SimAnimals

by Electronic Arts

Product Features

• Interact with over 30 species of animals in the forest
• Unlock forest areas such as swamps, woodlands, and castle ruins
• Interconnected world changes in real-time based on your actions
• Different tasks to complete and challenges to solve
• Blow into the mic to control the wind

Product Details

• Shipping: Currently, item can be shipped only within the U.S. and to APO/FPO addresses. For APO/FPO shipments, please check with the manufacturer regarding warranty and support issues.
• ASIN: B001CRO8U8
• Product Dimensions: 5 x 5.2 x 0.5 inches ; 3.2 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Release Date: January 21, 2009
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (25 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,201 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
  • #21 in Video Games > Nintendo DS > Simulation > Life
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Platform: Nintendo DS

Amazon.com Product Description

SimAnimals for Nintendo DS, the latest Sim video game from Electronic Arts, lets you explore a vast forest of wild animals and make it your own wherever you go. With over 30 species of animals spread out in the woodlands, swamps, and more, this game will reveal secrets about the wilderness and teach you what it takes to survive in the wildlife.

Interact with the animals using the stylus.

You can create a gust of wind by blowing in the mic.

Engage with Your Favorite Animals
Whether you like bears, foxes, badgers, squirrels, or owls, SimAnimals lets you touch, move, and play with them and other animals from the Northern Hemisphere. Using the stylus, you can pick an animal up and bring him to his friends, feed a bear, and touch just about everything in the forest, including trees and flowers.

Depending on how you treat the animals, they will either trust you or fear you, which in turn will affect how they evolve. How the forest ends up is up to you, but remember that you can only unlock new forest areas and explore into areas such as the swamps or castle ruins when the animals are happy. There are a total of 11 areas that need to be unlocked one at a time.

Interactive, Dynamic Environment
All of the areas in the forest are connected, and what you do in one area will cause changes to happen in another. For example, if the beavers build a dam, it will create a lake on one side of it while removing the water on the other side. This in turn can create a large amount of ducks in the lake, but plants that needed water down the river might die out. You'll have a lot of fun watching all these changes in the world occur in real time.

By blowing into the microphone, you can become the wind. You can make fruit fall off trees, spread flower blossoms, and more.

Solve Different Challenges and Discover Forest Secrets
SimAnimals provides players with different challenges to solve in order to live happily in the forest. You'll have to figure out which plants grow better when near water, which foods different animals need to live near, and more. As you get further into the forest, you'll meet animals with special abilities and one-of-a-kind objects.

By using the special features of the Nintendo DS, SimAnimals lets you interact with dozens of animals in fun, new ways.

Product Description

SimAnimals DS

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

35 of 37 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Like Viva Pinata-With it's own unique quality., February 15, 2009

By 

SW "Wick" - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: SimAnimals (Video Game)

I see a lot of bad reviews for this game, and really I think it is GOOD. So I wrote down what people are complaining about to maybe add a little information that might help people out. Also, to bring this game back into a good light, because I have seen MUCH WORSE.

First off, Did you know you can change the color of your animals simply by changing their names? Click on an animal to see it's info, and then click on the PENCIL to change it's name.

To get the Chocolate Bunny: Click on the female rabbit and change it's name to "Eostre".

To get the Red Badger: Click on the male badger and change his name to "Madger".

To get the Yellow Squirrel: Change the squirrels name to "Peekaboo".

That is what I have for now, but there are more codes out there. Best Buy is suppose to have an "Electric Animal" code. I still haven't gotten that one yet.

When I started playing this game I had no problems figuring out what to do. I didn't even need the booklet, like most people put down, because the BOOKLET is the TUTORIAL in the beginning of the game. Go through the tutorial, read everything, do what it tells you to do, and you will understand the game. I had no problems leveling up and getting more land.

People complained most about the watering. Yes, there is a lot of watering you have to do. BUT, it makes it easier if you make BIG rain clouds and put them in your sack. Stick as many as you can in your sack and just go around watering the plants. Actually putting them in your inventory makes it a lot easier to go around watering. Also, don't plant too much! If you fill a forest with too much then of course all you will do is go around watering.

I had no problem leveling up and playing with the animals/feeding them. Throwing them across the screen, playing with them. Maybe it is because I planted less and put rain clouds in my inventory. I noticed once you do get your trees to full maturity, they don't need to be watered as much.

Another person said they had trouble getting animals to move in. Animals do that on their own. You have to look in their profile and see how high their meters are. There will also be a list of the foods they like. You have to be sure they smell your hand, you pet them, you play with them, and you feed them the food it shows on their information. Also don't make them mad. You can make them mad by rubbing your stylus over them when they are sleeping or picking them up too much, or scaring them. You can also make them mad by feeding them the wrong food, so always check. THEY WILL MOVE IN WHEN: you have their meters full and they are happy to be living there.

Okay, now the last complaint was the burning down of trees. I have opened a ton of land and the only reason anything would EVER burn down is if I made a storm cloud and put it over a tree to water it. If you make your cloud too big, then you will make a storm cloud that will cause lightning to strike your trees/plants and burn things down. I have never had anything burn down for any other reason than that, so far.

What I love about this game: Changing colors of the animals with the names, forming clouds, having so much land to work with, getting so many different plants/trees/foods, all the animals, making them mate, and having baby animals. I also LOVE the holes the rabbits make, watching them climb in and out of them.

My biggest complaint: I think they could have done better on the graphics, but I have still seen worse. It is a lot of watering, but I got through it so I think other people can too.

OH YEAH! You can also feed animals to other animals.

11 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ahhhh, How CUTE is this game!, February 28, 2009

By 

mwreview "mwreview" (Northern California, USA) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: SimAnimals (Video Game)

I've been playing SimAnimals off and on since it was released and I'm really getting the hang of it. The goal is to keep the forest thriving and the animals happy so that they will move in and reproduce. As you do well in certain areas of the forest, you will be able to move to other areas where you will encounter new animals and plants to satisfy. I learned from a trailer that this game uses the calendar on the DS to grow plants appropriate for the seasons, so as summer and then fall comes around, we're supposed to see new plants emerge in the game like pumpkins. That will be cool. The following are some things I've learned while playing the game that I hope will help others who may be frustrated at first.

Missions: Pay attention to the star at the left top corner. Click it and it will let you know what you need to accomplish, i.e. having an animal sniff your hand or shaking a pollinating flower. Doing these things will give you big time points and will earn you awards.

Watering: You have to keep the plants and trees watered to keep them alive. Younger plants and trees or ones that you plant yourself will need to be watered all the time (cauliflower also needs to be watered frequently) until they mature while the older plants and trees hardly need to be watered at all. I like to be preventative when it comes to watering. Click on the plant or tree and it will show its profile which will include a watering level. If the level is not full, I water it. I don't wait for emergencies if I can prevent it. As another reviewer mentioned, you can put rain clouds in your pack and carry them to thirsty plants which will save time going back and forth between the plants and the lake. Having a few clouds in your pack is also useful in case a lightning storm hits and starts a fire. Another trick I've used is to water several plants with one cloud. Have a cloud rain on a plant for a few seconds and watch the water level fill up and then move the cloud to another plant. When your forest is doing well, you can make storm clouds that can be used to kill weeds (but be careful as the lightning can start fires and burn things you need).

Animals: Check their profiles so that you know what kind of food they like and where they like to live. If you have unhappy animals, the profiles can give you a clue as to why they're sad (not enough food they like, no place to sleep, etc.). They also tell you if they are hungry or need attention. Their profiles also give you a close-up look at the animals and they are adorable! When a squirrel is deliriously happy, he looks so cute and funny it makes me laugh. When feeding them, as with watering duties, use your pack. Carry food around so you are ready if you find hungry animals. It is a good idea to hold food in front of the animals and let them eat out of your hand. It increases their trust in you. Sometimes animals will fall in love and, zap!, a baby animal appears and it is so cute! One thing I recently found out is that birds need sticks to make nests or they will be sad come bedtime. You get sticks by intentionally letting bushes die.

I hope this review helps some people who may have some troubles with the game. I learned these things mostly by trial and error and also from other players (i.e. the tip on creating sticks for nests). SimAnimals is a very fun game and I look forward to playing it whenever I can. I'm only at the fourth section of the forest and know I will be learning new things and encountering new animals as I progress in the game (yes, I'm sure I'll get frustrated when I can't figure something out at first, but that is part of gameplay). So, buy SimAnimals and have fun with your furry and feathery friends!

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Animals Gone Wild, February 1, 2009

By 

David Cato "~stereodeluxxx~" (Paris, TX USA) - See all my reviews

= Fun:5.0 out of 5 stars 

This review is from: SimAnimals (Video Game)

I really got into this game, it's SO cute! The animal interactions were very entertaining, and it was like I was able to feel the mood and emotion of each animal because of the animal portraits. One thing I think they should improve on is the accessibility of the animals. At first, you have to have a little patience, but once you've completed the first lot or two, you'll get a chance to interact with many more animals. 5/5

2115|R16TUYO1TDEEXQ;2115|R3OGGD8BM58P8O;2115|R1G6P5B4LZS3LH;