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1[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/the_sims_freeplay_logo.png]]
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3''The Sims Freeplay'' is a free-to-play mobile incarnation of ''VideoGame/TheSims'' series of lifestyle SimulationGames. It was initially released on December 15, 2011.
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5It plays similarly to ''VideoGame/TheSims2'' but is based on ''VideoGame/TheSims3'' assets. While mainline ''Sims'' titles use their own clock, ''The Sims Freeplay'' uses a real-time strategy based on games like ''VideoGame/FarmVille''. Due to this, unlike the main series, it can take real-world hours to do simple tasks. While the game is free-to-play, they actually managed to alleviate the microtransactions criticism by finding a happy medium between the ''Farmville'' formula and single player gaming (the in game currency, the Simoleon, is easy to get, and [[PremiumCurrency Life Points]] can be earned from watching [[AdReward ads]], hitting certain achievements, or even just completing tasks, instead of through exclusively buying them with real cash, and the wait time between actions is actually reasonable compared to many other games out in the market).
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7The game started out very basic, but thanks to regular updates it now includes various things such as more clothes, children, new activities, etc. The game is now in its eighth year and have seen dozens of updates and new contents- many available for free or [[AllegedlyFreeGame via regular Simoleons]] if you completed the given tasks in a limited time before becoming only available via Life Points. The game is the third game in the ''Sims'' franchise to require an online connection to play. ''The Sims Online'' and ''The Sims Social'' were the previous two.
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10!!''The Sims Freeplay'' contains examples of:
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12* AdaptationNameChange: The "Child" stage is renamed to "Pre-Teens" and "Elders" is renamed to "Seniors".
13* AdReward: There's a billboard on the town map where you can watch ads in exchange for Lifestyle Points and other ingame currencies.
14* AllegedlyFreeGame: The game will shove you 30-45 second video ads at least after three interactions. After that you got random bonuses from money, life points, to actions completing instantly. To remove those ads, you have to purchase VIP 3, which is equivalent to at least $15 (with discounts!)
15* BribingYourWayToVictory: Or at least shortening the commute. Simoleons and Life Points are the main way you can circumvent the FreemiumTimer and, of course, you can buy both with real world money.
16* FairyCompanion: In the form of pet fairies.
17* FreemiumTimer: A lot of the gameplay actions have cooldown timers that runs real-time can be sped up using Lifestyle Points.
18* GRatedSex: Update V5 12.0 added in the "Woo-Hoo" option, which, like in all ''Sims'' titles, is what sex is referred to.
19* HolidayMode: The game sometimes features events themed around upcoming or current holidays, such as the "Ghost Hunting Event" in October 2012 and "The Missing X-Mas Elves" in December 2013.
20* InUniverseGameClock: Unlike most other titles, ''Freeplay'' uses a real-time clock. In most games, 1 minute in-game is the equivalent of 1 real-life second. In ''Freeplay'' 1 minute takes literally 1 minute unless you use Simoleons to get past that. This real-time clock system originated from the UsefulNotes/NintendoDS version of ''The Sims 2''.
21* LiteralSoapboxSpeech: Assigning your Sim to a soapbox in the park allows him or her to make a speech.
22* MundaneMadeAwesome: After competing almost any task, the screen blows up in Simoleons and your character does a little flip.
23* NotAllowedToGrowUp: Initially babies couldn't age, but future updates added in the ability to age up several stages.
24* OneGenderRace: All the pet fairies seem to be female.
25* PremiumCurrency: The Lifestyle Points, which can be earned from reaching certain skill level at a particular hobby, watching ads or bought with real money, are required for buying premium items and speeding up certain tasks.
26* SapientPet: One of the pets you buy from a pet store is, get this, fairies. And not animalistic or inhuman ones either, just stock fully-sapient fairies.
27* SpiritualSuccessor: To the mobile version of ''Videogame/TheSims3'', to the point that the former is basically the demo version to The Sims Freeplay.
28* StupidityIsTheOnlyOption: For quite a while, a random event could pop up which required a player to either commit an immoral act (like, say, embezzling money) which the game itself would certainly punish the character for, or pay a prohibitively high amount of a currency a player would never be able to earn in-game and would thus have to pay real-world cash to acquire. There was no way to get rid of the "Choice" as it would reappear whenever the game was started. Needless to say, many players [[TakeAThirdOption refused to pay ''or'' behave immorally]], and instead [[AccidentalAesop realized they'd rather just quit playing the game entirely]] until they ''finally'' put in an option to walk away, which took ''years''.
29* VocalEvolution: Inverted. Most likely due to it being a mobile game, the Sims don't have the range of noises they make in most titles of the game. It's more akin to ''VideoGame/TheSims1''.

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