Here's a detailed description of one of the games I play on my iPad. I doubt this will be interesting to very many people.
It's The Sims Freeplay, and it's one of the few games I've been able to get deeply into without having to pay for anything. I miss out on a lot of the timed challenges because some of them just can't be completed in the time available unless you pay to get boosts, but none of them prevent you from continuing to play or spoil your enjoyment of the game. If you pay, you can get additional funky stuff and that's it. There is no pay-to-win.
I've been playing for about half a year or so now I think. I know a few of my Facebook friends have tried it, but none of them are still doing so - I can tell because their towns haven't grown in all that time. There are social tasks that you can do with friends, but I generally just ignore those.
Anyway, the idea is that you build up your town and stock it with little Sim people that I like to refer to as tamagotchis because you have to keep their needs met - hunger, toilet, sleep, cleanliness, social and fun. Each time they do something you get experience points and money, which you can use to buy stuff for their houses. You can also make Lifestyle Points and Social Points, which you can also spend to get other stuff.
Each sim can have a job and a hobby, and has to live in a house. They can date and get married to either sex and have children. Each sim can be one of several different ages - infant, toddler, preteen, teen, adult or senior. Currently I have no infants - I try to avoid having infants because they seem to have no way to fulfil their toilet need. Changing their diaper seems to only fulfil their cleanliness. I also have no toddlers, because I grew all of them up.
Anyway, it's a fun little distraction. When the town gets to the size I have (level 43), it takes about half an hour in the morning to get all the sims to work with filled needs. When all their needs are filled or mostly so, they are "inspired" and earn more XP and money for each thing they do. It's pretty easy to get them and keep them there, as long as you pay attention to them every day (which is why I refer to them as tamagotchis).
Anyway, here is my list of sims:
Emma and Joe Dighe: Emma was my first sim. This is my magic couple - yes, magic exists in the Sim universe. Emma works at the fire station and currently her hobby is broomstick flying. Joe is one of the mayors of Sim Town and be brews potions in his spare time. Emma previously was a spell caster, but gave that up to fly broomsticks instead. They have no children, but I'm thinking of giving them one so that there's someone to cast spells. They have a pet dragon, and one of the rooms in their house is decorated to be their magical studio.
James Snr, Jean and Nigel Holmes: James and Jean have had two children. One, Renee, grew up, got married and moved out of home. Their younger son Nigel has followed in her footsteps and become the town's teen idol. He and Emma Carter have been seeing a lot of each other. James breakdances and Jean puts kitten videos on the internet, although they both started out as salsa dancers. James is a firefighter and Jean is an athlete. They live in a two-storey house two doors up from Emma and Joe. The top floor has Nigel's instruments, while the lower floor has the kitchen and dance studio where James practices his breakdancing.
Ali and Ben Collins are currently this town's only two seniors. Ali spends a lot of time at the bingo hall while Ben is trying to find some birds to feed. As seniors, they do not have jobs and therefore don't earn money, but bingo pays off occasionally. They live across the river from the Holmses in a nice one-bedroom home.
Erin Tonkin lives alone, because she's a bit weird. She wears goth makeup and hunts ghosts, filling her two-storey house with haunted furniture. She used to be a talented cook, and she has a pool in her backyard that she never uses but still has to keep clean. Sometimes people come over to use her diving board. Her house is right in between the Dighes and the Holmses.
Warren and Amanda Tonkin: I think Warren is Erin's brother. The Tonkins live next door to the Collinses. Warren is a cook, while Amanda ice dances. She's a bit of a nerd though, and when she's not ice dancing she hangs around the house in a track suit and wears large round glasses. Warren works at the recording studio while Amanda is a scientist. They have a pet cat named Shuffles, who used to live with Emma and Joe.
Renee and James Holmes Jnr: Renee is James Snr and Jean's elder daughter, and the town's original teen idol. They live across the bridge on the island - the first family to have moved in there. Renee now works as an actor while James Jnr works at the recording studio. They started seeing each other as preteens, when Renee did karate and James did ballet at the community centre. They have a one-bedroom house on a large and currently bare lot.
Susan, Craig and Emma Carter: Susan and Craig are the parents of teenager Emma and live next door to the community centre. Emma has rainbow hair and dives at the swim centre when she's not at high school. Susan and Craig are both politicians. Susan mastered diving, but no longer practices, leaving that for her daughter instead, and Craig tries to cook. He's not very good at it though. All the Carter family wear pink for some reason.
Edward Clayton is a bit of a loser. He lives with his pet German shepherd Ford next door to the Carters in a small house with cheap furniture. He works as a real estate agent and spends all of his remaining time at the bowling alley, trying to get that one last strike.
Ali and Edward Kay are James Jnr's parents. Now that he's moved out of home though, they have only their greyhound Slowpoke to keep them company. Ali is a catwalk model who went into politics, while Edward is a real estate agent who does woodworking in his spare time. He has a woodworking studio behind a secret door disguised as a bookshelf. They have a small pool. James used to spend a lot of time in it, but he's gone now. Ali and Edward wear Tron costumes - Ali in blue, Edward in red and black.
Belinda and Carol Thompson are married and don't have any children. Belinda is an artist, and a fashion designer in her spare time. Carol works as a musician at the recording studio, but she often either serves or browses at the makeup studio in the mall, accompanied by Hayley Schofield. Belinda and Carol live in a one-bedroom house next door to the town vampire.
Daniel Finegan lives alone, but seems to be pretty well-off. His kitchen is decked out with an ice palace theme. he works at the lab as a scientist and cooks in his spare time. He isn't dating anybody, but he has lots of friends.
Pace and Ben Richards are married. Both work as actor/writer/directors at the movie studio. The two of them were largely responsible for cleaning up the romantic island retreat this past Valentine's day. Their kitchen has a science fiction theme. I'm not sure what the deal is with these themed kitchens. Ben cooks (poorly) and Pace dabbles in fishing, but not as often as he'd like.
Darren Schofield was kicked out of the house by his ex-wife Hayley and now lives in a cheap studio near the fire station. He is an athlete, and bowled with Edward Clayton for a little while before losing interest.
Hayley Schofield is Darren's ex-wife and still lives in the house she kicked him out of. She is a scientist, but in her spare time shares makeup booth duties with Carol Thompson at the mall. Darren is a bit jealous of the time Hayley spends with Carol.
Maciej Thomachot is the town vampire. He wears black clothes and pale makeup, and his tiny one-bedroom house is painted black inside and out, and has no windows. He has a coffin-shaped bathtub and red velvet lined couch and dining chair, which is positioned at the head of his octagonal dining table. He's a nice guy though - he works as a schoolteacher. I'm not sure how to pronounce his name, so I usually refer to him as "Macey".
Mary De Anda lives in a boxy little two-roomed house on a plot filled with trees and flowers. She is also a schoolteacher, but every other moment she spends bonding with her puppy, Bobby. She doesn't really socialise with anybody in town. She dislikes Maciej and absolutely hates her next-door neighbour.
Alfred Spicer is Mary's next-door neighbour. He lives in a Japanese mansion and just started a new career as a real estate agent. He used to spend a lot of time showjumping on the island with his horse Whinona Rider but the horses are neglected now. They say a unicorn has been spotted, but none has shown up. Unicorns are expensive.
One last thing. I tend to refer to my sim town as "Oniontown" because whenever anyone has any spare time, they grow onions in their garden. Growing things is a way to get more money, and onions seem to have the best cost/time/payoff ratio.
