Disturbingly realistic, except my self-sim is some years younger than me in this picture.

Earlier this month, while I was busy complaining that Sims 3 doesn’t have tablets (what decade are we in people?), Electronic Arts were busy making their first tablet for Sims available. (They are also making The Sims available on real-world tablets, supposedly, although I can’t get that to work. Perhaps when Samsung rolls out Android 4 (Ice Cream Sandwich) here in Norway too.)

I am pleased. The MultiTab 6000 is a big deal for my sims. It costs them a §750, which is pretty affordable once you have a job. Unfortunately it also costs you – the player – a few dollars, since you have to buy it first from the Sims store. It is currently for sale as part of a set with some furniture for 1500 sim points, but will supposedly be available separately for 500 sim points at some time. All owners of the game get 1000 sim points for starters, so if you’ve not bought anything else in their store, you should eventually be able to get this one for free.  You only have to buy it once, of course, no matter how many of them your sims buy.

And I strongly recommend giving one to each sim family member in school age or above. Especially school age. With a tablet, sim children and teens will do their homework faster and have lots of fun doing it. This is sensational: Normally doing homework is a big fun drain, unless they have an adult to help them with homework, in which case it goes much faster and is less stressing. But the MultiTab is the only way they can actually have fun doing homework. That and it won’t take all evening even if dad is not home. Finally school kids will have time for something beyond homework and regaining their fun. Highly recommended!

Both children, teens and adults can also listen to “tabcasts” (a word play on “podcast”). Listening to these will build skills, even while doing other things. A sim can for instance learn charisma while running on a treadmill, or book writing while painting. In other words, you can actually learn two skills at the same time. This is essential if you are cruel enough to use the default lifespan, a mere 90 sim days. Being able to dual-learn skills can mean the difference between reaching your lifetime want or not. At the longer lifespan of 190 days this is less critical, but still nifty. Unfortunately the skills are only a subset of all available skills, and some of them are pretty eclectic, if I may say so: Photography and nectar making depend on having the World Adventures expansion, for instance.

The MultiTab also comes with social games. As the name implies, these fulfill both social and fun, and pretty fast too. Especially the fun bar zooms toward full at a faster pace than almost anything else you can get your sims to do. (Although I am pretty sure fussball beats it – the small model football game that you operate by hand.) Unlike many other fun activities, the sims automatically stop playing social games when their fun hits maximum.

The MultiTab also doubles as an ebook reader. You can buy books directly from it without visiting the bookstore, although strangely you need to have a bookstore in your neighborhood for this to work. Any book you have in your backpack or your bookshelves at home will also automatically be readable on the tablet, no matter where in the neighborhood you are. (I am not sure yet if it also remembers your home library while you are on vacation – but you cannot use it to buy books abroad. You have to buy those in hard copy.)  Unfortunately for bookworm sims who have a want to read X number of books, the sim is as likely to reread a book as to read a new one, even if you have the Awesomemod which normally keeps them from rereading books unless told to.

Unlike the computer (and my real-world Galaxy Tab), the MultiTab does not support meeting and befriending new people through chat. Also, unlike the real-world thing, it does not support finding potential dates in the area. (Not that I would do such a thing, being an Unflirty Loner after all. Just saying.) These two glaring exceptions make the item less attractive for what we in The Sims 2 used to call “Popularity Sims” and “Romance Sims” respectively.  It is mainly a hit for “Knowledge Sims” and “Family Sims”, the latter because of their numerous children. “Fortune Sims” can benefit from the faster skilling to boost their career somewhat.

So is it worth $5? Probably, if you habitually spend money to buy games in the first place. But it also depends on your play style, what you focus on when “simming”. If you play mostly to enjoy the sims socializing and romancing, having drama and making your own soap opera, there is little to gain from the MultiTab 6000. Likewise if you play the game to escape to a simpler world of gardening, fishing, and playing with your pets. But if your sims are pursuing knowledge or a career, and have their home full of children, the Tab makes a big difference for the better.

And of course, if you are a Genius Computer Whiz Bookworm who also happens to be an Unflirty Loner, and you want to play your self-sim, the Tab is mandatory. Take my word for it. ^_^