I’m sure most of the people reading this article have heard of the computer game known as The Sims. What this is a people-simulator or role-playing game where you make families, chose their personalities, create a home for them, and then let them roam free and watch their interactions. The Sims Hot Date, which is what this article is about, is a Sims expansion pack, which means you must have The Sims in order to play The Sims Hot Date. Throughout this game you will be able to create families, build houses for them, and take them downtown to date or just have fun.
Starting out in this game you will be taken to a large plot of land with a few houses on it. (You have the choice of bull-dozing those houses if you like) At the top of the screen there should be three or four round blue buttons which each have there own symbol on it:
* Shapes of people – create a family
* Buildings – will redirect you to go downtown
* A bulldozer – bulldoze a house
* An arrow with brackets around it – exit the games
Next you have the choice of what you would like to do first. It would most likely be less confusing if you created a family first. So you would go to the button with the people on it and click the type of person you want to create. You can choose from female or male, what ethnic group they are from, and whether they are adult or a child. Then you use the top arrows to pick out a head, and the bottom to pick out an outfit. Finally you even out what type of personality you want that person to have, such as, how nice they are or how active they are. Up to eight people can be in a family.
Once the family, or families are done it is time to buy a plot of land a create a house. To purchase a plot of land you just click on the one that you want. A bar should come up when you click on it with three blue buttons:
* A house – for building
* A chair – for decorating
* People – to start activation of your people
The first button you click on would be the the house button. This allows you to put gates up, build levels, put stairs, fire-places, plants, etc. Then you would click on the chair button. Now you can pick out what type of couch and tables you would like to have. Every room has its own special category, and you can chose from whichever you like. But the catch to all of this is that you can run out of money so until you make more cash you can’t build or decorate the house very much.
Once you’re done all the houses on the giant plot of land you can move onto creating the downtown area where your Sims can go to socialize or just have fun. To make these buildings you need no money, so every building can be as tall or as small as you want it. Downtown you can make restaurants, stores, or just places to hang out.
Finally you are all done building, decorating, and whatever else there is to do. Now you can chose a family and go make them talk, walk, and think, almost, for themselves. When a certain person in the family is activated there will be a green diamond over his/her head. (It is best to start out with a one or two person family) On the bar at the bottom of the screen how well you’re person is doing is shown on it. For example, if the person has to pee and you let them go, then they will make a mess all over the floor. The point of the game is to get people to “hook up” so by doing this your person will invite another person downstairs, or just talking can make a relationship grow stronger.
I give this game a 9 mainly because it is the only game that I can play until 4am in the morning, and doesn’t make you feel dumb because you can’t loose. (You can die, but you can’t lose) I suggest even hard-core gamers would enjoy playing this, but people who aren’t fond of games would enjoy it more.
My score: 9/10
