strategy

"The Sims Makin' Magic" expansion pack is by far the best addition to the world of The Sims since "Hot Date", which introduced the whole concept of leaving your Sim's house. This game is bursting with tons of new game play options.

First of all, your Sims can have magical powers now! You can create spells and charms that can do everything from do the dishes to make your Sim a celebrity! Once you perform a spell, it is unlocked in your new, very useful family spellbook. There are tons of spells and you can travel to the all new Magic Town to make MagiCoins (needed to purchase certain magical ingredients), buy everything from Dragon Tears to Faerie Dust, perform, charm snakes, barter, duel, take rides in a funhouse, complete quests for vendors, and much more. You can even adopt a dragon! After a certain number of spells have been cast in your house, magical rewards begin appearing in your yard such as a beanstalk, crystals, and gnarled roots.

Your Sims can even bake their own food now! Nectars, pies, cakes; yummy! There are also many new objects that can assist you in your culinary development. There's the family cookbook (in addition to the family spellbook), a butter churner, honey maker, a baker's oven and nectar press. You can now even grow grapes and elderberries in your garden and then make nectar out of them to either sell or store in your new nectar bar.

In addition, there is of course, many new pieces of furniture, plants, NPC's (I love the new skeleton maid), interactions, floors, wallpapers and skins. There's also a great option for those especially magical Sims; an opportunity to move into an old house in Magic Town!

I think the Sims Makin' Magic is the best pack that Maxis has made. In the original game and the other packs, it was basically all the same. Wake up, eat, shower, go to work, eat, watch tv, call a friend, go to sleep with maybe a vacation or date in there or something. But, in MM, it's like a whole different world! Spells, potions, charms, dragons, and for the first time ever in The Sims, actual competitive games. The duels with the magic ingredient vendors are something totally different then any other element of the game. Also, unless you know the cheats (which every one does), in the original you have to play by the rules. In MM, the rules are bent and stretched which is very different. Another change is that Sims can actually live in another "town." If you earn enough MagiCoins, you can move into a Creepy Hollow lot which is right in Magic Town! It's really cool, you even get a different mailbox and trashcan and your road isn't paved! But, ok, back to all the changes in the game, there's still more! Yet another change is that there's different buy and build mode music for when you're in Magic Town or Creepy Hollow. I think that's because listening to the same creepy songs is really dull. There's more to discuss, but this could take all day. I like all the changes and hope you will too. I think the game has a whole new feeling and gave the original some spice. I totally recommend this pack to anyone who loves the original and the other packs but is ready for a change.

This game is absolutely great! You can have your sims preforms spells, and even participate in duels with NPCs. This game is a great addition to the Sims collection. I do not reccomend this to new players.