MySims Kingdom
© 2008 Electronic Arts, Inc.
This second MySims title — coming this Fall — now offers the ability to share your virtual world with up to six other players, by invitation only. Also, the art and building items follow an old Europe castle building theme. For those not familiar with the My Sims concept, it is best described as a cross between LEGO Creator, Animal Crossing and The Sims. You start by creating your own Mii-like Sim by mixing and matching hair styles, clothing and body types, with additional items that can be unlocked. You then enter a town, where you meet others who need your help in order to rebuild the kingdom — one house at a time. There's a wonderful level of detail to the creating — you can even go inside the homes and decorate. In the last version, testers found this process to be both easy to do, and very fun; this edition looks like the same. It is easy to save projects. Note that interacting with others and getting to the next mission requires reading text bubbles. As players explore, they meet and help new characters who explain the next challenge. All in all, this looks like it will be an another easy-to-play, powerful addition to the Sims line, with no worrisome content.
$50, Nintendo DS, Windows, Wii
Teaches: creativity, reading, spatial relations (using maps), money