When Electronic Arts announced Tetris Blitz would be coming to Windows Phone in late September, we fully expected that to be the publisher’s only Windows Phone release this month. As it turns out, EA did have another release in store for us, though it popped up a little late in the day: The Sims FreePlay!
The Sims FreePlay is the third Sims game for Windows Phone, following The Sims 3 and The Sims Medieval. But those games are essentially simple RPGs dressed in Sims clothing. The Sims FreePlay is much closer to the true Sims games for PC and Xbox 360. As the name suggests, it’s also free to play. You’ll need a Windows Phone 8 device with 1 GB of RAM to install it. More details after the break!
The Sims FreePlay Store description:
LET THE FREEPLAY BEGIN! CREATE UP TO 31 CUSTOMIZED SIMS FROM HEAD TO TOE, AND…
- Design dream homes complete with swimming pools and multiple stories
- Let your Sims get married, make babies, and then watch them grow into toddlers and pre-teens
- Care for pets, grow gardens, even bake a cake
- Give your Sims careers and earn Simoleons to improve their situations
- Complete goals for Lifestyle Points, then spend them on hip items
- Live with your Sims in real-time (when it’s day or night for you, it’s the same for your Sims!)
The main difference between FreePlay and the previous Windows Phone games is the real-time element. Everything your Sim (virtual person) does now takes time to complete – the same amount of time it would take in real life, basically. Your Sims do nothing when you’re not playing, so you’ll need to check on them throughout the day in order to make progress.
Free to play mechanics
We’re always glad to see another Xbox-enabled game on Windows Phone, especially from important publishers like EA. Now that the EA and Nokia exclusivity deal has ended, it looks like EA’s games will be available to all. Sims FreePlay and Tetris Blitz are both launching as free to play games, whereas the Nokia exclusives all had their free to play elements removed (for better or worse).
Much of the fun in Sims games is decorating a house and acquiring new goods for your Sims to interact with. These things of course cost money (Simoleans). Your Sim can get a job, sell the vegatables they grow, and complete other actions to earn money. Of course this is a free to play game, so players can purchase Simoleans with real money.
The game’s second currency Lifestyle Points are used to complete timers and make things go faster as well as purchase premium clothing and furniture. Lifestyle Points can be bought via In-App Purchase as well.
Get ready to Simulate
The Sims FreePlay is a large download, and like other Windows Phone 8 games, it requires about 4x extra free space in order to install. Two gigabytes of free space should do it.
Note that the publisher really doesn’t want players to cheat by messing with their phone’s clocks. As such, FreePlay requires an internet connection in order to play. Make sure you watch the official video trailer above.
- TheSims FreePlay – Windows Phone 8 (1 GB of RAM) – 427 MB – Free – Store Link
Thanks, Kyle S. and Kevin G., for the tips
