The Sims 2 : Take over the life of a character of your choice, guiding him or her through relationships, career aspirations or family life.

Sid Meier's Pirates! : Avast, ye mateys. Sail the seven seas with a crew of swashbucklers swiping booty and plundering villagers. Captain Jack Sparrow would definitely go for this game.

Animal Crossing : There's no fighting, double-crossing or even disparaging language in this friendly village-building title. Hordes of interactive characters help you to accomplish your peaceful goals, and you get to return the favor.

Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life : Life on a farm is never dull. It's stressful and engaging to try to keep up with household chores, livestock and crops. Few video game-spawned experiences match the sense of satisfaction of keeping a solid Harvest Moon farm running well.

The Urbz: Sims in the City : The Sims concept takes an urban spin. Hip-hop and ghetto fabulous life are the order of the day here, as you seek to accumulate the most bling and spread your reputation through the streets.

The Lord of the Rings: Tactics : Use a strategic mind to simulate the armies of Gandalf against Mordor. The game helps you understand the implications of troop movement, flanking and managing military resources.

Animal Crossing: Wild World : Wireless online play is where this village simulation truly soars. Trade a special code with a friend who also owns the game and you can hook up online and visit one another's virtual alt-lives.

Tamagotchi Connection: Corner Shop : The next best thing to a real pet is a fake pet. Take your cute, inanimate virtual-Fido out to play with the others, showing off its tricks and stylin' looks.

Civilization IV : The long-running Civilization series reaches a high-point in the fourth entry. Guide troops, scientists, farmers and academics to cultural supremity.

Sim City 4 : Life for a virtual politician is never easy. Zoning restrictions and transportation hassles are always there, and then there's always the segment of the population begging for a pro sports team. You can handle it all in the Sim City franchise's finest entry.

Supreme Ruler 2010 : This game takes the "army of one" concept to the extreme. As the leader of a group or marauding military forces, you must coordinate battle plans.

Playboy: The Mansion : Nowhere near as racy as the silhouetted cover would have you believe, this is meat-and-potatoes mansion management. Take control of the Playboy empire and turn it into a moneymaking business.

Sim City : The Super Nintendo truly came alive thanks to this addictive city-building game, which was transported from an earlier version on PCs. Build your own metropolis as a mayor/city planner. Raise taxes and pray for re-election.

Civilization : Build up a culture of citizens and guide them to dominance over their surroundings. This PC game spawned countless imitators.

Sim Earth : Taking the Sim City concept a step farther, you play God over an entire planet, controlling weather systems, civilizations and topography.

Widget Workshop : A hands-on science kit developed for computers in 1995, the game allows players to simulate science experiments, graphs and mathematical equations.