I just got my copy of the guide, almost a week after the game itself arrived. Having the guide would certainly have made it easier figuring out how to do certain things, but it was kind of fun learning everything on my own. What I like best about the guide is having all the recipes for food, spells, medicine, etc, so I don't have to try to remember what I need. They also have the steps for each of the quests so you can tell how many steps remain. This is helpful if you're trying to ensure that your sims finish the quest in the platinum range - you know whether to slow down to give your performance time to rise, or if it's full speed ahead.