It Takes a Village to Raise a Child

You may already be familiar with the Virtual Villagers franchise from game developer Last Day of Work. In that series of games, you were tasked with managing an entire village of inhabitants, helping them develop new skills, learn new abilities, and take care of one another. This village was largely in the middle of nowhere and worked in isolation. Well, it's about time those people met up with a contemporary civilization.

And so we find ourselves arriving at a new house in suburbia, surrounded by a white picket fence and a lush green lawn. With Virtual Families, you start out with a single individual being adopted to live in your virtual home. He or she will have a very distinct personality and a very distinct set of preferences.

From there, this single person will hook up with someone through an Internet dating service, get married, and just maybe have a few children. And you're there to witness and manage everything along the way. Believe me. These little guys need your help.

Training for a New Career

Just as with Virtual Villagers before it, everything in the Virtual Families world proceeds in real time, even when you are not actively playing the game. For example, if you play for an hour on a Friday afternoon and do not return to the game until Monday morning, you will see the changes and progress that has occurred within those 50 or 60 hours.

This time is very important, because it takes time for your characters to grow and develop their skills. Each of them starts out with a specific career in mind and, as such, they must take the time to hone their craft. The rocket scientist, for example, needs to spend a lot of time in front of the computer. The butcher, on the other hand, needs to get familiar with the kitchen.

You can help them with this development too. By simply grabbing the character and placing them in the appropriate spot, they are much more likely to engage in a particular task. This is helpful for career advancement, but also for personal happiness.

Learning How to Survive and Thrive

The characters in this game seem to know what they want, but they don't always understand how to get what they want. By clicking on the specific status of one character, you may find that they are tired. Pick up this character and place them next to a bed; this way, they learn that this is the place to sleep. Similarly, a hungry character should be placed in the food preparation area. You can also tag them with the praise glove when they do something good. There is also a glove for punishment purposes. Use that one sparingly!

What about the children? You may start out only managing a single individual and then you may be able to expand into a happy and healthy couple, but what about growing that family? It won't work every time, but you can try placing the happy couple in bed with one another and they may try to make children. No joking!

A Holistic Life Is a Complete Life

With a whimsical style and an inherent sense of charm, Virtual Families will lure you back into its real-time environment over and over as you check in on your virtual family. Are they still happy, healthy, and energetic? That's up to you to determine.