by Esmeralda Draic

Created on: May 19, 2009   Last Updated: June 05, 2009

'Free Time' is the seventh in the series of eight Expansion Packs for The Sims 2. This pack, which came out in February 2008, adds an array of new features and enhancements. The main new feature added by this pack is that of enabling your Sims to enjoy hobbies and other leisure time pursuits. Sims can now be 'creative' in various new ways: Cooking, Music & Dance, Sports, Fitness, Nature, Science, Gaming, Tinkering, Arts & Crafts, and Films & Literature.

Each Sim now has a particular 'talent' that they favour, and developing that talent can eventually make them a master of it. When a Sim masters a talent, a new animation depicts them as being 'In The Zone' when practising their pursuit. For instance, if you have a Sim who has maxed out their talent for Music, when they play an instrument they will magically change into formal dress and be surrounded by a glowing white aura and sounds of disembodied cheering and applause (I find this rather spooky, actually!).

This pack also adds 'Secret Lots', each one associated with a different hobby, which can be unlocked once your Sim shows enough promise in their particular talent. For instance, if your Music & Dance Sim shows enough enthusiasm and talent for their craft, a representative of the relevant Secret Lot, a local dance studio, will show up at the Sim's house and give them a invitation to come to the dance studio anytime they like. They simply get in their car, or call a taxi, and visit the lot as they would any other community lot. Here they can carry out their hobby to their heart's content. I find the dance studio a fun place, with random Simmies doing a 'dance till you drop' everywhere, and sometimes your Sim can meet a new romantic partner there.

There are loads of new objects to go with all these new hobbies. Arts & Crafts Sims can use a pottery wheel or a sewing machine, Tinkering Sims can work on an old broken-down car and try to fix it, Gaming Sims can purchase a selection of new computer games (including a mock-up of The Sims 3!) to play on their home computer, and even join network gaming competitions. For Sports Sims, there is a basketball hoop, and Fitness Sims can purchase an exercise bike or a ballet barre.

In one of the most fun and amusing hobby-related features, there is a new community lot object, a Cooking Contest Table, at which your Cooking Sim can enter a cooking contest with other Sims (the others are chosen randomly by the game itself from among other Sims in your

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