By the time Nintendo rolled out the Wii and the DS, Electronic Arts was already hankering to get more youngsters involved with The Sims. The younger, more casual audiences of Nintendo's platforms were ideal for enabling EA to crack that much-desired audience – and so we got MySims. Taking it one step further, EA has gone all medieval on the franchise, bringing us MySims Kingdom.

The game takes the action back to days of yore (or at least a reasonable approximation of them) to get players ... more >>

By the time Nintendo rolled out the Wii and the DS, Electronic Arts was already hankering to get more youngsters involved with The Sims. The younger, more casual audiences of Nintendo's platforms were ideal for enabling EA to crack that much-desired audience – and so we got MySims. Taking it one step further, EA has gone all medieval on the franchise, bringing us MySims Kingdom.

The game takes the action back to days of yore (or at least a reasonable approximation of them) to get players to help King Roland make his kingdom a better place. That's right, an entire kingdom! No more messing about with mere towns like you did in MySims. After you've gone through a hefty amount of customisation (you'll be dressed in medieval style so you don't stick out like a sore thumb) the action kicks off in The Capital. There, you'll meet your new friends - including the lovely-sounding King Roland, Princess Butter, and the Wizard Marlon. As the king's new wandolier it will be up to you to use a magic sceptre to help the good people of your realm.

Players will need to involve themselves in a range of tasks, including becoming chums with the locals and wandering off to find goodies to help them out. As with MySims, expect a lot of building – this time around you'll have to get your mitts on magic scrolls to learn what ingredients you need to get the essences you can build from. With the oodles of customisation options available, you'll be able to get your creations looking just the way you want them!

Oh – and there's pig herding! << less