Hi, I played Free Time only for an hour or so but although I loved it, I'm a bit confused. Will each Sim's hobby become clear just by performing every day tasks? Or do I need to buy things that they may or may not like using? And I was playing with the "Mole" guy who's into tinkering. He's got these piles of crap lying around that I can choose to "look at" and he just laughs at the piles after a while... What's going on there? And can a Sim get points and advantages even in hobbies he or she might not particularly care for as much as another?

The "piles of crap" (lol) are just decorative items I would think. You need to buy items that help enthusiasm - like the car kit for Tinkering, the sewing machine for Arts & Crafts Sims, the ant farm for Science, etc. You can get enthusiasm points in any hobby, just like any Sim can acquire any skill point.

I just played John Mole (I think that's his name) for a while and I had him use the phone and get a subscription to tinkering magazine. He read it and gained an additional enthrusiasm point. I also bought him the car junker and the train set. They rolled as wants. So he is now fixing the car engine.

I dunno. I think he got a +tinkering point added after he laughed at them! :S So though they behave like decorations, it seems to add something to his hobby.