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iPhone It In: The Sims 3

by Justin McElroy

I'm not going to sit here and act like I'm not embarrassed by how enthralled I am with the downsized version of The Sims 3 that EA released for the iPhone. But the fact remains: I'm hooked, and I figure if I pass the addiction on to you, I won't seem like such an oddball.

I haven't played the new Sims release, so I don't really have that as a frame of reference. What I do know is that all the tropes of the series seem to be here: Create a person, meet their needs and help them get a family, career, the whole bit.

What the iPhone version has done so well is really streamline the experience. You control just one Sim, climbing the career ladder, improving your home, and making friends. The typical demand for hygiene, potty breaks and food are all there, but they're rarely an annoyance.

As you improve your standing, you'll occasionally get micro-goals in the form of "wishes" like "Grow a tomato" or "Kiss a Sim," and these really help to add some direction to the proceedings.

If you've ever had a Sim addiction, this is likely to have the same steely grip on your life, perhaps more so thanks to your ability to check in on your creation when the morning meeting gets dull or a blind date goes awry.

The biggest problem with the game is that, for an iPhone title, it's not a particularly good steward of your time. There's a long wait for boot-up and there's a lot of loading. Also, there's no option to advance time, so I spent too many minutes just waiting in my house for bed time.

It's a testament then to how compelling the rest of Sims 3 is then that these lulls were rarely enough to send my thumb searching for the Home button.

... But let's keep this just between us, OK?