The Sims 2 (mobile)

The Sims 2 also arrived on ordinary Java and Symbian phones, in the form of a significantly simplified but surprisingly functional version of EA Mobile's famous life simulator. Instead of the smooth 3D world builder from computers, the game offered a top-down view of an isometric house, where the player assembled furniture step by step, tended to the character's needs, and advanced their career and relationships - precisely the elements that made the series famous on computers in the first place.

The controls were adapted for a non-touch keypad: arrow keys moved the cursor around the room, number keys served as shortcuts for the menu of commands and interactions, and a confirm button triggered the selected action. The game's pace was slower than the console or computer Sims, but the basic loop of tending to a Sim's hunger, fun, hygiene and sleep was preserved, along with the motivation to earn money and improve the household. The selection of furniture and home upgrades was noticeably more limited compared to the computer original, yet it still gave the player the feeling of building their own little world in their pocket. For many players this was their very first contact with the series, since they had their phone at hand far more often than a home computer, and the game became a pleasant way to pass time in a waiting room or on a train.

It was a paid game sold through carrier and Java portals, the standard model of the time with no ads or microtransactions. Today the feature-phone version is effectively unavailable - the stores where it was sold vanished along with the decline of Symbian and Java ME, so the title can only be reached through enthusiast archives or emulation.

Why play it: Interesting for fans of the series who want to see how the Sims concept shrank down onto a non-touch keypad - in practice it's only reachable now through an old-phone emulator.