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MySims is the first main entry in the MySims series. The game focuses on the player creating their personal Sim to help restore a town to its former glory by moving Sims to town and building homes, businesses, and furniture. MySims was released on Wii in 2007 and on PC in 2008, and was re-released for the Nintendo Switch as part of MySims: Cozy Bundle in 2024.
Official description[]
- Discover A New Town And Make It Your Own!
Explore a whole new world with MySims — it's your world to transform! Move to a town that has been struggling lately. With a little creativity and some help from the locals, you can make this place thrive!
Features[]
Apart from creating a custom Mii-like character, players may also modify their houses, and build furniture and appliances, by using a selection of building blocks. This gives the player more building options, allowing them to create objects by using blueprints, a change from the usual virtual catalog found in The Sims. There are 80 characters in the Wii version and 86 characters in the Switch/PC version, such as a mad scientist, a magician, a librarian, a pizza chef, and a martial arts teacher. Some of these characters may ask the player to build things for them. As with previous Sim games, meeting people and forming relationships is a major gameplay focus. Becoming a Sim's best friend will earn the player either a special blueprint not available any other way in the game, or an outfit for their wardrobe. Players can also earn blueprints by performing tasks for Commercial Sims (Sims who have their own businesses). Typically this involves building around 5-10 items for Sims, depending on the Star Level (rated 1-5) of the player's town, and the essences they have access to.
A feature unique to MySims is Essences. They can be found in various locations in town or by interacting with Sims or objects. Essences are used for a number of things, including paint for the walls of houses, construction of items, as well as decoration for the items.
Unlike titles from The Sims franchise, Sims in MySims do not have needs or wants, and eating, sleeping, using the toilet, and maintaining personal hygiene are entirely optional.
Switch/PC-exclusive features[]
The Gardens' Train Station.
The Gardens' Tag Statue.
The Switch/PC version introduces more blueprints, one new Commercial Sim for each interest, and the Gardens, home to exclusive essences. Players may also notice that prospecting has a different beeping noise than the Wii version.
The six Switch/PC Commercial Sims:
- Alexa Lexington, a Geeky scientist who arrives at Star Level 4
- Cedella, a Tasty café owner who arrives at Star Level 4
- Natalia Roshmanov, a Studious secret agent who arrives at Star Level 3
- Tad "Flipper" McCaffrey, a Fun lifeguard who arrives at Star Level 3
- Terry Toymender, a Cute toy shop owner who arrives at Star Level 4
- Wendalyn, a Spooky witch who arrives at Star Level 3
In the PC version, players could use online connection to invite up to 7 friends to their Gardens at a time. The online worked similarly to friend codes in Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection; players needed to have each other registered in a roster. The Gardens area has exclusive essences, and the selection of these varies for each player. The goal was to have players play with friends to collect the exclusive essences they lacked, but with online connectivity disabled, the only way to obtain these missing essences is by editing the game files. The Switch re-release of MySims, which launched without multiplayer, enabled all exclusive Essences to be found in the player's Gardens offline.
Other online features included the ability to chat, perform Emotions, and play games like Tag and Hide-and-Seek with online friends. Furthermore, it allowed players to construct buildings and create objects to use cooperatively, and to share creations in-game as well as outside the game via email or instant message, allowing other players to use the creations in their towns.
On November 26, 2011, EA shut down the online servers for the PC version. All online features, like connecting with friends and visiting each other's gardens, are currently defunct. It is still possible for players to visit their garden offline, and there is the option to log in, but it now comes up with an error message regarding a "back-end server" and asks to try again later. The game will then ask if you'd like to visit the Gardens offline.
Game Aspects[]
Prologue[]
!["This is how [town name] used to be: full of life, personality, and happy Sims."](/wiki/File:Essence_Creator_Story_pg_3.PNG "Essence Creator Story pg 3.PNG (1.17 MB)")
!["But one day the famous builder of [town name] mysteriously left. Nobody knows where he went, but the town began to change."](/wiki/File:Essence_Creator_Story_pg_6.PNG "Essence Creator Story pg 6.PNG (1.09 MB)")
!["Apparently, they're coming here to [town name] to help us out! I can't wait.](/wiki/File:Essence_Creator_Story_pg_9.PNG "Essence Creator Story pg 9.PNG (465 KB)")
Characters[]
- See also: Portal:MySims Characters
Compared to previous Sim titles, MySims has a more anime-inspired look, with character designs. This was Emmy Toyonaga's idea; in Official Nintendo Magazine she remarked: "Well, Mario and other Nintendo characters are pretty short and stubby. Also, being Japanese, I'm used to the mindset that fun games should have shorter, stubbier characters. So these characters kind of came naturally." In Nintendo Power, designer Robin Hunicke said that the character designs also imply youthfulness, and that the aesthetic was chosen for world-wide appeal, while referring to the lesser sales of previous Sims games in Japan, compared to other territories.
According to Official Nintendo Magazine, one of the Sims in MySims, Chaz McFreely, is based on their then editor, Chandra Nair.
Interests[]
There are six interests of which the Sims will be interested in. These are: Cute, Fun, Geeky, Spooky, Studious and Tasty. Each interest also has essences and activities associated with them. The associated activities are: Tea Party for Cute, Dance Off! for Fun, Rocket Launch for Geeky, Séance for Spooky, Book Party for Studious, and Picnic for Tasty.
Locations[]
Wii[]
There are three main locations Sims can inhabit. There are also various sub-areas from which essences can often be gathered.
Desert - Cute Prospecting Cave, Ghost Cave, Junkyard and Treasure Cave- Forest - Chess Cave, Fun Prospecting Cave and Spooky Forest Cave
- Town Square - Geeky Essences Cave and Gardens
Switch/PC[]
The Switch/PC version of MySims allows players to use the train station to access the Gardens. In the Gardens, players can build objects, as well as have 8 different lots for building houses and a single lot for building a workshop.
Star Levels[]
As the game progresses, the town's Star Level will increase. Each time a star is gained, Mayor Rosalyn P. Marshall will give the player new tools to unlock new areas, new blueprints, and new blocks to use in their workshop.
Glitches[]
- Main article: Glitches (MySims)
Development[]
Development for MySims began as early as Quarter 3 of 2006.[citation needed] During its development, MySims was shown off at a total of three shows, with only one of those shows being known.
Laterno demo[]
On a currently unknown show, Tim LeTourneau (misspelled as "Laterno") was interviewed by Gamespot about MySims. There were four stations set up at the show, meant to display the different parts of the game:
- Station 1: Create a Sim demo
- Station 2: Create a building demo
- Station 3: Create a thing demo
- Station 4: Town Demo
Bendett demo[]
On another currently unknown show, Matt Bendett, head of marketing for the Sims Division at EA, showed off a demo of MySims on the Wii.
E3 2007 demo[]
The Wii version of MySims was shown off at E3 2007 with a trailer and a playable demo on the show floor.