Ciao Bella opens with the protagonist, Elena, getting a call from her would-be mother-in-law, asking her to hurry up and get started on the grandchildren. So, it’s clearly not going to be one of those escapist fantasy games for me.

Ciao Bella is a life sim, based on management of resources and time. Elena must handle all the crises that pop up in her extended family, keep her meters full in the areas of health, culture, family, work and harmony, and still improve her relationship with her boyfriend, Elio.  The challenge is keeping Elena’s meters full, getting enough sleep and making enough money, while meeting Elena’s goals by the deadline. When I wasn’t actively working on a mission, my Elena existed on a steady schedule of reading and yoga, which is good for health, culture and harmony, but not so good for work and family, or for Elena’s finances.

Each “episode,” or mission, is a week in Elena’s life, and a chance for another date with Elio, as well as a chance to fix any other disasters in her extended family. I found this episode format a bit restrictive, especially when compared to sandbox sims like Kudos, but I did like the gossipy stories that emerged. In one episode, Elena’s mother begs her to get her sister’s wedding back on track so the Battistas won’t be the laughingstock of Little Italy. Other dilemmas involve rival restaurants or zoning issues for Uncle Nunzio’s construction company.

I love sim games, so it’s no surprise that I liked Ciao Bella. What makes Ciao Bella different from all the other sims I play is the sweet Italian-family character. The game locations are all in Little Italy, the assignments are family dramas, and the game is full of personality, right down to the NPCs default responses. If you are looking for a light sim with an entertaining, romantic storyline, this is perfect.

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Author of this post was Meg Stivison. If you would like to see Meg’s other posts, check out her blog.