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The Sims Freeplay is a free game for android by EA. The Sims Freeplay's gameplay closely resembles the original The Sims for PC. You start by customize every aspect of your Sim. Pick your Sim's gender, hair do, eye color, clothing etc. When you're happy with your changes, move your Sim into a house. Over time, introduce your Sim to friends, find a job for your Sim. Even find your Sim a hobby and eventually get married and start a family. On top of personal relationships, you get to remodel your Sim's home with flooring, wallpaper, and furniture.
The major differences between The Sims Freeplay and the original PC version of The Sims (other than Android vs PC) is the gameplay speed. The Sims Freeplay is only available in one speed. The tasks in The Sims Freeplay attempt to closely mirror real life. "Deep Sleep" takes 8 hours to complete, where "Power Snooze" only requires 5 minutes. Another example is "Watch a Movie" takes 2 hours, but "Watch Show" is only 25 minutes. But the game isn't perfect, as not all tasks are correctly timed. For example, my Sim can go a week without having to sleep.
My opinions of this game are based on the free version of Android. I am playing this Android game on the Motorola X smartphone on the Sprint network (with an unlimited data plan). Like most of the games I play, I refuse to pay for special items or extra goodies. I however have no problem connecting and sharing my information to social networks, but I am heavily biased towards Google+ over Facebook.
What to Love About The Sims Freeplay:
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Amazing gameplay controls
Taking into account that I'm playing off a smartphone, and not a tablet or PC. The controls are friendly and intuitive. I sometimes experience trouble selecting certain elements, but a quick rotate of the camera resolves the problem.
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The graphics are beautiful
It completely brings me back to the days of the original The Sims game for PC.
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Free Android App
For such a complex game, I'm surprised that EA offers this game for free. Their business model is to sell virtual goods (like furniture, Sim money, and accessories for your Sim house) for US dollars.
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Social Network Integration
Great that there is Facebook integration to visit your friend's city, and actual befriend them in the game. I do wish there was some integration with Google+, but it's not a big problem.
What I Hate About The Sims Freeplay:
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Requires an Internet Connection
Without an internet connection, not only can you not start the game up, but you cannot continue playing a session that is already in progress (if your connection gets lost).
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To gain the most out the game, requires a lot of attention
Due to how long tasks take, you actually end up having to "care" for your Sims throughout the day. Depending on what job you give your Sim, and your real life availability, this can become a problem. Especially as your town's population increases.
After playing for about a week, I find that this game takes a lot of attention to manage throughout the day. I find myself spending too much time focused on the game. Part of my issue with the game is that I have to manage multiple Sims for my town to function and to follow their tutorial. The multiplayer aspect of The Sims Freeplay is a bit lacking by only allowing Facebook friends. It would be completely awesome if my Sim could interact with an entire world of Sims for other mobile devices. This not only gives the game more meaning, but also makes it more manageable.
All in all, The Sims Freeplay is a completely awesome game. As long as I don't run out of storage space on my phone (as there is a large file download after the initial app download), I plan on checking in once in awhile. After a week, it has been hours of entertainment, but I want to regain my free time and free myself from this very addicting game.