MySims Kingdom (Wii)

by Flynn De Marco.
September 17, 2008 00:00 AM PST

MySims Kingdom is the follow up to the kid friendly MySims that debuted last year. With new characters, new islands and an improved building process, MySims Kingdom allows players a wider variety of creative building fun. Use items you find around the world to create anything you want from buildings to appliances.

MySims made a splash last year by taking the popular The Sims and simplifying it for mass consumption. MySims Kingdom expands the MySims world from a town to a series of islands, each with its own special theme and needs.

The Roving Wandolier

MySims Kingdom begins as good King Roland holds a contest for a new Wandolier. A Wandolier is a glorified construction worker, but garners its name from the magical scepter (or wand) that you are given to perform your duties. Unlike a construction worker, there is no heavy lifting, bag lunches, or wolf-whistling female passersby in MySims Kingdom. Everything is done with a wave of your wand. After winning the contest and a short tutorial, you are let lose in the world to work your building magic.

The world of MySims Kingdom is no longer constricted to just one town. You now have a veritable cornucopia of islands to traverse and build about. Each island has its own theme and special items to build. There will be many different islands once the game is released, but currently we were able to see only a few that included Rocket Reef, Unchartered Isle and Forest of the Elves. Forest of the Elves is quite hilarious and includes a run in with some rocking unicorns.

King Roland needs a new Wandolier. Are you up to the challenge?

Socialize with other residents to get presents and building essence.

The Essence of Construction

Like MySims, MySims Kingdom utilizes "essence" as the building blocks of the world. Items are built by using scrolls which are like recipe cards for the various items. A scroll will tell you what essences and how many of each you will need to construct objects, a dresser or stairs for example. Essence can be collected by shaking trees, digging up the ground or by socializing with the various island residents. Once you have collected the required essences, you can go into build mode and build your own version of the item using a blue print and a variety of geometric shapes and decorations.

MySims Kingdom is like a streamlined version of The Sims with a cute factor of 100. The wide-eyed character design is endearing and the environments follow suit. If you are a fan of Sim games like Animal Crossing then you will find a lot in MySims Kingdom to enjoy. Combine the cuteness with the creativity of building and you've got a game that is sure to delight gamers of all ages.