Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #215 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Electronic Arts
• Released on: 2006-03-03
• Platform: Windows XP
• Number of items: 1

Amazon.co.uk Review
In a nutshell:
Help your Sims start their own business. From toy shops to restaurants, the world is your oyster - buy a plot of land and then fashion an empire to make Alan Sugar belch.

The lowdown:
The idea of a Sims business tycoon game may seem odd, but this is a surprisingly fun and accessible expansion. Although you can stay at home and create items to sell, most businesses are run from a new shopping centre area, which you can also visit separately. To run a shop you buy objects as normal, and then display and price them individually, or in bulk for your store. Running a restaurant or other service is more a case of creating the right mood with furniture and staff. You can hire and fire employees as you want, but it’s worth being as hands-on as you can because you gain a wide range of new skills from the work you do.

Most satisfying moment:
Starting with a lemonade stand and building up your business empire until you can afford to buy any plot of land in town.

Since you ask:
As well as all the business tycoon elements the game also features 125 new items, including display cases, workbenches, cash registers and more.

The bottom line:
Another surprisingly generous and innovative expansion pack.
Harrison Dent

Manufacturer's Description
With The Sims 2 Open for Business, commercial creativity is in your hands create any kind of business, from trendy clothing boutique to a blooming floral shop, a bustling restaurant or even become a mogul with an original business of your own design - the Sims' world is open for business.

Make Your Dream Business a Virtual Reality
Ever had a great idea for a business? Build it and see how it works! The world is your entrepreneurial oyster with this all-new The Sims 2 expansion pack allowing you to experience the victories and challenges associated with creating, owning and running your own business. From the layout and merchandise, to the employees and materials, you choose what your Sim needs to create a profitable and fun company.

Who's the Boss? Your Sims Are!
In The Sims 2 Open for Business, your Sims will learn what it takes to build a clientele and keep loyal customers happy while improving employee morale and managing a lucrative business. Players can even help their Sims to create and craft new items to sell and meet customer demands. As each customer is different, you'll be able to apply sales techniques to woo even the most discriminating shopper. Dress your employees in wacky outfits to entertain cranky customers or drop the price for an unsure browser. From training, promoting, hiring and firing, you're ultimately the boss who calls all the shots!

Learn the Tricks of the Trade
Do the things your Sims love to do while getting virtually paid for it! Keep your employees knowledgeable and the workplace happy, because before you know it you'll have the most entertaining, booming business in the neighborhood! Flaunt your team's assets while vying for the "Best of the Best" award, an honor guaranteed to improve their business reputation and yours!

Customer Reviews

Finally, an expansion worth you money!
I think it's fair to say that Maxis have effectively bled the Sims 2 series dry, making a LOT of money from it. In this expansion, I believe you actually get something new.

Creating a business is probably the most rewarding experience I've ever had on the sims, and the most challenging. From managing your employees, to making sure you're not out of stock, things can get a little stressful but that didn't stop me from making a three storied furniture store!

This game is undoubtabley a challenge, even more so to the regular Sim fan. I'd only get this if you want a completely new Sims experience and are up for figuring out the kinks. Best expansion to date for the series.

Open for Business!
I love the idea of this expansion pack and it gives a whole new meaning to the original sims game, however i am finding it quite demanding and some what hard to keep buisness running sucsessfully. This may be because i havent quite got the hang of it yet having only installed it this afternoon but i havent dared let my current sims couple have a baby or adopt a pet until my shop workers are talented enough to run my sims buisness on their own and my sim has to stop driving down to the community lot everyday to keep the buisness going.
There are some nice new objects with this game aswell which can be placed in your sims home and of course loads of display cases and shop stuff to place on your community lots.
The current buisness im trying to run has my sim selling their painted canvas art work and flowers crafted from the floral stand, but you can really sell anything so there are lots of great things you can try out! Hard work, but i really do recomend this pack for any sims 2 fan! :)

OK but not as good as the other expansions..
I thought that this expansion pack was going to be the greatest by far... it wasn't. Yes it did add new features like buying community lots and hiring workers but there was one problem. I never seemed to get into running the business, it became repetitive and boring so much that I'd just end up cheating my way into a five star business. I never really 'use' this expansion pack when I'm in game, probably only when I'm building or buying something. I think I might uninstall it as I have hardly any hard drive space left because of these games! I guess it just depends on what kind of person you are, you either like it or you dont!