"The Sims 2 Free Time" Review (PC)

Pros:

• Grow up child, teen, and adult Townies
• Innate hobbies = more personality for Sims
• Fun ways to earn skills for promotions
• Secondary aspirations

Cons:

• Hobbies add to the already overcrowded Sim life

• 12 hobbies for Sims to fill their spare time.
• New objects and activities related to the hobbies, some making once tedious skill building fun.
• The hobbies are: Nature, Tinkering, Music/Dance, Cuisine, Arts and Crafts, Games, Sports, Dance, Science, Fitness, Film, and Literature.
• Choose 3 NPCs to grow up with Sims as they age.
• Parenting skill for Sims that want to have a better understanding of babies.
• Choose a Secondary Aspiration for more wants and fears.
• Lifetime Aspiration Meter shows how happy a Sim has been throughout their life by adding points as important events and major wants are achieved.
• A genie who will give the Sim who rubs it his lamp 3 wishes.
• 5 new career tracks - Entertainer, Dancer, Architect, Intelligence, and Oceanographer.
• Sims have one hobby they are naturally good at and earn skills related to the hobby faster.
• Secret hobby lots Sims can earn access to after earning enough hobby interest points.
• Earn a skill point in parenting for insight into a baby's needs.
• Learning center for toddlers to earn mechanical and creativity skills.

Now Sims can get involved in crafty projects, become movie buffs, or be a master at restoring old cars. There are a total of 12 hobbies listed in the hobbies panels, where enthusiasm points are listed and the hobby a Sim is naturally good at is highlighted. The enthusiasm points are not for nothing. With a growing enthusiasm comes small perks. The bonuses included a chat about hobby, subscribing to a magazine or being invited to a super secret hobby lot.

Some of them use objects most Sims already own (TV, bookcases, chess table, piano, for example). Other hobbies require Sims to buy one or more of the new objects available in “The Sims 2 Free Time.” Sims can spend their time focused on the hobby you pick for them or the one that they have a natural ability to do well (i.e. earn skill points faster). More than one hobby can be taken up for the overachievers. It’s not easy. You will lose enthusiasm points when not regularly taking part in a hobby.

Hobbies add new activities and build upon what is already available. Ballet, tinkering with cars, film buffs (watching TV will count towards something!), learning center for toddlers, earning new types of foods to cook, jogging, a nature walk, football, and so much more. It’s a nice change of pace for a Sim to want to bird watch and not want 20 best friends or earn a skill point.