Stranded on a foreign world after their spaceship became disabled, these intrepid Sims have utilized homeworld technology and foreign planet crystal tech to survive at the edge of space. Several generations after arriving on the planet, the Sims have established a thriving colony, complete with roads, transportation, schools, businesses and agriculture.

The world has three areas of inhabitation--a flat expanse called the “spaceship plane,” centered on the disabled spacecraft; a craterous colony of bohemian farmers living on the shores of freshwater lakes; and an area at the edge of society where a few stragglers live and pursue their unique dreams.

Lunar Lakes is by far one of the most unique worlds we have crafted so far in The Sims 3. We very much wanted this world to feel different, yet at the same time, remain true to the core gameplay of The Sims 3. While we can’t change everything (taxis are still taxis, and if you have The Sims 3 Pets installed, then wild horses will be roaming the lunar terrain!) we did make some pretty major changes to alter the feel of the world. We felt our normal rabbitholes would look out of place in Lunar Lakes, so we created portals that hint at subterranean dwellings.

The most impressive new rabbithole is the science lab, which has been built from the remains of the crashed spaceship that brought these space-faring Sims to Lunar Lakes --The Perigee.

One of the coolest parts of Lunar Lakes is that its power source comes from alien crystals. You can glimpse the raw, un-harvested crystals embedded in the rocks and see the crystal tech at work in the street lights around the world. Another piece of mysterious crystal tech is the Tree of Prosperity, an exotic plant made of floating crystals that the Sims found while excavating in the crystal mines. The color of the fruit that hovers at the heart of the tree changes several times per day. When it changes, look for the crystal formation of the tree to change with it. Sims can harvest this fruit and eat it to gain accelerated skills. For example, if your Sim eats the green fruit, the Fruit of Harvest, they will get a bonus towards improving their Gardening, Fishing, or Cooking skill. This leads to quicker skill level-ups, which will ultimately help your Sims advance through their careers more rapidly.

I am a longtime Sims player and a huge fan of The Sims 2, so I naturally had to pay tribute to my favorite The Sims 2 neighborhood. A little fun fact -- there are six references to Strangetown hidden throughout Lunar Lakes. I challenge you to find them all!