The Sims Box Set 1 thru 5 (Prima's Official Strategy Guide)

Comment: First, a note: I am not actually under 13--I'm 15, actually--but I was too lazy to create my own bn.com account or wait for my mom to come home so I could use hers. But anyway.
In general, the Prima strategy guides are excellent--they are thorough, humorous, and well-written, with aesthetically appealing layouts and screenshots. So having five half-sized strategy guides for the approximate price of one sounds like the perfect deal, right?
You'd think that...
While these guides are excellent, I think that Prima made a mistake in making these books so small. Although I am fortunate enough to have, for the moment, very good eyesight (from years of reading under the covers, I suppose), I still found these books very hard to read. I can only imagine the difficulty for someone who already has a vision problem.
In short, these discounted guidebooks are worth the price only if your eyesight is excellent. In general, I'd recommend buying the normal-sized guides. While more expensive, they are at least legible.

Comment: Don't buy this.

There is no reason you need to buy these books.
Any information you need is online and cost you nothing.

On all of the books, the 1st half is devoted to The Sims (the original game itself that you need in order to add any of the expansion packages).

If you need any information on game play with any of the expansions then go online.
The Official Sims Website is one place to start.
That is not to mention all of the other Fan webistes that you can go to. (Devoted to The Sims and there are a lot)

They are for the most part free and you don't have the books taking up room.

Comment: Really unnecessary. The game is the easiest to play in the world. There is no end to the game hence no need for strategy.

Comment: the info give is ok. Nothing to reveling, but the examples given in picture are impossible to read. they could have made a single book instead of 5 if they had just made the book larger and pictures more readable.

Only buy this book if you can not figure out how the game works. otherwise save your money

Comment: Ok, the bad stuff first - which has been mentioned a lot here. The books are shrunk down to a much smaller size than your average strategy guide, so the pictures and illustrations are really difficult to see. Second, the first half of each book is the same in all five - just basic info about the Sims. So there is a lot of wasted space and material you have to skip over to get the new information on whatever expansion pack the book is for.

The books small size makes them easier to store though, they can even sit on a bookshelf in front of all the other strategy guide since they are so much smaller. They also come in a sleeve so that they all stay together nicely. While most of the information is repeated in each book, there is a good amount of new information that is really useful - even for long-time Sims players. Every time I open up the books I learn something new, and I've been playing the Sims for several years now.

Overall, for the price I can't complain too much. The good stuff is better than the bad, by far. Definitely would recommend to any Sims addict looking to learn some new tips and tricks.