CREATING MORE COMPLICATED SIMS LIVES

Creating one's Sims would be taken to a whole new level. The natural physical frame of the males would come with a paunch with changeable sizes. The wardrobe collection would include lungi and panjabi. For the female Sims, the player would have to avail the option "desensitise the neighbourhood" before giving it any look he wills. If this prerequisite is not fulfilled, every time the Sim is donned with a "modern" look, a bubble would pop up by default with the message "manush ki bolbe?" The language of Sims, Simlish, would obviously be discarded and replaced with 'Banglish' and subdivided into Sylheti and Chatgaiya accents for enhancement.

PLETHORA OF NEW CHARACTERS

A variety of remarkable characters would be introduced in the Bangladeshi edition. For starters, the professional and expensive housemaid in its black and white afternoon uniform would be replaced by "Jorina'r Ma" clad in a saree who would reign alone in the neighbourhood, haggling for higher salary every other week. She would never mind her own business and along with the other female Sims of the house, Jorina'r Ma would gather around the television to watch a series based on a mother in law-daughter in law feud at 7 pm, every day.

To generate the spooky effect, instead of the grim reaper, a few jinns would be added who would possess the Sims family from time to time. A few trespassers would also be included in this package who would pee on the lawns and go about their business.

An integral circle of characters known as "the bhabi group" would be developed. They would be the unwanted visitors, spying on the families in the hood and being aggressively indiscreet about all the gossip that they pick up. This group would infest the house under any occasion and complain about the food. During birthdays, the group would arrive with wedding proposals as they would disapprove an aging Sim who is single.

NEXT LEVEL WEDDINGS

All the Sims would only have one motive, that is, to save up as much ''Simoleon'' as possible in order to throw the most ostentatious wedding party. Every time a character would get invited to a wedding, he or she would also be able to avail the option of "attend the holud". This option would require the Sim to go for dance rehearsals every other day to ultimately perform a synchronized group dance with other Sims at the holud, to violent Bollywood beats. The saved Simoleon would get reduced to zilch once the wedding ceremony is done with.

No longer would the Sims just swivel around in their wedding costumes and politely begin their new relationship. There would be days of preparation leading up to the big day and the clothes for the special occasion would arrive in a dala. The houses would be decorated with the brightest fairy lights. All the quintessential formalities of a typical Bengali wedding would be implemented into the game which would finally accumulate to one thing: endless dawat. These lunch or dinner gatherings would follow even after the wedding ceremony.

CHILDREN WOULD BE A BIGGER DEAL THAN PETS

Unlike in The Sims, where the adolescents are treated like mere pets with no prominent function of their own, in this version, they would have crucial life-and-death roles to play, which would be getting admitted to the most prestigious public Sims University. The young Sims would be given the options of beginning school with either an English or Bengali medium starting kit. The parents would be able to engage with the kids in only one way, which would be by screaming "porte bosho". In case, they fail to do so, instead of being sent to the military school like it's done in the original game, they would be married off. This part of the game would activate the bhabi group to its full potential.

THE LAYOUT OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD WILL CHANGE

The original Sims held a maximum number of ten houses in the residential area but here it would be a completely different scenario. The buildings would be crammed together adding up to at least a hundred, with the traffic being visible from the very front door. Instead of snow, there would be monsoon season which would cause flood in the area and the cars in the gridlock would all be submerged.

The incorporations and changes do not end here. Starting from the inclusion of new festivals to new furniture, the whole Sims world would be turned upside down. However, the most significant modification would be the addition of "adda at Star Kabab" to the option tree at social gatherings.

Iqra suffers from wanderlust, dreams of discovering the Loch Ness Monster and occasionally complains about Economics. Tell her to get a life at iqra.kashmir53@gmail.com or www.facebook.com/iqra.l.qamari