The Sims 3 is a real-time simulation game, similar to its predecessors, in which the player manages the lives of one or more members in a household, including their employment and social activities. The player creates one or more characters on the character creation screen, enhanced since The Sims 2. Aside from more excellent options for appearance, clothing, and colors, the player also selects five personality qualities from a pool of 63 divided into four categories: “Mental,” “Physical,” “Social,” and “Lifestyle,” as well as a lifelong goal. The Sim’s personality attributes influence each incident in the game. For example, the trait “work-a-holic” makes the Sim enjoy going to work and allows him to work from home on a computer.
On the other hand, a lifelong goal is comparable to wishes but needs significant effort to achieve. While granting wishes can be as simple as ordering a pizza, the one-lifetime plan requires the user to make his Sim the CEO of a large firm, which takes time. In contrast to conventional desires, attaining a lifetime goal earns the player many time points. These lifetime points can be used to purchase various benefits, including the ability to make the Sim immune to hunger. This allows the player to focus less on meeting a Sim’s fundamental needs and more on growing his talents and connecting with neighbors, coworkers, and other city dwellers. The six conditions are the same except for fun, hygiene, and hunger.
Unlike its predecessors, the game isn’t restricted to the property a Sim owns, with loading times between visits to other locations such as family retreats. Instead, The Sims 3 now simulates an entire metropolis in which the player’s Sim is free to travel around and do whatever he likes, including working and socializing, purchasing food or books, and attending classes to enhance his abilities. Not every house, however, can be viewed from the inside. While the gym acts like a typical house, with the ability to remove the walls and peek inside, other locations, such as the office, bookshop, and hospital, the Sim just enters and exits until his role is completed. In the workplace, the player’s sole decision is how his Sim should go about his business. Should he work through lunch, make friends with his boss, or talk to his coworkers? All of this impacts both his happiness and his job performance. Once his job performance reaches a particular level, he is promoted, which involves a more excellent salary and, in some cases, altered work hours. During his visits, the Sim can collect stones, gems, metals, bugs, butterflies, and seeds for decoration or jewelry in his garden. If bored, he can fish in one of the lakes or rivers.
With the money he starts with and earns throughout the game, a Sim can either buy a pre-created lot or build/expand his house from the ground up, including all interior décor. This time, items can even be put at a 45° angle.
The console versions have karma powers, which grant players godlike powers to impact their sims’ lives for better or worse.
