Pros: Good looking girls, Rewards to unlock, and PLAYBOY!!!
Cons: Bores after some repetitions, The gameplay scope too low
The bottom line: Even if the game makers haven't made the game perfect, it still is a good option, especially if you got addicted to playboy!
After playing just the same action and strategy games, one after another, the only thing that I wanted was a change. I finally managed to get that much required change from Sims and Sims 2, but they weren't as much interesting as Playboy: The Mansion. It seemed too similiar to the Sims at first sight, but after playing it for some hours, I came to know that this one may be even a better experience than the Sims. This game is very rare in India, may be because of its mature contents and the name Playboy. This makes internet the only option for getting this game for us. It has been three or four months since I downloaded this game and I have spend maximum time in it until I was forced to format my entire hard disc due to some virus and spyware.

REQUIREMENTS
Windows 98SE/ME/2000/XP
Pentium III 800 or 100% compatible
256 MB RAM or higher
1.5 Gb HD Space (allows for swap file)
32 MB DirectX/Direct3D and T&L compatible video accelerator card
DirectX 9.0 or later
DirectX compatible sound card
Windows Media 9 Player or later

In this game, your main aim is to publish a Playboy magazine, but you also need to make sure that it is of good quality. You play Hugh Hefner who needs to have good contacts and talented employees to make Playboy a powerful brand and earn some fame. Don't worry - you will have enough money to burn in the process and it won't worry you as long as you keep making profits. You start from humble beginnings and reach higher levels by using your brains. The game is not as easy as it seems from the outside. There is the freeform mode in which you can do anything as you like, as well as the mission mode in which you may have certain objectives to accomplish. But in both forms, you need to make use of your commonsense to survive.

The game has got lots of similiarities with the Sims. The characters look similiar and so does the mansion's interiors which can be furnished and new things can be bought just like we did in Sims. But there are certain differences - we can control only one person and thats Heff. If we want to look around the mansion, we gotta go with him as we can't just scroll around the mansion whenever we like. The graphics didn't seem to have much of a difference, which makes this game look like another version of the Sims even if it is not. The models as well as the objects does look somewhat realistic and well animated, but almost all of the people seems to have the same body structure and the face of some may seem alike. You can be glad that they wear different clothes - otherwise you may have kissed the wrong girl! There should have been a better effort in this field.

The game may not run as smooth as you would expect as it manages to crash even in those computer which meet the requirements, most commonly during the photoshoots. So it is recommended that you keep saving the game on regular occasions. There are not anything special in the sound more than what we had in Sims - we can hear the expressions and talking of the characters upto a certain extent. There is some cool music going on throughout the game, and you have lots of tracks to listen to. You will find a bit of average voice-over work, not much to deserve a mention. There is the option for adding your own MP3s to the game, but you can adjust the ones already in the list. Another thing is that the game shouldn't have been limited to a mansion - even if it is big, the scope of the game is just too less. To add to it, there is no multiplayer option - I would certainly appreciate it if there was some serious competition in the busines field.

The creation of a magazine needs lots factors. The first need will be the covershot for which you have to convince some famous celebrity to pose for it. You can also ask some of them for an essay and an interview, all these from different people for one magazine. There are lots of celebrities like actors, athletes, authors, politicians, models, musicians etc. This is where the social relationships can be useful. Their higher fame can bring your magazine more readers! So it will be good for you to have girlfriends in high positions. If you don't have enough, just throw a party - it will increase your fame and you can earn some very useful friends from those guest by interacting with them.

The magazine's contents doesn't end there. You will need to have a pictorial and an article, these two can be done on a selected topic by your employees. We have to take care in selecting those employees and developing their skills if we are to get better outputs. Finally, you can go to your hired Playboy Playmate and ask her to pose for the photoshoot at a place of your choice. The quality of the photos depends mostly on the Playmate. You can select the Playmate of the year in the edition exactly after an year.

There are some gorgeous female models in less clothes if you take a look at this game from the other side. They do look a bit different from each other, but most of them may look similiar in some way or another if you give a closer look (There is the zoom in and out option). No wonder that the game is rated mature as it not only got the models in bikinis, but they also become topless on lots of occasions, especially as you have the options like "Have sex on couch" etc. Well, it is quite usual in a Playboy game.

There are even nude or half nude photos of the real playmates of the playboy which can be unlocked with the points that you earn in the game. So this game certainly is not for the younger gamers. But the playboy fans will have a nice treat in store for them. There are also some interviews, real Playboy covers etc to unlock - there are even some interesting facts about the Playboy industry, just like the youngest and the eldest playmates, the tallest and the shortest etc. So you will have enough for some months to keep you busy. Well, a good, different concept is always welcome, whatever the field is even if this is another people simulator!