Virtual Families
Create and look after your very own little family!
The iWin Game Manager runs on Windows and Mac. Open this page on your computer to download it.
DFG Exclusive Review Summary
A very good game, far above average & recommended.
Pros
- Maintain your home, career, and raise your family.
- Praise or scold activities to condition the behavior of your sims.
- Buy upgrades, medicine and food with your money.
- Game continues even when turned off.
Cons
- Game progresses slowly.
- Not a lot of interaction from the player is required.
About this game
Look After Your Own Little Family!
From the creators of Virtual Villagers comes an all new simulation experience. Step into a little world in your computer full of people who just need a good home, loving care, and want to start a family. Will you adopt one?
Pick from a variety of men or women, each with their own profession, likes, and dislikes, and help them to move into their own house, start a family, live their lives, and be the first of many generations!
Interesting Human Life Simulation
Virtual Families is reminiscient of The Sims with you selecting a character to move into their own house. The goal then is to keep them happy and living a good life. One of the first things you have to do is get your "adopted" character on-line to find a wife who is compatible with their personality, be it that they both want kids or have occupations which compliment each other. It is then just a matter of looking after their needs and desires to keep them happy.
Drag them to the kitchen when they are hungry, take them to the shower when they are feeling unclean, or have them browse the web to relax. You get a daily income from whatever profession your little family members have and you can increase this amount by having them work on their careers in the home office or workshop.
A Real Time Experience
Virtual Families differs from other life simulations in the fact that it plays out in real time. Even when you close the game and turn off your computer, events will continue to unfold in the little home. While this does take some getting used to, any fan of other Virtual games will agree that this provides a unique and exciting gaming experience.
The number of options you have in forming your little family and the different upgrades allow a depth of customization that is rare. Make the dwelling a pristine and healthy haven for your family, or let the garbage pile up and see how these conditions adversely affect the characters. With a scolding and praising hand you can form the behavior of your family by reacting to any of their action. It is all up to you!
If you like real life simulations with some rather unique gaming elements, download Virtual Families and build your own family today!
Features
- Virtual Families was released on April 22, 2009.
- The game was developed and published by the San Francisco company Last Day of Work.
- Virtual Families currently has one sequel that is named Virtual Families 2: Our Dream House.
- Other games made by Last Day of Work include Fish Tycoon, Plant Tycoon, EZ Blackjack, and the Virtual Villagers series.
- You can play Virtual Families on Windows, Mac OSX, iPad, iPod, iPhone and Android platforms.
Virtual Families Review
Review by Mick
Virtual Families is another game in the Virtual series. In this game you get to control the lives of a family. They have careers, kids and a house to maintain. Your presence is known in this game and your sims will send you emails letting you know how things are going. While playing you can direct the actions of your sims, but frequently they will do what they want anyway. Like all of the "Virtual" games Virtual Families continues to progress even when you are away.
Tutorial Gets You Going
You start the game by selecting whether or not you would like help starting the game. This is the tutorial for the game and is somewhat useful, but if you are familiar with these games you won't need it.
Variety of Characters to Play
You will then have to select your starting character. There is a large list of characters that all have different jobs, interests and life goals. You just need to pick a character that matches what you want to do in the game and you're set.
Wedding Bells
Shortly after you start you will begin receiving marriage proposals via email (romantic right?). You can accept or reject these proposals, but make sure the person is a good match because there is no undo. Once you are married you can begin your family. Your virtual family will take care of themselves for the most part, but you will need to help them clean, buy food, heal them when they are sick and upgrade the home.
Easy Contorls to Manage Life Tasks
Interacting with the game is very simple and only requires the mouse. You can pick up and start the sims on a task, go to the store and take care of your sims all with a few clicks of the mouse. Your sims will have jobs that you can work on to earn money and promotions. Money can be spent on several different things: upgrades like TV's or exercise equipment, medicine, food or general items.
You also have the ability to condition the behavior of your sims. You have a hand that scolds and a hand that praises. When a sim does something that you like you praise them and they are more likely to do that, but if they do something you don't like you scold them.
Standard Graphics, Subpar Sound
The graphics in Virtual Families are pretty standard for the genre. The most detailed aspect of the game seems to be the lawn. Everything else is 2D and not really spectacular. The sound is a little lacking in this game. The people spend most of their time saying “oh!” and that's about it. The music is really strange and becomes annoying after awhile. It is easy to turn the sound off but the game feels empty when it is completely quiet. Overall the graphics are on par, but the sound is lacking.
A Slow Moving Game
The biggest issue with this game is the speed at which it progresses. Everything goes relatively slowly even with the game progressing while it is turned off. Earning money takes a long time and is necessary for many things like food and medicine. When you are playing there really isn't that much to do so you can't play for more than 15-20 minutes.
Conclusion - Recommended for Those Who Like People Sims in Short Spurts
Virtual Families is an entertaining family simulation game. The game continues even when turned off so you never know what to expect the next time you turn it on. Easy controls and family friendly gaming makes this a great game for anyone to play. The small issues with sound and the minimal player interaction don't detract so much as to prevent this from being a good game. Try it out today and see for yourself.
Player Reviews
Best game ever
this game is the best game I ever played it so fun and it is also awesome I got a husband and we had 5 kids and we raised them in a condo
by alena yerger on Dec 15, 2013
Love Virtual Families!
This is a great virtual game! This is just as good as sims 3 except not as fast moving game.In this game you get to have childeren then later on when you die your house gets passed on to your childeren of whom you chose!
by Tiffany on Aug 12, 2011
The best game
This game is so good the way that you can care for your family is it just like real life but its not i give it a 5/5
by Sarah gardier on May 22, 2011
INCREDIBLE GAME
this game is truely unbelievable. i can't stop playing , no kidding. now i realy want to go to play. SEE YA!!
by nusaiba on Jan 14, 2011
Best Game Ever
When I first saw this game, I thought that this will be just like any regular sim game. BUt when I opened it, there are some other things. The settings and characters of the game are very realistic and the plot is not very fictional. I also learned that people do not always follow what you say and you cannot always force someone to do what you like. It was really worth the $6.99.
by Farrell on Oct 23, 2010
excellent game
I cant have enough of this game..I just love it excellent alternative and less expesive than other pc games out there
by BiBi on Sep 13, 2010
Virtual Families
I love playing virtual families. It's really fun and a much cheaper alternative to the Sims. I play it every day when I wake up and before I go to sleep. It's a good buy. It's also available for download on the Ipod touch.
by Erin on Aug 19, 2010
GREAT GAME
This game is a great game. You a are able to marry, have kids, Raise the kids, and when the kids go to college the parents die and you get to start over again with your kid. This is a very good and helpful game
by Kaley Scott on Aug 9, 2010
My life in here!!!
I love this game because it has everything real like marriage,work,promotions,kids growing and all. I'm loving it!
by user3353 on Jul 29, 2010
A Fun Game That's Worth It
I played Virtual Families and it actually made me feel like I was in their situations. I was entertained for a very long time. The only thing I did not find satisfying was the graphics, they could have been better but when I look for a game, I look for all around quality and experience, and I am happy to say that I recieved both of these from this game. You get to adopt people "in your computer" to look after. You get to make major life decisions such as marraige, children, jobs, shopping, and you even get to see your people's family advance right before your eyes. In the game, you achieve goals and recieve money, choose to help people, and shape out the peoples' behavior by either scolding of praising. As you can see this is no ordinary game. Try it or buy it. You will be glad you did.
by Bonnie on Jul 19, 2010
AMAZING
This is the best game ever. I suggest this to everyone who plays it.. Its the evolved version of sims and i guarantee you will love it
by Kendra Shadrach on Jul 7, 2010
One of the best sim games i have played
This game is amazing ! One of the best sim games I have ever played :)
by Nina on May 31, 2010
Great
This game is the best i was hooked from the first 2 minutes! Ten stars
by user3583 on May 18, 2010
Amazing game !
I've played this game many times. It is highly addictive and entertaining all in one. I LOVE this game! This game is so much more fun then others due to its great qualities and life-like motions. It's a great experience for all ages. I recommend this game to anyone looking for a fun game!
by Katrina on Apr 26, 2010
The best virtual game ever
I thought virtual families is the best game ever. It should be the number 1 game of the year. I wish I could get it but I cant so I'm giving virtual families 5/5
by claudia cochrane on Mar 31, 2010
Virtual families
I thought virtual families was quite an enjoyable game. It could be a little more interactive ie: written commands and speech etc. all in all was a good game and I would like to get the full version
by felicity on Mar 8, 2010
Virtual Families
It is so cool I can adopt my own family online for free without paying. It is cool to have a child to.
by kennedy on Feb 28, 2010
Outstanding
This game is amazing! It's almost like your own Sims game, except better! You can create your own people and look after them, it's like you're in the game. Overall, great job! Outstanding.
by Christiana Roberts on Jan 27, 2010
great
Starting a virtual family is fun for kids to learn real life situations. My kids had fun learning and so can yours. All you have to do is sit back and watch them play, now how does that sound.
by lashawn on Jan 24, 2010
loved the game
This game is so much fun for the kids. They have a blast at it. I'm glad we downloaded it.
by Barbara on Jan 17, 2010
Virtual Families - Similar to the Sims?
This game is quite similar to the Sims, however is harder to play. This is understandable considering it is a internet downloadable game. The game is relatively easy to play, however interaction with objects was complex and could become frustrating quickly. The game is quite involved and there are many things to do. It is a good game with the exception of object interaction, and that the game is rather slow - especially when waiting for a character to walk somewhere. The game is most suitable for preteens or younger teenagers. I think this age group will find the game the most fun.
by Tait on Dec 8, 2009
perfect!
I don't even know where to begin. This game is so perfect and I'll tell you why. When this game first came out, I didn't think that I would like it. At first I didn't but then I grew to love it! I love the little people they are so original and so unique. I love buying the items in the store even though I might spend too much money on it. There's only one little thing that I kinda didn't like. I didn't like the fact that the game can't be paused when you turn off your computer. Now, I know that this is based off of real time but what would happen if a kid is grounded or for some reason can't get on? I played fish tycoon and plant tycoon and those could be paused. But anyway I still love this game and I think this would make a great Christmas gift for anyone. I would give this game a 1000 if I could.
by vanessa on Nov 1, 2009
I love this game!!
This game is so much fun, I love watching the characters living their lives and learning to do things on their own, I just never get to finish b/c I can only afford the trial version.......
by Mary on Sep 23, 2009
Very good!
This game was very stimulating! I enjoyed it very much! It should become very popular!
by Kinley on Sep 4, 2009
This game rocks!
Virtual Families is the best real life simulation game I have ever played. It beats any other game. I had no dislikes in this game! It's good for all ages! I gave the highest rating!
by SuhVannah! on Aug 24, 2009
VIRTUAL FAMILIES
This has got to be the best simulation game i've played yet. It beats out virtual villagers by far. It is more true to life than other games I've played.Would definitly recommend this as a need to try game.Would have given a 10 rating but, 5 was the highest.
by mary jean ross on Aug 1, 2009
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