The Sims Medieval

Gameplay is pedestrian, ultimately annoying and not as replayable as a Sims title should be.

A charming, multi-genre-hybrid experience, that will appeal to those who don't mind the sometimes tedious underlying gameplay. [July 2011, p.75]

The Sims: Medieval is not very deep, and extremely easy, but offers a pleasant and fresh diversion from the main series. The core «sims»-concept has loads of untapped potential, and Medieval might be the first step on the way towards realizing this.

The Sims Medieval offers an amusing The Sims experience in an original way, which breathes new life into the franchise. The setting has been chosen well, there's plenty of variation and the The Sims humour is present once again. That doesn't take away from the fact that this shift in time will make fans who miss certain key elements drop the franchise as a whole.

A nice try with The Sims in a new era with different game mechanics. Suffers from limited freedom and some bad design choices.

Considering the sheer number of spin-offs and expansions, it can be easy to overlook a new addition to the growing Sims series. When each installment only offers a slightly different flavor of the same gameplay, they all start to blend together. Despite the problems with The Sims Medieval, at least it isn't more of the same. Next time, I'd prefer something that's also good instead of just different.

The Sims: Medieval is an interesting experiment, with some good ideas, but their use is far from ideal. The repetition and the pacing problems have a negative impact on the overall experience, but this will not prevent fans of the series from spending many enjoyable hours with it.

A new and fresh direction in the Sims franchise.

The graphics are the best of any in the franchise and the musical score is perfectly aligned to the medieval setting. But Sims fans might be disappointed by the lack of freedom in this release, whereas RPG fans will probably appreciate the structured gameplay and character development laced with The Sims's typical light-hearted humour.

Hollow as the game itself might be, the exterior has more than enough charm to tease you onward. If EA can just pull the core concept out of the dark ages, what comes next should be worth everyone's time.

Medieval is suitable even to the die-hard opponents of the Sims. If they can bear the fact that they will install the game with "Sims" in its title they will be rewarded with some decent entertainment. [Mar 2011]

A surprisingly daring mix of interactive narrative, role-playing game and life simulator - and nothing like the lazy cash-in you'd expect.

The synthesis of all The Sims Medieval's many personalities and inspirations creates something genuinely unique and compulsively entertaining. It's a funny and sweet time sink, and something that any Sims fan can wholeheartedly enjoy.

The Sims Medieval feels like a bunch of happy episodes filled with happy-go-lucky knights from the Monty Python TV-series. And that makes up for most of the problems and gives a lot of entertainment.

More an interactive fairytale than a game, this Sims spinoff tells a good yarn but feels limited.

With its new gameplay based on quests and jobs, The sims Medieval offers new directions to the Sims saga without forgetting freedom.

Compared to other Sims spin-offs, The Sims Medieval is a bold game. But once you complete your first playthrough, you will hardly crave for a second helping.

While some Sims fans might find the addition of quests and a leveling system makes the game even more addictive, The Sims Medieval does away with some of the series' classic components, like designing buildings and watching your Sims age.

Playing The Sims Medieval is like looking at your neighbor's vacation slides: You're hearing about someone else's grand adventure rather than having one of your own.