A couple of weeks ago, I played Westward II: Heroes of the Frontier. This was another type of Sims game but with a wild west touch to it. You play one of three characters trying to turn a patch of desert into a thriving western town. Despite failing miserably during my few first attempts at the game, I had way too much fun playing it. Combining the variety of challenges with the 'open sandbox' type of play, you can do just about anything you want to with your town. If you want to put your farm far apart from where the townspeople live, you can. Obviously you need to put your lumberjacks near trees and your gold mine on top of a gold vein but other than things like that, you are completely free to do what you want to. I think this makes the game a lot more fun than if they had laid everything out for you and you just have to complete what they tell you. I'll be buying this game in the near future!