Back in the days of the Wii and DS, EA started a new branch of The Sims, with chibi-styled characters and a very cartoony visual style to match. That game was MySims. And I enjoyed it. Then followed a period of years where a new MySims release happened each year, with each successive game being a different genre. The second of those games joins the first in the newly released Cozy Bundle for the Nintendo Switch.

Starting off with the original, the only one of the two I have played, felt right. It brought me back to those days of playing on the Wii. Starting out in a town that most have left, using my building and essence skills to restore it to the five-star rating it used to hold. Which in turn brings more people to the town, some old and some new, who want to be a part of the community now that life is being brought back to it.

The mayor brings me to where my house should be, but there’s nothing around. So, time for me to build it. There’s a decent range of blocks to use for the building, with many other objects such as doors, windows, roofs, and other outdoor furnishings such as lawn ornaments and lights to decorate the area with. There’s a smaller range of colours when it comes to painting various aspects of the building, meaning that side of things isn’t as wild when it comes to creativity.

And no matter what is built on the outside, the inside always looks the same depending on the function of the building. Always fun to make use of the round blocks for the main of the house and have that not reflected inside. The only building that doesn’t have an inside is my workshop. But that workshop is where I’ll be building many things for all these people. And as a bonus, I get to place them wherever I want in a person’s home.

Essences are the lifeblood of personality in MySims, with six interests that those essences can fit into. Fruit and fish fit into tasty, for example. Each character has two interests they like, and one they dislike. Essences can be used as paints for furniture, so filling a character’s home with what they like makes them happier. And thus become greater friends with them.

That loop of gathering essences and creating is what made me love MySims. I could have a lot of fun going wild in building things. As long as the important blocks of a blueprint were there, I could do whatever I wanted. And in some cases, that was encouraged, as tasks would require more essences used than the blueprint had blocks. It was always a great time at that workshop.

With a decent chunk of hours put into MySims, it was then time to move on to MySims Kingdom. With Kingdom, most of what was introduced in MySims is still around. But Kingdom, as per its name, expands the land out with various islands. Each of these islands holds Sims to help, with new construction items being unlocked through essences via scrolls.

The story of Kingdom is similar to that of MySims, where those with the power of creation moved on, with the kingdom then starting to fall apart. So the King intends to recruit another to use that power. He will crown a new Wandolier. The tests to become one act as the tutorial for creation, with that tutorial then continuing across Capital Island. Once the island is left, there’s a lot to discover. Especially when it comes to creation.

No longer is furniture being custom built. Instead everything is premade to place inside buildings. New building options include gears and piping to provide power and water where needed. Which are used in the new quests Sims will have. Which also include herding animals around, such as the cows being put in the newly built pen. With each quest complete, the popularity meter fills. Ranking up in popularity provides new islands to help.

Kingdom still has the optional social stuff, allowing me to just hang out with the Sims on these islands. Being nice or mean, jumping on their couch, sleeping in their bed. It’s still as fun as ever to just kick back. There’s quite a few characters from MySims who return, such as Buddy, in a new role of royal advisor and sidekick on this adventure. But there’s also plenty of new characters, too. Such as Lyndsay, an adventurer and second sidekick on this quest.

I’ve had fun rediscovering the delights of MySims and finding new ones with Kingdom. The two games within this newly released Cozy Bundle are very lovely to play. Sure, things can maybe get a bit repetitive with their progression systems, but I can recommend them to those who want to discover these games for the first time. Now, can we get an Action Bundle that includes MySims Racing, EA?

Images Taken From:
MySims | Nintendo Switch [Docked]
MySims Kingdom | Nintendo Switch [Docked]