I played the Sims when it came out way back when, and I liked it very much. But I never liked how it had no apparent goal nor end: my Sims were cute and funny, but that was it. If you’re like me, and you want a sim game that also lets you work towards something, with actions that have real impact or effect on your sim just like in real life, you might want to try Kudos 2.

Kudos 2, a sequel to the popular Kudos, is a life simulation game like you’ve never seen. You create your own character who starts out as 20 years old, in a dead-end job and with a few friends. Your goal is to reach 30 years old and make something of your life. Sounds vague - but life is an open book, isn’t it? You’ll have meters to measure all sorts of things, such as Happiness, Loneliness, Honesty, Health, even Sobriety. And everything you do affects those meters - walking in the rain to catch a bus to work will leave you feeling crappy, or grabbing some beer with friends will give you a hangover (and make it difficult to do anything that requires brain power). Additionally, you can take night classes or buy books to further increase your skills - very important later on if you want to apply for a better job.

And that’s just scratching the surface. Your friends have personalities of their own - they will enjoy some activities but not others, get bored if you keep inviting them to the same thing each time, and will feel snubbed (and eventually say goodbye… permanently) if you don’t check in on them once in a while. You’ll have periodic events to attend, like birthday parties or charity runs. You can choose what to order at restaurants or what movie to watch. The amount of detail in this game is unbelievable, and one that you will probably never see in a non-indie game. Much love and effort were put into Kudos 2.

The writing and sense of humor in Kudos 2 are top-notch. Everything is smartly written, and some descriptions are just downright funny. The art (created by comic artist Jamie McKelvie) and user interface are very slick, and each activity has its own appropriate sound effect (dental appointments have the dreaded “drilling” sound that accompanies a line graph of Pain). We wish there was more music variety though, and more graphical activity instead of just looking at meters and thumbnails all day. Be warned that you can screw up your character’s life real quick. On my first try, I lost my friends one by one, because I was spending so much on night classes and scrimping on them by choosing cheap activities. Go try it and see how your character turns out - and if you end up thinking, “Well, this feels just like real life”, that means Kudos 2 has indeed succeeded.

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• Buy an umbrella. If you walk to work in the rain you have a miserable, stressful time and may well get ill.
• Watch the weather. Not only avoid outdoor stuff in bad weather (except snowball fights), but turn down invites to do them as well.
• Watch who you invite. Don’t invite introverts to big social groups. And don’t invite irritating people to big groups either.
• Don’t keep eating the same food, or doing the same thing, as this will reduce your character’s excitement.
• Keep your pets happy if you want to get the best effects from them. Buy toys for the cat, and don’t run out of dog food.
• The casino effects are scaled to your current salary. As you earn more, you need bigger bets to stay excited.
• Food critics always get a table at restaurants. Also, if you speak French you are more likely to get into a French restaurant etc.
• Don’t stay in one job forever as this will bore you. Always be learning a new skill towards the next job.
• Don’t over-commit on evening classes, you won’t have the money to spend socializing.
• Don’t be afraid to skip a class if you get a good social invite, or are too stressed,tired or drunk to concentrate on the course.

(4 votes, average: 4.75 out of 5)

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