Allow your nurturing (or sadistic) side take hold in a game that allows our God-complexes to truly shine...
Taking open-ended gameplay to the extreme, Sims 2 ((like Sims 1 before it and Sims 3 coming soon)) allows you to create and customize any sim and drop him or her off in the middle of a neighborhood - choose from a pre-made or create your own - and let them live out their little lives. Obviously, leaving the little morons to their own affairs is a bad idea ((think burning the house down when they try to heat up a poptart with no cooking points)) albeit an amusing one, so you get a good deal of control over them. Each has a set of Wants / Fears that you can fulfill, leading them to lifelong happiness or aspirational failure and psychological evaluation - seriously. I label the difficulty as "very easy" because it's a simple game to understand and there is no set 'goal' so how can you lose?
As they traverse their way through "life", your not-always-intelligent sims will amuse, entertain, and horrify you with their Free Will, an option that can be deactivated but is much more amusing to leave on - with it the sims will happily do whatever they very well please... from washing the windows to joy-buzzering another sim to making out with their mistress while their wife is in the same room, so proceed with caution. When they are unhappy, the sims will wave at you through the screen and yell some nonsense at you, which is your cue to either cheer them up or lock them in a doorless room to eventually starve to death. These sims can even get married and produce offspring, allowing for several generations to spawn from one sim as the parents eventually grow old and die and their children reproduce. Each sim is also equipped with unique personalities as well as an "aspiration" such as Romance, Knowledge, Family, etc. which determines the things they like and don't like to do.
When playing life seems too boring, Sims 2 reminds you that in virtual reality, anything can happen. The base game and expansion packs introduce new creatures ((vampires, werewolves, aliens, witches, zombies, ghosts)) and things to do. Story mode allows you to take pictures and form stories of your sims ((which can be posted on the website)), an appeal for the creative types. Violent people will be pleased to note the many ways of death available: from fire to fright to being eaten by a cowplant.
One of the Sims 2's greatest features is its ease in customization. The internet hosts thousands upon thousands of custom content downloads with new hairs, clothes, and objects. There are also some great hacks to be found to adjust your game experience: ACR ((Autonomous Casual Romance)) allows more realistic romantic interactions, for example. If you get bored with normal gameplay, try a challenge; there are hundreds of sites dedicated to new and excited ones, some of the most famous being Legacy, Apocalypse, Asylum, and Bachelor Challenges. The number of expansion packs is also great ((and they're becoming easier to find cheap as Sims 3 nears release))and by picking and choosing you can create the perfect gameplay experience, throwing college, pets, a nightlife, businesses, vacations, hobbies, and so much more into the mix.
Because there is no storyline to advance ((unless you make one)), Sims 2 can be a virtually endless experience, allowing for continued play for as long as you'd like. Its versatility and good old amusement make it a great experience for the easily amused and the obsessive compulsive ((I am both)) alike. :)