The Sims Social: Facebook Done Right
By Remko Molenaar (Proxzor), OnRPG Journalist
Now you might wonder why The Sims Social? Wasn’t there a Sims Online game before? Well yes that is true but unfortunately that game was closed by Electronic Arts in 2008. This time however Electronic Arts decided to make an application for Facebook called The Sims Social. This new game is a free-to-play browser game that is integrated into Facebook’s social network.
Now you are probably thinking ‘why release a game that has failed before’? Well I think Electronic Arts figured Facebook would combine the missing elements that caused The Sims prior downfall. Namely this addresses the initial box purchase that deterred people away from trying the game before. It also makes it easier than ever to meet up with people and get the full online experience.
Gameplay
When you start up The Sims Social you need to create a character. Be careful as you’re only allowed one character per Facebook account. You can customize your character by changing their hair, eyes, mouth, nose and gender. You can also give them different clothes and stereotyped personalities. Now the personality is very important in the Sims Social since it will influence your gameplay and give you several extra options throughout the game.
As in every Sims game, the object is to build up a house and maintain your family. This time you only have one Sim to maintain and it cannot die. So luckily players like me are protected from killing off their Sim on a whim due to one wild night of not thinking things through. Even though they can’t die, you will still have to deal with the basic functions of life commonly see in other Sims games. The classic hunger, hygiene, bladder, sleep, fun and social actions are all present. If you do not maintain these actions and keep your Sim satisfied, then it will reflect in your Sim’s behavior. If your Sim is running low on an action you might have a problem working on your job and hobbies. This way you can’t build anything or upgrade stats or do any other actions with objects.
Speaking of which, your Sim is limited by a stamina system called energy. While most maintenance actions don’t require energy, the majority of interesting activities will. You can only have 15 Energy points max and you will regain 1 energy point every four minutes. When you have run out of energy points you will either have to wait or buy Energy with real money.
Don’t have any friends? Or do your friends shy away from Facebook games? EA planned for this by providing 1 NPC (Non Player Character) as a friend. There is also a game forum teeming with people to meet. If you want to get serious about this game, I highly suggest you make real friends and this is the best way to do it. Real friends are vital for completing certain objectives and earning increased in-game money.
The in game currency is called Simoleons and is earned by doing actions in the game. Basically every action gives either some money or some other object you can use to craft items or furniture with. With Simoleons you can buy a lot of furniture and clothes for your Sim and your house. You can also buy exclusive items with SimCash which is as you can probably guess the real money currency in the game.
Conclusion
The Sims Social is a really fun game that you can play on Facebook. It is a really addictive game to play with your friends and I had a lot of fun playing it. There are plenty of activities to entertain you whether you choose to play casually or more hardcore. The house size is upgradable so you can continually pack rat away your endless junk in ever larger spaces. The Sims Social is the perfect Facebook game to get more socially in contact with other gamers that like to play games. I recommend everyone that has Facebook to give this game a shot as it really is a fantastic browser game.
