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The Sims is a big, open-ended game for one or two players, based on neighbourhood families and their ever-evolving lives. It's a "life simulation" where you must meet each character's varying needs as they strive to better themselves. The game itself is set up in two parts – the goal based "Get a Life" mode, and ongoing "Play the Sims" mode.

Looking at the single player side of The Sims only, "Get a Life" mode is level based, with a number of goals that must be successfully achieved before you can progress. Not wanting to spoil the experience, we won't get into too much detail about these levels, other than to say that in the very first one you live at home with your Mum! Your ultimae goal on this level is of getting out and finding your own pad, with tasks such as borrowing money from good 'ol Mum, and finding a job, to be completed.

For those not familiar with the format of The Sims, this is initially a bit confusing, as you find your way around the control interface, and figure out what to do. Thankfully you can freeze time at the touch of a button, a feature that you quickly come to realise is an invaluable tool. The flipside of this is the ability to speed time up, making menial tasks such as household chores all the more tolerable. This system of time management is not perfect though – one actual second equalling one virtual minute causing it to take ten minutes to walk from one room to the next! This is however a minor gripe.

Each character has their own personality traits based on their star signs. Some characters, or 'Sims', aren't very tidy, and will leave a mess wherever they go, while others will be particularly playful, preferring to get their dose of fun watching TV rather than reading a book.

The differing personalities make the many relationships they have with one another quite complex, with less outgoing Sims finding it harder to make friends. The Sims communicate by way of vocal sounds used to convey emotion as opposed to actual language dialogue. Speech bubbles also provide a visual indication of what is being discussed, with a plus or minus sign appearing above the Sim to show the positive or negative effect of that particular conversation.

The knee-jerk reaction to the vocal communication between Sims is to re-check that you selected the correct language, but rest assured it is meant to be like that! This communication is a good indication of what your Sim enjoys, with having to pay attention to the conversations being much more interesting than simply being told.

Relationships are important to your Sims' social well being. It pays to make friends with your neighbours and to keep in touch with them. You never know, they may end up more than just friends!

Along with relationship building, basic human needs must also be met – hunger, hygiene, comfort and energy levels must be maintained by various means. Sims even have to relieve themselves from time to time, which if neglected, tends to cause embarrassing, yet funny accidents that in turn make your hygiene level plummet. Sims' also like big, tidy rooms with lots of light. Failure to provide this makes them depressed and lethargic.

Each Sim household has it's own dynamic – bachelor pad, flatmates, nuclear family to name a few – and as your Sim gets a life, scores a job, and earns some money, they can improve their surroundings. This is done by buying better, more expensive gear, or making renovations to the house. It's great getting pinball machines, pool tables, and flash stereos, but we never thought buying an auto-flush loo or new dishwasher could be such fun!

There are a number of tenanted houses to choose from in the neighbourhood, plus empty lots for those wanting to build their own. The tenants can be evicted, giving you the option of creating and naming your own Sims to live in that particular house. As you can imagine, how well you manage your Sims determines how nice a neighbourhood it is. After the 'Get a Life' mode initiation, it's relatively easy to get to grips with – the first neighbourhood we created, Crapville, named in anticipation of all our Sims dying due to our own ineptitude, turned out to be a pretty nice place to live!

Yes the Sims can die – have someone with no cooking skills prepare dinner, and you run the risk of razing your house to the ground with fire. Kill a Sim and the Grim Reaper pays you a visit (you're thoughtfully left with an urn of ashes that the remaining Sims can mourn over).