The most notable upgrade, although not the sort of thing that gets touted on the box, is that the day-to-day maintenance of your Sim has gotten easier. While making breakfast and looking for a job might sound like a gas to a 12-year-old girl, this version of the game has figured out that taking care of the daily crap in life is not a lot of fun. Changing a baby’s diaper, cleaning up after a dog in the yard, or, hell, scooping poop behind your pet monkey, isn’t really that fun in real life. Why would it be enjoyable in pretend-land? Fortunately, The Sims 3 is less obsessed about your Sims’ defecation than about the fun stuff, like trying to get into your neighbor’s pants.

The range of weird, debauched fun in this version has taken a decided turn for the better. Sure, you could play The Sims 3 in a classic format by creating a clan and ushering it through generations of family values and Protestant homesteading. Mom or Dad could work up the corporate ladder or head to the moon. The original Sims mined a rich vein of broken hearts and promises, and has found no reason to move onto new claims in the new version. Now you just have more ways to create a suburban social fiasco.

Crispy Gamer’s TS3 review