Game maker Electronic Arts plans this fall to release a "Hot Date" expansion pack for the PC game "The Sims." The expansion pack includes new characters and a new downtown with restaurants, shops and parks. "The Sims" allows players to create a neighborhood of simulated people known as Sims and to control their lives. The new add-on pack will allow players to act as matchmakers too.

Players can have their Sims ask one other out on a date or try their luck with a dating service. Sims can now flirt, play footsie and "engage in a little tonsil hockey," according to Redwood City, Calif.-based EA. "Hot Date" follows two previous add-on packs: "Livin' Large," which allows players to put Sims in extreme situations," and "House Party," which allows players to host gatherings.