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5 /5

Welcome to Strangetown! In the Nintendo DS version of the Sims 2, players take on the role of the custodian of a broken down hotel in the middle of a strange, UFO-infested desert town.

The game is entirely real-time, meaning that as the clock advances in the real world, time will flow in the game. Guests check in and out after several (real) days, you'll see holidays come and go, and night and day will cycle depending when you choose to play the game.

In addition to the hotel management portion of the game, you'll be constantly improving your hotel, adding new rooms, and decorating them. Each new room usually offers a different touchscreen activities, so you'll find yourself composing music in the lounges, painting art in the gallery, dissecting aliens in the secret laboratory, and playing a pirate-themed card game in the casino (Moogoo Monkey, the card game from the Urbz DS also makes an appearance here if you can find it!).

Finally, there's a simple story running through the game, as different VIP guests check themselves in and refuse to leave. First you'll have to deal with the local mob boss, then a strange Goth girl with a fascination for magic, and finally a megalomaniacal robot.

If you can balance your own Sim's wants and needs (and sanity) with all your guests' requirements, you'll find Strangetown a happy, healthy place to live.