Designed by Will Wright, the creator of SimCity, The Sims is at once completely in line with other Maxis products and a unique departure. The Sims is entirely about managing people, as you construct people (called Sims in the game), families, and houses in a neighborhood and see how everyone lives and interacts with everyone else. While the game can be captivating, it can also lapse into tedium just as easily--making your Sims go to the bathroom, fix dinner, or talk to others in order to help them get a big promotion at work simply isn't always fun. Still, with nearly unlimited playing options, The Sims is an interesting experiment, and is definitely a unique game any simulation, strategy, or SimCity fan should investigate, if only for the initial thrill the game inevitably provides.