Finally, a game guide that you really must buy! MySims is best played with this at hand. (My Sims Official Game Guide - Prima Games)

Member Name: eisbrecher

Product:	My Sims Official Game Guide - Prima Games
Date:	11/08/09 (24 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Tons of information, Easy to read and find what you need, Factually accurate.

Disadvantages: Some information is repeated, A section on the blocks used in house building would of been nice.

With MySims being such an open ended game, the Prima guide is not a walkthrough, and is instead an encyclopaedia of the games essences, the different Sims themselves, tasks you ca do for them, the rewards and a list of all the blueprints (I understand this may confuse someone not familiar with MySims but I will assume if you are reading this, you are familiar with the games content)

Degree of Information

There is a lot of content in the guide, at 175 pages long it is quite thick, but there is a lot of information packed into it. A few pages of introduction and explaining what the game is about there are six major chapters. The first is the intro, the second explains the basics, how to navigate, how to build and paint furniture and explaining the essence types and how to get them.

The third chapter describes the Sims you can move in along with an appropriate picture of the Sim. All Sims have their interests and hates listed and also have the star level at which they start appearing at the hotel. The Sims are separated into two groups, commercial Sims and regular 'townies', the latter of which is split into six groups, one for each essence (so those with a primary interest of spooky are all in the same section etc) Townie Sims also have the blueprint unlocked when you become their best friend (it also explains that befriending commercial Sims unlocks their costume)

Chapter four describes each task for commercial Sims, most have three tasks but some later Sims have four tasks, some requiring multiple items for each task. The task itself is described in great detail, explaining the blueprint needed, the essences required and a picture is included to help you. The rewards are also shown, mostly blueprints for the tasks and a decorative for the final task.

Chapter five, is split into three sections itself and is, for me, the most useful part of the guide. The essences themselves are laid out in great detail. The first one has a visual guide to what they look like. There are panels showing what the essence looks like in its varying paint colours (all essences have two blank colours and two paint patterns available, except for the gemstones which have one, coloured, translucent colour) There is also an accompanying picture of what the essence looks like when you pick it up but also what it looks like when used as a backpack item during furniture building (so you can build a bed out of red crayons for example) There is a large picture showing what the essence looks like when used on a basic chair, best for showing what the pattern looks like as well as the gemstone essences as paint. Information is also given on the method used to get it (prospecting, fishing etc), the minimum star level required to retrieve it, the basic area it is found (desert, forest, town or anywhere) and also its % value which is very important when building furniture (for example, using ten 'tire' essences at 1.4% each gives the item a 14% geeky whilst using ten 'robot' essences at 2% each gives it 20%)

Following this, still in chapter five, there is a table alphabetically listing the essences, along with a small picture of the essence itself, its essence interest (fun, tasty etc), the minimum star level to get it, its % value, the area it is found and how it is retrieved. The latter part is chapter five, which is a guide of how to get each essence. It goes straight from one area to another, assuming your town is of the required star level. It shows pictures on where the various essences are roughly found along with a map reference (especially useful in the forest area where it is easy to get disorientated)

The last chapter is a mix, but it is mostly composed on the blueprints, giving you a picture of the blueprint as a finished but unpainted product. It also shows who it is obtained from and how and also the number of blocks needed to build it (this is according to the ghost mode though, you can build objects with as much or as few blocks as you like) There is also a table of the above information in alphabetical order but without the pictures. There are also three maps, one for each area as well as a picture of an example of each commercial Sims building, though this should not limit you, instead it should inspire you to come up with weird and wonderful designs. The last page is dedicated to the different blocks that can be used in furniture building as well as their block size (with the smallest being the 1x1x1 cube.

There is a lot of content here, and much of it is very useful indeed. I can think of only one other thing I would want included which is the blocks used during house building, including a small visual picture, their essence, how they are unlocked and their % value towards the houses overall essence. In terms of what is present in the guide, some of the information is repeated, most notably the blueprints which are unnecessarily repeated in table form for no apparent reason. This aside, the information contained is very in depth and presented clearly.
5/5

Usefulness

Many guides can have huge volumes of information, and due to the nature of MySims, this guide has lots. Luckily the Prima Guide includes only useful information, with the exception of some repetition of information. The guide is very helpful, especially as the in game information on the topics are not too great and the guide has it all laid out easily for you, essences, Sims and blueprints which can be heard to find out information for in game can easily be found in this guide. I have personally had problems with Prima guides before, sometimes having incorrect information but, more often having some information that is rather unnecessary. Not the case in this guide, I found it very helpful indeed and actually added to the game itself, allowing me to plan things in advance in terms of building furniture and which Sims to move in first.
5/5

Value for Money

The Prima MySims guide is certainly more value for money than most other guides, this is solely because it makes the game more interesting and lets you spend more time playing the game itself rather than navigating the games menus, you can just look in the guide to see it in a clear and concise way. It does add to the game, something that many guides do not and it is essentially an encyclopaedia of everything in MySims. However, the guide cost me £12.99 (its RRP) which was for me about half the price of the game itself. If you are willing to pay the steep price then you will surely reap the rewards, however its price does dent the value for money, despite its incredible usefulness.
4/5

Accessibility

This guide is very accessible and information is clear and easy to find. Unlike many guides it is written is an easily understandable style without being condescending. There is a lot of information and it would be easy for it to be displayed in a very confusing way but luckily this is not the case, everything is laid out in an easy to read and easy to find manner. The guide is not complicated despite the large amounts of information and it is not daunting as everything is set out in a way that is easy for anyone to understand.
5/5

Overall

The MySims Prima guide is very, very useful. Much of the information found in it can be found in the games menus but these can be fiddly and difficult to reach. Simply using the easily accessible guide to find what it is you want is much better and gives the game a more fluid feel. Whilst not on the cheap side, I have to recommend this as a purchase to any MySims player who plays it regularly as it saves you much time and effort in game and allows you to be better organised. As far as I have seen, factually accurate and everything is presented well, despite the occasional unwarranted repeating on information. A very good guide and one that should be very highly considered as a purchase when buying MySims or if you own it already.
5/5

Thanks for reading, any comments you have will be gratefully received. Also on Ciao.

Summary: This encyclopedic guide really does improve the MySims experiance.