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The Sims 2 is the 2004 successor to the mega-hit 2000 'Life Simulator' game The Sims, developed by Maxis and published by EA Games. In The Sims 2, the characters are incredibly lifelike, much more so than they were in The Sims. The Sims 2 is a 3D game whereas the original game was only in 2D and had a fairly remote isometric view that didn't let you get close-up to your Sims, and that also didn't afford very good camera control.

With this sequel, you get surprisingly lifelike 3D character models to whom you can zoom in the view as close as you like, even filling the screen with a close-up of your selected Sim. Camera control is now third-person rather than isometric, affording a much better view of the Sims and their surroundings. The character model animations were created by live actors whose movements were captured into a computer system that transferred those movements to the way the models move in the game, giving your Sims uncannily lifelike behaviour.

The gameplay consists of creating characters who can look any way you like, dress any way you like, and have personalities corresponding to a selection you choose among various character traits. You can create adults, senior citizens, teenagers, children and babies. Having created your Sims, you put them together in a family (up to eight Sims per family) and move them into a house. The game comes with many houses already built and furnished in the Neighborhood you choose to play (the base game comes with three pre-made Neighborhoods), or you can install other houses from a selection in the Houses Bin within the game, or even build your own original architectural creations.

Once settled into their home, you need to teach them to look after themselves, by telling them to read books on cooking, cleaning, mechanical know-how, and so on (if you don't at least teach them cookery, they will continually set fire to the kitchen when cooking, which can result in their being killed; be warned!). Little by little they will learn, and much of their learning is autonomous rather than only by telling them to read: for instance, the more meals they prepare on their own, the more cooking skill points they gain.

They speak to each other in 'Simlish', a gibberish language created specially for the game so that it can cross language barriers and be playable all over the world without having to localise the language for each country. But you can tell what the characters are talking about by watching balloons that appear

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