Sims2: Emily Jane Eade

Emily Jane screams in frustration at having nothing fun to do.  Later, she happily plays at her new piano.

It took me a long time to stop ignoring my Sims needs for entertainment.  I've always gotten the impression that fun is, or should be, optional in life.  My Sims taught me otherwise.  Here Emily Jane's need for entertainment has gotten so low that she looks up at me and makes it obvious with the thought bubble over her head. I used to always buy a computer for my Sims and get them to play video games (the irony does not escape me), but I got bored with that and turned it into something random as well.  Here is everything I know that has a 'fun' rating of 10, organized by where they're found in the 'buy' catalogue:

1. Electronic Entertainment:  all 3 pinball machines
2. TVs and computers:  the 3 largest TVs
3. Stereos:  the 2 most expensive stereos
4. Stereos:  both DJ booths
5. Hobbies - Creativity: all 8 musical instruments
6. Hobbies - Knowledge:  the more expensive telescope (there are two)
7. Hobbies - Exercise: the dance sphere (expensive and takes up a lot of space)
8. Hobbies - Entertainment: Myshuno (a game that only exists within the game - seems to be a three-dimensional variation on bingo)
9. Hobbies - Entertainment: Soccer net
10. Hobbies - Entertainment: both pool tables 
11. Hobbies - Entertainment: log rolling
12. Hobbies - Entertainment: basketball
13. Hobbies - Entertainment: bowling
14. Hobbies - Entertainment: roller rink
15. Hobbies - Entertainment: skating rink
16. Hobbies - Miscellaneous: Train table 

If my Sim has enough money, I roll a random number from 1 to 16 and buy them that thing.  If they don't have the money, there are always other options, like blowing bubbles for children or playing catch with another Sim.

The game is pretty sophisticated.  Different Sims will find different things fun, depending on their personality, interests, and enthusiasms.   When I'm playing this many individuals (currently 438!) I find it difficult to keep track of and indulge them, so I mostly ignore it.  The list above are the few things that have the highest fun rating for all Sims aged children to elder.  For toddlers there are specific items in the kid's category, so I didn't bother listing them.

I don't think it's obvious in the small picture, but Emily Jane is expecting a baby.  She rolled for a musical instrument, and then further rolled specifically for the upright piano.  I put it in her backyard temporarily, which is why she's playing it out there in the second picture.

Another interesting thing built into the game: a pregnant Sim's needs decay faster than one who is not.  Before I discovered the Aspiration points and realized they need to spend less time sleeping in more expensive beds, I would often lose pregnant Sims to the Grim Reaper simply because I couldn't keep their needs for food and sleep high enough.  Also, a pregnant Sim can't clean a cat's litter box, a delightful little detail I am impressed they bothered to program into the game.

Emily Jane is a Sim added fairly recently to my roster of Sims.  In the challenge I'm playing, I can create a new Sim to add to the town for every four households created, and she was created at 68 households.  She is named for a real life Emily Jane Eade born 1864 in New South Wales, Australia.