It's sort of hard to imagine that anyone would need a strategy guide for a game series as open-ended and non-level oriented as the Sims, (I mean, it's not like you can "win," per se), but with each new version and expansion pack, Prima feels the need to crank these things out, presumably for first-time players or those who just aren't all that interested in exploring the game on their own. That said, this particular guide has to be the least helpful in the whole of the Prima Sims canon. Its release was concurrent with that of the game, and as such, it seems as though the author was using a beta version of the game for reference. Much of the information presented here - from job titles, to social interactions, to cheat codes - is just plain wrong. Some of the accurate information might be helpful to those who are completely new to the Sims world, but pretty much everything in this guide can be figured out by a few minutes of clicking around in the game or a casual perusal of the official manual. The tables of collectibles, occupations, personality traits, et cetera - though dry as hell - are a handy inclusion and mostly accurate, and the guide to Sunset Valley is somewhat useful. The author really overemphasises the importance of social interactions, personality traits, moodlets, and virtually every other aspect of the game that differs from Sims 2, however. Once you're actually playing, you realise that most of these new features are skin deep and really don't impact gameplay all that much. So really, this guide makes the game seem much more complicated than it is, which may put off first-time players. Then there is the construction of the book itself. It is cheap, flimsy, and appears to have been printed on newsprint. The ink rubs off on your hands, and the pages have a vaguely sandy, unpleasant texture. Overall, it has all the charm and durability of a two-bit penny saver. That they have the nerve to charge $19.99 for something that may as well be flushable is rather galling, and considering that quite a bit of the information is outdated/inaccurate, the confused novice would be better off simply visiting the forums on the Sims 3 website then shelling out folding money for this tawdry affair. ( )