Some objects are special skill objects.  Using these objects will increase your sim's rating in one of the six skill areas.  For example, using a weight bench will increase your sim's body skill, while the aforementioned speech practicing will improve charisma.  Skills are important because they are used to determine how well your sim performs at such tasks as cooking and repairing broken objects.  Probably more importantly they are used to determine how quickly your sim advances in her career.

Unfortunately, just as in real life money does not grow on trees in The Sims.  In order to buy all of the objects you want to deck out your sim's home, you're going to have to bring home some money.  You can have your sim find a job through a newspaper or a career, and when you see a career track that you are interested in you can select the job (there are no interviews to go through).  Your sim will then spend eight hours out of the day at work and return with a daily paycheck.  The size of the check will depend on your chosen career and how far you have advanced in it.  You have no control over your sim at work, he or she will simply be absent from the game while away at work.  Your sim's success at work is instead a function of how happy he is when he leaves for his job and the level of skill in the areas needed by the job.  For example, entertainers need high charisma scores while athletes would be wise to work on their body score.

None of the sims exist in a bubble, and neighbors and friends will often come for a visit.  This is important as a way to satisfy your sim's social motive, but it also is one of the more fascinating aspects of the game.  Each sim has a relationship score with every other sim in the game that is affected by many factors such as mood, compatibility of traits, interests, and past interactions.  When you first meet another sim, you'll have only a few basic interactions available such as "greet" or "talk".  As you establish a relationship with the other sim, many more interactions will become available.  Flirting, joking, back rubs are a few of the things you can do - your sims can even fall in love and propose marriage.

Watching sims interact and converse in little thought balloons and a strange language known as "Simlish" is a big part of the game's appeal.  The longer you play, the more sims you'll meet, and you'll eventually be able to throw large parties filled with fights, polite conversations, and even some hanky-panky.  Many players probably play the game as if they were a real world slacker, working just enough to buy the right things to throw the next killer party.

The game starts you off with a basic bankroll, and you can use this and the money you earn from work to buy new objects and expand your home.  This is accomplished through the game's Buy and Build modes, both of which pause the game to allow you to do a little building and decorating.  In Build Mode you can place walls, doors, and windows, and cover your place with wallpaper, paint, and floor tiles.  The Build Mode is essentially the same as that of the PC version of the game, so it was designed for use with a mouse and it can be tricky to use at times with a PS2 controller.  The wall painting tool seems to have the most issues and often paints both sides or the wrong side of a wall.  The Buy Mode allows you to browse through all of the many objects available in the game, purchase new objects, and place and move objects in your sim's home.  You can also sell objects if you would like to buy better versions, such as an expensive bed to help your sim sleep better.  However, you'll also need to play through the Get a Life mode if you want to unlock all of the objects available in the game.  If all this building and designing is too much for you, don't worry because the Get a Life mode starts you off in pre-built homes.

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