It is nice to see a franchise try something a little different, especially when that franchise seems to be stuck in a consistent rotation of producing the same sort of content. Take the whole Sims franchise … you have SimCity, which has branched out to include a ‘Society’ franchise, but The Sims are just in the habit of offering the same material with a few variations.

Then along comes MySims, a bit more childlike in approach with creativity at the core of the gameplay. MySims is about micro-managing, but instead of creating a character and then getting a job and living a life vicariously through that character, you create a character and embark into a fantasy world that is falling apart. Your goal is to rebuild it … sometimes literally and sometimes just in terms of relationships.

In MySims, the world is a fantasy kingdom that has fallen into a state of disrepair. There were builders, who created everything from houses to environmental elements and furniture. The last builder disappeared and since that time Sims have moved away. The central town is sparsely populated and the mayor needs something, or someone, that will help bring the people back. That’s where you come in – you are a new builder. Your job is to build a house, a workshop, gather Essences to use in creating attributes for the items you build, and then build the buildings and furnishings that will take the town from a sparse population to a robust, thriving community.

The game is rather linear in the design of the missions, but players are free to build items when they wish and to have some fun with bypassing the ghost blueprint and get creative in the design of the item being built.

The game begins with the player creating a character and then arriving in the town to start the renovations. Of course you have to meet with the mayor and that will embark players on a tutorial of the game’s mechanics. Building houses and businesses evolve around a building plot where you can drop shapes from a decent selection of building components, and then one-touch paint them. To start with, you will need blueprints to get the basic ideas down, but as you progress, you can use the basic building blocks to create your own furniture and accessories.

Don’t worry if you get a little lost the first few spins around the town. There is a map and you can click on a location to bring up in-game navigation.

And then there are the Essences, which initially come into play as you enter the painting mode. Later, you can use them to build (like the red apples you initially collect) to make items appeal to Sims more.

If you are starting to think this sounds a little familiar, you are right. MySims launched on the Wii and Nintendo DS in September of 2007. The major difference between those titles and the PC version is, of course, the game controls and the amount of content available on the PC. The PC version has much more in terms of characters and things to create.

The controls for the PC version are simple enough to understand. You can use the WASD to move, but the camera is rotated with the Q and E buttons. When you are in build mode, you rotate objects with keys in the same key framework.

The game also sports a multiplayer element with players able to visit a shared garden space by using the train station. You can interact with others, trade items and build a small social network.

This is a game that while rated for Everyone feels like it was targeted for younger players. The experience has a directed feel and even the tutorial goes to great pains to speak to younger players. Not that that is a bad thing. This is a light-hearted game that takes a new direction for the Sims franchise and as such is a refreshing break from the endless expansions for Sims 2.

EA should be proud of this title. It’s not overly deep, but it is entertaining in a childlike way.

Gameplay: 7.0
The game keeps things very easy to understand and accessible.

Graphics: 7.4
This is a pleasing game to the eyes. It has a nice palette of pastel colors and some nice texturing is also available. Don’t expect this game to challenge your computer’s graphics card (you need a DirectX 9.0c-compatible card with 64 megs of RAM as the minimum standards – like a GeForce 4 MX or Radeon 8500 series card).

Sound: 7.0
Upbeat and with the same kind of Sim-lish dialogue fans of the franchise have come to know.

Difficulty: Easy/Medium

Concept: 7.8
While there are some repetitious elements, the game does a nice job it keep players active and in allowing for some creativity in the building process. You can, very literally, put your particular stamp on the look of a city, even if it means painting everything the same color. The dev team did a nice job of making all the tools accessible.

Multiplayer: 7.2
You can travel to a Shared Garden to play with other players, but only after you have registered your copy of the game. You can invite others into the spaced space, interact with them and engage is a few activities, like sharing items. It’s not as robust as it could have been, but it’s a nice little addition.

Overall: 7.0
Geared more for younger players, MySims is a nice little experience with a linear story arc that players will have to play to unlock the wide variety of content. There are some repetitious elements of the game, but generally the game does a nice job in pulling together various elements and giving players a sense of accomplishment as they build items for the various NPCs. The game does have a certain charm that may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it is a nice departure for the Sims franchise.