With all of the hype revolving around MySims Agents and Spore Hero, it seems as if SimAnimals Africa was shoved to the side like the unwanted red-headed step child.  I don’t want to see it hiding in the corner.  I welcome it with open arms, even accepting the fact that it’s marketed towards the younger audience.  While surfing around the official SimAnimals Africa site, I discovered two new blog posts dated on October 8, 2009.  Enjoy!

Leave No Stone Unturned

Hey, everybody! Matt Yang here again to tell you some more about SimAnimals Africa for the NintendoTM DS!

One of the most interesting things about Africa is that the whole continent is teeming with life. Not just the big animals I mentioned before, but a huge variety of tiny critters as well. In SimAnimals Africa, you’ll be able to find and collect all manner of bugs, butterflies, and fish!

If you pick up a tree or log, you might see a little beetle scurry away. Or, try shaking some grass or a flower and a butterfly might appear and flutter around. Grab them quickly and they’ll be added to your collection. There are unique bugs and butterflies in every area of the savannah, so you’ll have to keep a sharp eye out to find them all!

You might also notice fish swimming around in the lakes and rivers in the savannah. You can collect these, too! Quickly grab them before they disappear and they’ll be added to your collection. Careful though, they can be quite slippery! J

Also, as you’re venturing through Africa, you might see a weird looking object. That’s a Rare Food! Not only can you collect them, but you can feed them to your animals and see what happens. There’s even a Rare Food that changes the color of an animal!

If you collect a bunch of one type of Rare Foods, you’ll be rewarded with a special object! These are very powerful objects that can really help you and your animals. So keep collecting and get all the rewards!

Receive Medals!

Hey guys, my name is Barthelemy Menayas, and I am the lead producer on SimAnimals Africa. SimAnimals Africa has so many things to find, achieve, and collect. Fortunately, you are not alone in this world! As you travel, animal totems will ask you for your help. If you help them, they will grant you awesome powers, which may prove invaluable later in the game.

Finding collectibles is an adventure in itself. When you train your animals they can acquire either charm or strength skills. The more skills the animals have, the more unique items they will find. Look for collectibles everywhere you can: in trees and bushes, underneath the ground, inside of rocks, in the air, or perhaps even on your animal!

Once you find these items, you can feed them to your animal, but be ready because some pretty exciting things might happen! Here’s an example: if you feed your animal a Giant Milly Bug, it will make that animal tiny for a little while, while feeding it a different item will make it huge! Can you imagine a super giant elephant? The Lizard collectible will make your animal super fast, while the Snail collectible will make it super slow. Or you could try the cookie that transforms any animal into a giraffe! There are so many items, listing all of them and what they do would fill many, many pages-far too much for this blog!

While you’re playing, be on the lookout for magic trees. They will ask you to find specific plants or critters that are endangered. You can help them flourish once again!

Last but not least, SimAnimals Africa offers challenge medals. These goals are for those players who want an extra bit of challenge. Can your zebra kick another zebra into a pool of water? Can you help the gazelle population grow in an area surrounded by lions? I hope you will play SimAnimals Africa and unearth all that there is to discover!