Spyret's Blog

So, here’s the thing… today’s song was originally meant to be a lot longer, and a lot cooler. But, the project file wasn’t saved, so I lost all my progress. I’ll try again for another day! Please enjoy this piece of a piece in the meantime.

Today I want to talk about “mobile life sim games”. When you think of a regular life sim, what game comes to mind? Maybe the Sims, okay. Paralives, if you’re based. Today I downloaded a game that appeared on my recommended, Pocket Love. I think that’s the name. You can design a little chibi version of you and the love of your life, and I spent a good chunk of time playing it today. That’s part of why this post is so late…

But it got me thinking about past mobile life sim games I played on my phone growing up. I want to drop recommendations for you so you know what to play. We’ll start with a game you may have never heard of… My PlayHome.

Actually, My PlayHome was four games, if I remember correctly. The house one, the store one, the school one, and the hospital one. I think they came out with a plus version eventually, too. That one’s still in progress. But the look of the game was so cute. All of the surroundings and objects, even the people, looked hand drawn, and everything had an interaction. You could pick different families to raise or mix n’ match. There was only one house at some point, but later they updated it to add a second house. I need to check that game, because it’s been a few years, and I have a feeling more has been added. But it’s free on the App Store and Google Play, I think, but the bundle for the four games and the added mall (?) is somewhat like $2.99 USD. It won’t break your bank. I loved it, it’s very nostalgic… it was like a doll house for all ages, all genders, and all walks of life, and it took itself seriously enough to be a solid game. I could still play it for hours. I miss it… shit, I think I might be redownloading it tonight. I’ll check back in tomorrow.

Do the Talking Tom games count as life sims, or tamagotchis? I think maybe both, for the sake of this post, but I grew up playing all the different variations of Talking Angela. My Talking Angela (and if you played it, you’ll remember this) had the sticker packs. I loved collecting them and filling out the little book… My Talking Angela 2 had a lot less of the personality and a lot more of the campy, but I still loved it and played it a lot, despite always going back to the first My Talking Angela. Now, its parent game, Talking Angela… even if you never played, you know. You know. I was maybe five or six years old when I had it on my Kindle, and I was a creepypasta kid who was terrified of creepypastas. I used to throw my device playing FNAF and I couldn’t sleep in the dark or I thought the lamp in the corner was actually Slender Man. So, when I heard about the whole camera in the eyeballs thing… I definitely stuck a bunch of Tinker Bell stickers over the Kindle camera and deleted all the Talking Tom games for a while. Like, every single one. I thought they were all pedophiles out to get me. Anyway, sorry, Angela, I still love you. That game was actually incredibly fun, and I might redownload it.

Now, imagine with me for a moment that you’re at Olive Garden. Your parents don’t know you just added two dollars to the bill so you could play unlimited games, and the first thing you go for is a little game called… heh. Do I even have to say this? You know where I’m going with this. The one, the only, Toca Town!! Also known as Toca Life, Toca City, Toca Life: World, Toca Boca, pick your poison. Ever since I first saw that game at Olive Garden, I used to beg to go, to the point where my family thought it was my favorite restaurant. But actually, I was there for the epic dollhouse life sim filled with silly characters and really interesting food combinations. That game was perfect head to toe! And I’m sure you don’t need me to tell you that I was scrolling on my nana’s iPad one day and discovered that not only did they have all their games on the App Store, there were MORE!!! I spent years. Years. YEARS!!! Racking up games and packs… until finally, it happened. Toca Life: World put all my little duckies in a row. I want to redownload it and get everything back now… it’s like a Minecraft two-week phase for me. I hunger for nostalgia.

Anyway, that’s my dump on you for today. If I have to recommend that you try anything on this list, it’s the My PlayHome games. Try the original with the two houses and see where it takes you! I promise it’ll be a blast!

Until next time! ❤