Game developer and publisher Electronic Arts (EA) has released "The Sims Mobile," a new life simulation game. This is the second mobile adaptation of EA's classic "The Sims" game series, while "The Sims Freeplay" was the first adaptation. Even though "The Sims Mobile" is still in its infancy, it can do some things better than its predecessor can.
"The Sims," which is now in its fourth iteration, is EA's wildly successful video game. In December 2011, EA came out with "The Sims Freeplay," the mobile device adaptation of "The Sims." While this game has garnered millions of downloads on both Apple's App Store and the Google Play Store, EA has come out with a new version with a different approach to the gameplay.
The basics of the game are the same across iterations and platforms. Players can create their own playable characters, called Sims, by selecting those Sims' physical features, traits, and clothes. Once Sims are created, they have to go live in a house that players can build and design themselves. Players then need to make their Sims go to work, build social relationships, and accomplish other tasks the game requires.
Even though "The Sims Freeplay" has been downloaded millions of times, it was still considered to pale in comparison to its predecessors on PC and Mac. However, "The Sims Mobile" may be closer to the fuller, classic versions of the game.
One thing that differentiated "The Sims Freeplay" from the classic "The Sims" is that the events in "Freeplay" run in real time. This means that if an action or event in the game takes four hours long to accomplish, it takes four hours long in actual time as well. In the classic version, the world of "The Sims" runs on its own time, which is much faster than real time.
In "The Sims Mobile," players will not have to wait hours for their Sims to accomplish certain tasks. Many activities, like interactions between Sims or work-related duties, take just five seconds long. There are also ways that players can speed up events in the game without spending valuable resources.
In "The Sims Freeplay," meanwhile, socializations and work-related tasks can take a full minute up to several hours to finish.
While players can customize the physical appearance of characters in "The Sims Freeplay," they can only choose between a limited number of templates. However, in the "The Sims Mobile," players can fully customize the characters' physical features, from the shape and slant of their eyes to the thickness of their thighs.
Of course, the edge that "The Sims Freeplay" has over "The Sims Mobile" is that it has been around longer. It already has a wealth of content and its in-game universe has already expanded over the years. "The Sims Mobile," being newly released, still has limited features compared to its predecessor.
It also seems easier to earn more in-game cash in "The Sims Freeplay" than in "The Sims Mobile," although the latter can still improve in that aspect over time.
Users can download both "The Sims Freeplay" and "The Sims Mobile" from the App Store and the Google Play Store.
