Sims can become very hard and sometimes frustrating. If your Sims become depressed because of lack of fun or entertainment, he cannot get that promotion that would allow him to get that new TV that would make him very happy because he says he is too depressed to go workout or study. The whole game is mostly like this.

 

The Sims Deluxe Edition also comes with Livin' Large, the first ever expansion pack for The Sims, and a special program called The Sims Creator. Livn' Large is the typical expansion pack, giving you new walls, items, faces, floors, etc. The Sims Creator is a special tool where you can create your Sims more in-depth-you can even put your own face on! Deluxe Edition also includes 50+ clothes items and 25 new objects. 

 

The Sims is a very realistic game, but I could have thought of a few more things to add to it (though I know they can't put everything in here). You have to pay bills (sigh), thieves come and put your 60 inch TV and put it into a tiny little grocery bag, things break (many things break, for that matter). Fires start easily if your Sims has not studied cooking, so be ready to purchase a new stove every once in a while. You can buy an alarm to wake your Sim up for work. Like I said, the list just goes on and on (and on and on and on...). The Sims has so many possibilities, it just overwhealms me sometimes. And with at least six expansion packs, The Sims is a promising investment of your money, and is definatley worth your while.