Customer Reviews

Virtual Families [Download]

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

In Virtual Families, you watch/guide your little people through their careers, daily living routines (laundry, cleaning, cooking, etc.), and their families (getting married, having children, etc.) This a real-time game, which means that when you "quit", the game does not. When you go to play your game later, you will see that your little people have been busy in your absence. There will be new things to clean, food to buy, and possibly new kids around.

To me, however, I thought this game was very slow-paced. I do think it's cool that I can go to sleep, wake up, and there will be new things to do in the game. The thing is, when I am actually playing the game, I don't find enough to do to keep me interested for more than 10 minutes. I like to feel challenged, and I like a game to be a little harder than this one.

If you have ever played Virtual Villagers before, this game is by the same people, so the gameplay is very similiar. Fun for some, but just not for me. The game has a free downloadable trial (60 minutes), and I highly suggest you take advantage of that before buying the game.

Yes, the game is slow but I got used to it and i find it a relaxing way to chill out after work before bed. I like the fact it is a clean, family game and I am now on my fourth generation of little people. Things that could be improved:

1. The family pets are lacking in imagination and creativity.
I bought a dog for a family pet and it is not nearly as realistic as the little people. It is way too small and out of sync with rest of the game and does nothing except walk around, sit, and lay. They could have created a more lifelike version (like the people), one that barks, digs holes, buries bones, chases the gophers, plays ball, etc. I find this a bit peculiar, since the rest of the game is so well-designed.

2. The focus and goal of the game is too materialistic: you are 'spose to succeed by buying this and that, this and that (i.e. pool, pinball machine, various house upgrades, BBQ grill, bigscreen tv, and other non-essentials). I would not want to teach my children that the goal in life is to have MORE. In my book, success is not measured by THINGS you possess. So this aspect was a bit of a bore for me.

3. I think it would have been nice if they would have created outside visitors to the house, and allowed the family members to get mail from the mailbox. Just an idea, not a complaint.

Things that are well-designed in the game:

1. The thunderstorms are realistic and a cool part of the game. Very well done by the creators. It's also possible to buy and change clothes for all of them. In it's basic form this is a very nice game which i use to just relax before bed. Again, basic with a lot of potential if the creators will continue with it.

2. The game lets you continue on for generations. I am currently on my 4th generation/family. I am not sure if it allows a person to create new families indefinitely or if there is a limit. But this is very cool.

3. When one of them dies of old age it is rather unique the way the game has them give up the ghost. Freaks me out how lifelike it is.

4.The game allows you to change the names of your people, which is good because the names they come with are pretty awful.

5. The hidden objects are a fun part of the game. And some things are challenging enough even for adults to find.

6. There is nothing occultic in this game, and nothing violent, overtly sexual or otherwise offensive in this game. It is a safe game to leave your kids alone with. It is fun for kids and adults.

7. You can leave the game running when you turn your computer off and come back and your people have aged a few years, or you can choose to pause the game before you turn your computer off, and then pick up where you left off.
The game also makes "money" or household income (for the people) after you've turned your computer off, if you dont pause the game, so i leave the game UNpaused.

Overall, i would recommend this game to anyone who enjoys the virtual theme.

I always loved Virtual Villagers so when I saw this game come out I jumped right on it. I love it, it is so fun, there are hundreds of different adults to adopt at the beginning, w/ different careers and pay amounts. This game allows 5 save slots I have a game on all slots saved so I can keep the entertainment going otherwise one game at a time does get old after awhile. My kids love this game too. If you loved Virtual Villagers you will love this game! And there is no more inbreeding because it goes by generation, you have the parents then when one or both of them die you start your next generation by choosing one of their kids to continue with, you will get a marriage partner w/ the kids too via email. Enjoy!

I'm not a big game player. But, I needed some serious down time, so I played for one evening. (OK, it was several hours!) I was able to play this, watch TV, converse with friends, keep an eye on a toddler, and eat a slice of pizza without missing a beat. Yep, it's that simple.

I do believe that if Virtual Family was all that I was doing, I would have quit after 30 minutes or so. The big plus is that it goes in "real time." That's also the big problem if you are looking for a bit more excitement -- more happening. In essence, Virtual Family was lots of fun while it lasted.

However, as my friends suggested, I'm moving on to a game with richer play experience. But make no mistake, this is a really fun and relaxing game that is perfect for all ages. There's nothing offensive here, and it is tremendously cute!

Well I think that this game is VERY good. In the beginning of the game you can adopt a person and name it. You can use the computer when an email sign goes up + you can have children. You get children by dragging a male onto a female or vice versa. I LOVE THIS GAME!!!! You just have to get it. To do a job just go to the place where you would think they would work for their job. CLICK the details button on the bottom of the screen and it tells you the person's name, age, job, etc.

I THINK THAT YOU WILL ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS GAME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A free trial of this game came with my computer and I really enjoyed it. One thing I like (that was a turnoff for everyone else) is that you really only play it 10 minutes at a time. It's something I can go back and forth with which you can't do with other games. In little spurts, it's a nice break from homework or chores, without soaking up too much time. It's appropriate for children and each of my children play as well. (ages 8-18)

Fun for all those sim game lovers, but the fun is short lived because there's not a lot of choices or variation as the game progresses.

I found out about Virtual Villagers a couple of years ago when I got a new computer and a trial version was offered. I was hooked. I later found out about Virtual Families and decided to give it a shot. I'm finding this game quite slow and am often finding myself annoyed by the game. Unlike Virtual Villagers there really aren't any puzzles to figure out and the only real goals are to earn enough money to buy home upgrades, groceries, and medicine. Every time I log into the game (minimum once per day), everyone in the family is sick and just about every time one of the family members sends me a message that they need more food (this despite having full refrigerators each time - I believe this is a system bug). One of the other factors that has been bothering me regarding this game is that each time a player logs in you will find the Family home a mess - socks, wrappers, stains, etc... that have to be cleaned up. What I find incredibly odd is that when you set the little person down to pick something up they walk all around the room before heading to the right room to dispose of the object. I finally realized what kind of a time waster the game is when I'm sitting there for a full minute waiting for the members to pick up all their socks and I'm twiddling my thumbs.

I will say this - this is probably a good game for a child to play to get an idea of how running a household works(though a parent might want to initiate the baby-making process when the child isn't watching - while it is far from being revealing it might produce a few questions you don't want to answer yet). While a parent would still need to provide explanations (such as saving money to buy items) I could see it assisting the parent in teaching their child.

Personally, I don't mind sort of simple, laid-back games but if you're looking for a game where you reach some sort of goal or accomplish some sort of challenge, this game really isn't for you. The concept of the game is basicly just starting a virtual family and acomplish a few simple tasks like "fix the birdbath" and stuff like that. It's a nice cool-down game for me after school. The Virtual Villagers saga were nice games, too. You can cure your family when the get sick and can have children up to triplets at one time. But when you buy all the house upgrades in the store you don't have much to spend your money on. I do wish they had done more with the virtual pets you can buy in this game. All they really do is walk around the house, sit, lie down and walk around the house. You can't take them for walks or teach them tricks or anything like that. The names they give your people aren't that good. For exampele:

Geometry
Floppy
Hoot
Input
Ornament
Frisky

So I highly suggest renaming your people!

Ummm. I havent bought this yet but I played the free trial and its pretty cool. :) But when I buy this does it stay on my computer forever?? Because I dont want it for only 12 months and then its gone. Someone that bought it from amazon please comment and tell me. Thanks. :)