PC, £30. Age 12+
This is a cut-down, stand-alone version of The Sims 2: Pets, which was released last year so owners of the Sims game could introduce animals to their virtual home. It is designed to run on a basic laptop.
The open nature of the gameplay has been replaced with 12 chapters containing tasks such as winning the cat show. Given that the appeal of The Sims was playing God, introducing linear gameplay is pointless. The Sims Pet Stories is little more than a glorified demo, with the system specs lowered.