Urbz: Sims in the City
The Sims accurately recreated the greatest problem in modern life: not having enough time to do all of the things required to make us happy, satisfied people. The thing is, by playing The Sims rather than doing other things I needed to do, I was compounding the time shortage problem in my own life.
The Urbz: Sims in the City is a bit more forgiving than The Sims. Keeping your Urb satiated in the categories of food, bathroom breaks, sleep, and entertainment is quite a bit easier than it was in The Sims. Instead, the player's efforts will be focused on building up his or her Urb's reputation by socializing with other Urbs and taking on jobs and quests.
At the beginning of the game, players choose from a variety of archetype character styles, such as punk, hip-hop, and prep. Once you've chosen a character type, you need to work to fit into your chosen clique. As a result, a big chunk of your disposable income will be spent on fashion.
Since more time is spent out of the house as your Urb works and socializes, the developers decided to conveniently place beds, bathrooms, and vending machines in most locations. This is a good thing, since the loading times between locations is excruciatingly long -- sometimes long enough for you to get up for a bathroom break and a snack yourself.
The Urbz isn't really any more raunchy than The Sims, but parents should be aware that players will watch their characters do everyday things like get undressed for a shower and go to the bathroom (private bits are tastefully blurred out). There's also a fair bit of flirtation in the game, but it's all done in garbled Sims-speak, so no harm, no foul. Still, stuff like this is probably best kept from pre-teens, as the game's rating suggests.
