My Universe - Interior Designer
Interior Designer; The Other My Universe
In our previous first take, we looked at My Universe - Puppies & Kittens and unfortunately our experience made it a dud. We would have enjoyed our time raising our husky had the game not soft locked us during the tutorial section. We've made our frustrations with this encounter very clear. Moving to My Universe - Interior Designer didn't leave me optimistic but there were several "hopefuls" going into this.
While Microids published the living simulator series, developers had worked on different titles within the project. Puppies & Kittens and Interior Designer featured two different developers, the latter being Magic Pockets. As with most developers from the series, Magic Pockets is a small indie dev best known for several "shovelware" titles. That said, my hopes were limited.
Welcome To Monster's Inc?
The first laughable negative I found from Interior Designer was the abysmal loading screen times. I counted how long the initial loading screen was and it took a full minute until I was able to play. The initial volume is ear-splittingly loud, which was only remedied by lowering the music volume to 15%. It's absurd how bad first impressions were, but thankfully it does get better.
After creating a character and naming your home decor agency, you are assigned your first task from a client. For jokes, I named my agency "Monster's Inc." Why did I do such a thing? Because it was a good movie and it was on my mind. Anyways, just as soon as you take on your client you're thrust into the gameplay. What is the gameplay? Well, moving, rearranging, and walking around tight apartments of course!
Extreme Home Interior Designer Makeover
The client in question has an issue with clutter and needs their office free of it. What's interesting about the client is that they are a writer who is working on a novel featuring a rather...silly plot. I guess an office filled with clutter as the result of talking animals and turnips is enough to call in an interior designer. The gameplay for Interior Designer is as simple as rearranging items, removing furniture, and adding furnishing of your own. As far as I know, there are no expenses made and the designer seemingly pulls things out of thin air.
It's like playing The Sims without a budget, making the client's requests as easy as following directions. Achieving the base requirements, plus the special and hidden requirements will grant the player three stars. I was unable to find the "hidden requirement" for this zany author so I had to settle with two stars.
The 'My Universe' Series Is Just A Budget "Sims" Ultimately
One thing I picked up on as I was rearranging furniture, selecting the replacement furniture, and fulfilling objectives, was how similar it was to The Sims. Even with what very little I played with Puppies & Kittens, it reminded me of the Sims Pets titles of the past. Ultimately, with every game in the My Universe series, it's best to just play their original Sims counterparts. They are far better polished, packed with loads of content and ongoing support.
At least, it would be far easier to recommend if it were up to EA giving The Sims a proper Switch release. Perhaps it's good that games like My Universe exist as the market for the Switch is quite high for these games. If it were released on other consoles, however, the pickings wouldn't be as slim. It is there I would recommend literally any game that does these types of simulations far better over My Universe. With that said, for a budget "Sims" title, these games get the job then. When they work, at the very least.
My Universe - Interior Design is available on the Switch.