Customer Reviews

SimAnimals

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

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.

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!

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

I bought this game on a whim and am very pleased with it! It reminds me a lot of Viva Pinata. And guess what you do there? You build to attract animals, just like this game! People are forgetting the roots of the Sims...building. And part of nature is destruction, so I took the forest fires in stride. I thought the interface was intuitive, I don't know when the last time was that I actually read a game manual. This game holds true to the randomness that is the Sims, and dollar for dollar, it was money well spent for me.

I've read recently that to generalize (which is dangerous) researchers have found that girls love simulation games, while boys like games with a set story track that involve shooting things. This is certainly true with my 9-year old daughter. She just loves "SimAnimals." (Let me emphasize that I am one of those modern dads whose mantra for his daughter is "girls can do anything boys can do.")

In Sims Animals, you attract animals to your forest by growing trees, raining on flowers, and nurturing them. I am dumbfounded by how much my daughter enjoys doing this. She has even "re-played" the game from start to finish, which I've never seen her do with any other DS game. I start to play with her and I just think "what a pain in the neck to balance all these tasks - give me something to shoot so I can move on." Maybe it's also true what researchers say: in general, women are better multi-taskers and men can concentrate on one thing better.

The game is slightly educational, but it's mainly an interesting pastime. I'm an adult boy and I couldn't get into it at all, but I love watching her enjoy this game. When a new animal comes to live into her forest, she always shares the happy news with me. (As the adult boy that I am, I'd recommend Super Mario Bros. for boys, or Professor Layton which seemed to cross gender lines)

SimAnimalsI am 10. There are 2 fun cheats - when the animals are asleep you can gather as much food as you can get and if you are on the 2nd level or higher you can go back to the other levels and gather the food from the other trees. I love it and so does my brother. Thanks Grandma for the game. Zach

I purchased as a gift for my little cousin and she seems to be ecstatic with it...doesn't put that DS down; but hey, NO KID puts the DS down no matter what! :-) I had a look at the game and it looks pretty cool, with animals running around in the screen and you having to interact with them, etc. It is a nice kids game that distances itself from any of the barbaric games that are out there these days. A very innocent game that I recommend.

I did some research before I bought this game, and didn't read the customer reviews. I'm glad I didn't because there is a lot of negativity percieved about this game. The DS version is quite different from the Wii version, which is always a bummer because there is far more to the Wii version than there is to the DS game. HOWEVER, I still enjoyed this game very much. I thought that it was a little too easy so I set my own goals to make things a little more challenging.
I have to say the replay value of it isn't that great if you're the kind of person that needs more challenge than it offers, and I am always looking for something I can play more than once.
It's a quick game, it's a straightforward game, and it's absolutely ADORABLE.

I love regular Sims games, so I thought one with animals would be fun. WRONG. First of all, it's kind of difficult to figure out what you're supposed to do. The guide for the game is no help whatsoever. So you water a bunch of trees and try to keep squirrels happy for a long...long...time. It's ridiculously boring and I wanted my money back.

The game itself was extremly fun and I`ve never had a problem about the way you play. But there is no point of the game after you beat all the levels. I`ve tried to do the stuff I didn`t do on another level but it`s hopeless. If you start again you do the same thing over and over and over..... I`ts fun the first few times but then it gets old. Buy a used if you aren`t to patient, but if you are this game is for you.