The Sims 3 - iPhone edition

Harmony is tough to maintain in a relationship. The constant tug-of-war between give and take can lead to as much strain as it does euphoria, but like a good whiskey, a well tuned relationship can improve with age. Since its original PC launch in 2002, the Sims series has taught us that there's more to life than locking your sim in a prefabricated prison. There's a big, bad Simmy world out there to explore and EA have finally squeezed it onto the iPhone.

The Sims utopian universe has continued to grow behind closed doors, with your sim now waking up in a suburbian sandbox decorated with various public amenities. There's plenty to do in order to bank simoleans and earn skill points, but it's the new involved personality refinements that the publishers continue to plug.

Starting a new game takes you straight to the character creation screen. Pick your sex, eye and hair colour and some new threads and you're almost good to go. On the next screen, choosing five personality traits from a generous list gives rise to your sim's smoothe or erratic nature. Your sim might want to act the charming ladies man through the day but by night he could turn into a bin-booting maniac.

While on the surface, this provides a new and rewarding slant on The Sims universe, there have been similar attempts at creating sim personalities in earlier games. And while you may have created a lunatic on paper, it's the choices you make for your sim that determine his behaviour. The game will dream up brilliantly simple wishes for your sim, but it is the player that 'chooses' to lock them in or discard them right away.

Controlling the camera with the multitouch screen mean zooming and panning around your house is as seamless as ever with the iPhone handling the orientation with no sign of slowdown. Not only are the graphics crisp and smooth but the attention to detail is phenomenal, adding up to impeccable presentation. A loading screen pops up when you move to the top-down town view, but loading times are short and application crashes are few and far between - comparable to any other iPhone game you care to mention.

Yes, bringing The Sims 3 to iPhone is a technical achievement. Yes, the game flourishes with as much personality as the sim inhabitants themselves, but it's the human feel of the entire package that feels freshest. What was once a triumph on a desktop PC is now a packed-out party in your pocket.