The Sims 2: Open For Business

Well, The Sims should really take no introducing.

If you are unfamiliar with Electronic Arts hugely popular Virtual Life simulator game, then you must have been living in Timbuktu for the last five years.

In fact, scrap that, as The Sims is probably as popular in that oft-derided Malinese city as it is everywhere else.

And The Sims 2: Open for Business is the latest expansion pack to open up a whole new world to your Sims playing experience.

In The Sims 2: Open for Business, your Sims can create virtually any kind of business, from a trendy clothing boutique, hip beauty salon, blooming floral shop, high-end electronics store or bustling restaurant chain.

As in a real-world business you, via your Sims, will have to hire the staff, train the employees and as the business grows, assign the most talented Sims to work on a variety of projects such as making toys, arranging a floral boutique or manufacturing robots.

You must teach your Sim that the customer is king and maintain employee morale by creating interesting and fun sales incentives.

You'll need to develop your Sim's talents to best suit your business needs, watching out for slacker employees and being prepared to fire them as quickly as you hire them!

Will your Sims business launch the next BIG thing?

Or will their over-ambitious fashion retail chain go right down the pan?