Ranking Every Sims 4 Expansion Pack from Worst to Best

Updated on August 14th, 2025

Since The Sims 4 base game is free on all platforms including EA, Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox, I wanted to rank the 19 expansion packs for The Sims 4, including the latest Enchanted by Nature expansion pack. There are frequently 50% off sales as well as bundles with the expansion packs that you can buy for the base game. I will not include the game packs, stuff packs, or kits in this ranking. However, I do own and have played through all the expansion packs.

For the rankings, I will include information on the worlds, careers, build mode, Create-a-Sim (CAS), and any other gameplay elements to determine which expansion packs are worth the money, which ones you should wait for a sale, and which ones you are better off without.

#19 Get to Work

Get to Work is the first expansion pack for The Sims 4. The pack allows sims to run their own business and it introduces three active careers: Doctor, Detective, and Scientist. The pack also adds the worlds of Magnolia Promenade with 4 retail lots and Sixam, which is a secret alien world. As far as skills, the baking skill is included in the pack.

Worlds

Magnolia Promenade is not that exciting since there are only 4 lots with 3 lots having pre-built stores. The stores include a toy store, a clothing store, and a combination of a clothing and furniture store. You can use the empty lot to build your own store or renovate or bulldoze the other lots.

Since Get to Work added aliens, there is a secret world that can only be accessed by sims who maxed the rocket science skill or reached level 10 in the Scientist career. It is much easier to max the rocket science skill, but the rocket ship is expensive. Reaching level 10 in the Scientist career is doable, but it takes much longer to do. At Sixam, you can meet aliens and get collectibles.

Careers

Doctor

The Doctor career is an active career in that you can join your sim at work and you have various tasks to do for the day such as checking and treating patients and talking with coworkers. The hospital lot is a hidden lot and you can only access it when your sim is at work or if your sim is having a baby. The Doctor career is fine, and at first, there is not much you can do. Once you get promoted, you unlock more and more to do such as diagnosing sims, doing x-rays, and performing surgery.

I found diagnosing sims challenging especially when you have done all the tests and checks, but you are left with 2-3 possible illnesses. I had to use a guide because I had no idea what the different illnesses were and what animation patient sims would do when they had that illness. Also, I kept waiting for the patient’s animations to get a clearer view of what was wrong, but the animation would never happen and they would just sit on the exam bed the whole time. There are emergencies that can happen such as a patient collapsing in the hospital or your sim having to go to a house call. I did like the house call because you could get outside of the hospital.

Detective

The Detective career is an active career like the Doctor, and you have the hidden lot of a police station. The main task of the Detective career is to solve cases by visiting crime scenes that are actual sims houses in the game, and one time I had to go to the Goth house. At the crime scenes, you find clues, take pictures, and interview witnesses. You then go back to the police station and analyze evidence and find clues on who the suspect is, and when you have enough clues, you can arrest the sim and interrogate them at the police station. The sim will then confess if they are guilty and the case will be closed.

There are other tasks at the police station including taking mugshots and fingerprints as well as searching suspects that are in the holding cell. You can also go on patrol, but it was my least favorite thing to do because you are taken to a neighborhood and you just have to watch sims and give them a citation if they fight with another sim or litter. It can take HOURS of your sim’s day before finding a sim to give a citation to. I do think the Detective career is more exciting than the Doctor and Scientist careers because there are more things to do and you are not stuck at the police station all the time.

Scientist

The Scientist career is the third active career added, and there is the hidden lot of the lab. There are different tasks to do such as inventing objects like the SimRay (freezes sims then later you can upgrade it to do more like mind control sims), creating serums that affect the sim’s mood or needs, analyzing plants, metal, and crystals, and talking to coworkers. I found the Scientist career a bit boring because you are stuck in the lab the whole time. The inventions are a fun addition, but I do not really use them outside of the lab like I am not going around freezing sims. You do have special days such as a collecting day where you go around collecting resources, but they are not really that exciting.

Running a Store

When I was playing through the active careers, I had my sim start building wooden statues with the woodworking table during their days off from work. When I had a decent collection, I decided to make a store to sell them. I choose the empty lot in Magnolia Promenade as it is only §3000, but you can use any lot and change the lot type to retail. I then built a small store and set the statues for sale.

You do need to use your household funds to build and furnish a store, so you should have a decent amount set aside. The only requirement for a retail store is a cash register, so you are free to do whatever you want. I find it useful to have a toilet, shower, and fridge for the sim’s needs, and a bed is also useful so you do not have to travel back and forth from your home lot to your store all the time. For my store, I did the normal 25% markup, but you can choose a higher or lower markup.

In 1 game day, my sim made §724 by selling 15 wood statues. The amount is not bad because your sim only makes §100-200 when starting out in a career. However, the issue with retail stores is you have to keep up with the stock. I only had around 5 items left so if wanted to sell 15 items the next day, I would have to work on making more wood statues or pay a high restocking fee. However, you can use the retail stores to pretty much sell any items your sims have made to items in build mode.

You do not have to have 1 theme and you can sell a variety of items in the same store. The Get to Work build mode does include mannequins to sell clothes and a refrigerated display case and vending display to sell food and baked goods so if you want to run a clothing store or a bakery, you can easily do so especially since the baking skill was added with the pack.

Build mode

As you can imagine, the build mode is for the retail stores, the hospital, the police station, and the lab. You most likely will not use many of the items outside of the pack. Unless you are specifically building a retail store or renovating one of the hidden lots, the build mode is not that useful.

CAS

For CAS, one of the main features is creating alien sims. Alien sims will have an alien form and a disguise that looks like a regular sim. You will be able to pick outfits for both forms. There are also a decent amount of hairs for adults added, but only a few I would use. There are not that many clothes, and there is some casualwear, but mostly it is businesswear and outfits for aliens. Also, there is not much for kids, but that makes sense since this pack is focused on jobs for adult sims.

Overall Thoughts

Get to Work is not a good pack. The active careers are fine, but they can get boring and repetitive quickly. When I have more than 1 sim in my household, I occasionally send them to work alone so I can focus on my other sims and what they need to do for their own promotions. To me, the world is pointless and I never take my sims shopping there because there is really no point to go shopping and pay a markup when you can buy everything from the build catalog or simply use a mirror or dresser to change your sims clothes. Unless you are interested in one of the careers or you love aliens, I do not recommend buying Get to Work.

#18 Get Famous

Get Famous is the 6th expansion pack for The Sims 4. The pack adds a celebrity system, an acting career, and acting and media production skills. The new world Del Sol Valley is inspired by Los Angeles and Hollywood and catered towards filmmaking and the famous Sims.

World

Del Sol Valley includes 11 lots that are divided into 3 neighborhoods. The Starlight Boulevard neighborhood has 5 community lots including 2 lounges, a gym, a museum, and a national park. The Mirage Park neighborhood has 3 residential lots with 2 starter homes and an empty lot. Lastly, the Pinnacles neighborhood has 3 residential lots where rich celebrities Sims live. The world definitely feels lacking because there are so few lots compared to other packs like Cats & Dogs which has 16 lots. Since the world is inspired by Los Angeles and Hollywood, it could have been better if there were apartments or houses on the beach. Also, there are only starter homes and homes that are §200,000+ in the world, so it would have been nice if there was a neighborhood with mid-priced homes.

Career

Acting

The acting career is an active career like those in Get to Work. In the acting career, your sim will audition for gigs, which will have a recommended skill and level such as charisma, fitness, or guitar, as well as tasks for your sim to do. Your sim will then go off to a rabbit hole location for the audition, and if they have high enough skills and did the daily tasks, they are more likely to be accepted for the gig. When your sim is accepted, they will then do a movie or commercial. The set is a hidden lot just like the hospital, lab, and police station in Get to Work, and you can follow your sim there. You can also send your sim to work by themselves, but their performance will not be as good.

When you are at the gig, you will have a list of tasks like getting into hair and makeup, putting on a costume, getting to know someone on set, and telling the director your sim is ready. On the set, you will go through several steps, and you can choose for your sim to do a risky or a safe move. When the gig is done, your sim will receive money and fame. At first, the gigs are low paying, but as you successfully complete jobs and move up in the acting career, your sim will earn more money. The acting career is fine, but it can definitely start feeling repetitive because there is a limited number of gigs so you are bound to repeat them and do the same exact commercial again and again.

Drama Club

In regards to kids and teens sims, they can join the after-school activity of drama club. The sims will go to rabbit hole meetings after school on Monday-Friday. To rank up in drama club levels, your sims will need to work on acting and creativity skills and learn new lines. The club also has daily tasks like practicing acting or dramatics in the mirror or learning new lines in the mirror or with another sim, and they will gain a little fame.

Fame

Fame is added to the pack and there are 5 different star levels for celebrity sims. Each star level unlocks new interactions with other sims, and sims can gain fame by being an actor, streaming, posting on social media, selling books, selling paintings, playing an instrument, singing, performing a comedy routine, and more. The fame system is fine, but I personally do not care to make my sims celebrities.

Build Mode

The build mode is focused on midcentury and luxurious furniture. I am more likely to use the midcentury furniture outside of the pack in other builds, but for the luxurious and high-tech furniture like a sleeping pod, I am much less likely to use it. The build mode also does have movie and film equipment, props, and set pieces, and the pack includes two streaming drones that can follow your sims around, and they will gain followers and fame when streaming. I do like the exotic water garden because you can stock it with sharks and piranha.

CAS

CAS includes A LOT of costumes, but there are a few everyday wear pieces including shirts and dresses for adult sims. Adult sims also get some new hair. Kids do not get much, and there are only 4 jacket tops and 2 full-body outfits. Toddlers only get 2 tops and a pair of pants. I find CAS lacking because outside of the acting career, my sims will not wear most of the outfits. Kids and toddlers do not get much, but that is not really surprising since the main focus of the pack is getting fame or doing the acting career, which is only for adult sims.

Overall Thoughts

I do not like Get Famous. I am disappointed by the world because it is so small and I am also disappointed by CAS because most of it is just costumes. The acting career is fine, but it does get repetitive with the same gigs. I also do not care for the fame system, and I do not recommend the pack unless you want to make your sims famous or you like to idea of having them be an actor.

#17 Enchanted by Nature

Enchanted by Nature is the 19th expansion released for The Sims 4. The pack comes with the long-awaited addition of fairies along with the Naturopath career. Furthermore, Enchanted by Nature includes the new world Innisgreen and the apothecary and natural living skills

World

Innisgreen includes 14 lots, which is on par with most other expansion packs. The lots are divided into the 3 neighborhoods of Everdew, Sprucederry Grove, and Coast of Adhmor.

Everdew is the fairy neighborhood with 5 lots, including a lounge and 4 residential lots. Furthermore, Everdew includes the Moondrop Springs, where sims can bottle emotion potions. There is also the Mossveil Fairy Hub, where fairy sims can get their daily fairy dust ration. With the Starseed Teleporter sims can use fairy dust to travel to the secret lots in the base game and other expansion packs like Sixam from Get to Work.

Sprucederry Grove is the plant sim and nature enthusiast neighborhood with 5 lots. The lots include a bar, park, and 3 residential lots. Also, Sprucederry Grove includes Apothecary Todd’s Cures and Elixirs, where sims can purchase apothecary ingredients and ailment cures. At the Glaswood Tree sims can summon the plant sim Spruce Almighty. Lastly, there is a rabbit hole used bookstore and gardening store.

Coast of Adhmor is all about gnomes with 4 lots. There is a museum and 3 residential lots. Furthermore, Coast of Adhmor has the Great Gnome Statue, the Gnum Gnum’s food stall, where sims can buy gnome-themed food, and a rabbit hole grocery store.

Career

The Naturopath is a 10-level career where sims can go to work, work from home, or see clients at their home lot. For the career, sims will need the apothecary and natural living skills. At level 6, you can choose between the apothe-curist or lifestyle coaching branch. The apothe-curist branch needs the gardening and apothecary skills, while the lifestyle coaching branch needs the fitness and natural living skills.

Also, as a side note, with the natural living skill, sims can sleep on the ground, forage for food, eat fish and frogs they catch, bathe in water, and summon a privy bush to fill their needs. When sims go to work, it will be like a normal rabbit hole career where they will leave the lot and return at the end of the workday. When working from home, sims will be given a task such as craft 3 cures or elixirs, forage for ingredients, or revitalize the needs of 3 sims.

At level 2 of the career, sims can see clients at their home lot. During the work day, a client will arrive at the home. Your sim will have to do a variety of tasks, such as asking them questions, discussing natural remedies, conducting a client intake, holistically examining them, identifying a root cause, and giving a cure. Every day is exactly the same with the same tasks, therefore, seeing clients at home can become repetitive. Also, I found seeing clients at home buggy because one time, a client never showed up, so my sim was standing around doing nothing all day and was paid §40 for the terrible performance. Other times, clients would wander around the house and my sim’s actions would be cancelled.

Fairies

A big feature of Enchanted by Nature is that you can create a fairy sim in CAS. In live mode, your sim can also ask a fairy for a fairy seedling or purchase the fairy seedling from a computer and plant it. Fairy sims will have a fairy form and a human form. Also, fairies will have the energy, social, fun, and hygiene needs, but instead of bladder and hunger needs, they have emotional force. Fairies can gain emotional force by absorbing emotions of other sims, regenerating emotional force in the fairy home, regenerate emotional force on themselves if they have 5 fairy dust, basking in emotions at Moondrop Springs, or drinking an emotion potion.

Fairies do have a skill tree, which is expected based on many of the other occult sim types. The skill tree is divided into 4 branches, including manipulation, emotion, nature, and customization. Manipulation abilities including curing or applying ailments, bringing a gnome to life, and aging up sims. Emotion abilities, including swaying and projecting emotions and influencing relationships and sentiments. Nature abilities include enchanting, growing, and blooming plants and transforming sims into fairies. Lastly, the customization branch will affect how fairies recharge emotional force and how their relationships are affected when using fairy abilities.

However, after playing with fairy sims, I found fairies in general buggy. The fairy wings would often disappear at random times, such as when the fairy sim was flying around, and their wings would be gone. Also, I had a fairy sim standing and reading a book, and their wings were gone. Furthermore, the fairy sim needed to take a shower, but she would just stand in front of the shower. The same issue happened with going to sleep. I clicked on the bed for the fairy to sleep, but she just stood beside the bed. I often had to use the fairy house to bathe and sleep because the other necessary actions were buggy with other objects.

Ailments

Enchanted by Nature adds 8 ailments to the game. Ailments were a big issue when the pack first released because sims would get an ailment daily. However, ailments have since been fine-tuned to decrease the frequency, but at this time, you can not turn off ailments in the pack settings. I do still find ailments annoying because you either need to craft a cure at the apothecary table, which, if your sim is not in the Naturopath career or has a high enough apothecary skill, is not always possible.

You can buy a cure from Apothecary Todd’s Cures and Elixirs stall in Sprucederry Grove, but if your sims are living in another world, you have to go out of your way to travel there. You can spend §1,500 to be cured by a Naturopath, but that is quite expensive compared to spending §50 for medicine when your sim gets an illness from Get to Work. Also, you can wait a couple of days for the ailment to go away on its own.

Balance and Luck

Along with ailments, the pack also introduced balance and luck. A sims mood over time will affect their balance, and a sim can be balanced, imbalanced, or very imbalanced. If a sim has low needs and negative emotions for a long time, they can become imbalanced and are more prone to getting an ailment.

Sims will also have good, neutral, or bad luck. Good luck gives the sim a higher chance of finding rare collectables, gaining skills faster, and crafting better quality items, whereas bad luck does the opposite. Sims with bad luck will be more likely to find common collectables, gain skills more slowly, and craft lower-quality items.

I do not care about balance or luck because it is just more things to worry about in the game. Luckily, you can turn off both balance and luck in the pack settings menu.

Build Mode

Build mode is the definition of fairycore. There is a lot of wooden, leafy furniture that is perfect for a fairy sim or nature lover. There is a variety of furniture for the home, including a bassinet, crib, toddler bed, double bed, counters, sink, toilet, shower, bathtub, tables, and chairs. However, there is no single bed, which is disappointing if you want to make a child’s or a teen’s room. There is also a swing set, the apothecary table, a nature press where sims can use plants to make decor items, and houseplants they have to water. That said, I find build mode restrictive and I cannot use a lot of the items outside of the pack because the style is so specific to fairies and nature.

CAS

As expected, CAS has a lot of items for fairies. There are over 25 different wings, and you can pick the colors or even paint the wings. There is also clothing, accessories, and tattoos perfect for fairy sims. Outside of fairies, there is a selection of clothing for infants to adults with a general nature theme. There are also new hairs for toddlers to adults. Furthermore, there are 3 new traits of plant lover, mystical, and disruptive, and 2 new aspirations of elixir enthusiast and fairy stories.

Overall Thoughts

I often do not play with occult sims, so my interest in fairies was low. However, I am glad that fairies are now an option for simmers who have been wanting to play as a fairy without using mods. That said, I have found fairies buggy with their wings randomly disappearing and not being able to do certain actions like taking a shower or sleeping in bed. The Naturopath career is fine, and I do like the option of having sims go to work, work from home, or see clients at the home, but I found seeing clients at home buggy with clients not appearing or them wandering around the home and cancelling my sim’s actions.

Ailments, balance, and luck are more annoying than anything because they add even more features to worry about. You can turn off balance and luck, but there is currently no option to turn off ailments. The build mode and CAS are quite limiting because it is so specific to fairies and nature lovers. I do like the world of Innisgreen and the addition of the natural living skill, but overall, I think Enchanted by Nature is a miss, and I would not recommend it.

#16 Island Living

Island Living is the 7th expansion pack for The Sims 4. The pack is inspired by the Polynesian culture and focuses on island life, exploring the ocean, enjoying various beach activities, and relaxation. The pack also includes mermaids as a playable life state.

World

Island Living features the world Sulani which has 3 islands with 14 lots. The Ohan’li Town island has 6 lots including 4 residential homes, a beach, and a bar. The Lani St. Taz island has 5 lots with 3 residential homes, a beach, and an empty lot. Lastly, the Mua Pel’am island has 3 lots including 2 homes and an empty lot. I LOVE the world, and I love having a beach house on the water and sims to be able to swim all around the islands. Some of the prebuilt lots like Adimaral’s Wreckage are unique because it looks like a shipwreck, but the basement is the actual living area.

Sulani also has 8 different special events, but they are not in the calendar like with festivals from other expansion packs and you will not get a notification when the event is starting. I have only randomly stumbled upon the events like the Beach Bonfire. If you are interested in your sims attending the events, I recommend having the Sulani events guide on hand.

Career

Conservationist

The conservationist career is a work-from-home career in that your sims can work from home or go to work. Stay-at-home tasks can be to research conversation, spread conversation, and spray invasive species (you have to do this in Sulani where red algae appear in the water, and survey the algae before you can spray it). The career focuses on the logic skill and spreading conservation awareness. At level 7, you can choose to be an environmental manager or marine biologist. Both focus on the logic skill, but the environmental manager also needs the charisma skill while the marine biologist also needs the fitness skill.

The pack also includes part-time jobs which are just rabbit hole jobs. They are fine if you need extra money, but you are better off with a full-time job for your sims.

Build Mode

The build mode includes wicker and wooden furniture that very much fits the tropical island vibes. Build mode also includes items for the beach including canoes, jet skis, float loungers, and beach towels. There are shacks for food and beach necessities. I would not use a lot of the items outside the pack because they are very much for island houses, but there are some exceptions like the counters for the kitchen, which I have used in other builds in different worlds.

CAS

CAS has a lot of beach tropical wear with short sleeves, tank tops, shorts, skirts, and swimwear. Most of the full-body outfits are for feminine sims. There are some clothes for kids, but again the focus is on feminine sims, and there are even fewer clothes for toddlers. There are some new hairs, but only 2 new hairs are for kids. I would not have my sims wear beach wear outside of the pack because if my sims are living in the desert of Oasis Spring or in the snow world Mt. Komorebi, the style would not fit.

You can also create mermaid sims in CAS or you can find mermaid kelp and eat it. The mermaid sim will have a mermaid form which is just an added mermaid tail. However, besides the aesthetic of having a mermaid tail when the sim is swimming, there is not really much to do as a mermaid. Your mermaid sim can summon azure dolphins and have a few special interactions with sims, but that is it. In The Sims 4 game packs where you have occult sims like vampires, werewolves, and spellcasters, you have a skill tree to work through, but for mermaids, there is nothing and I find mermaids pointless.

Overall Thoughts

I am disappointed by Island Living. The world of Sulani is beautiful, and I love that you can go swimming in the water and even build homes on the water, but there is not much else to do in the pack. Mermaids are more for aesthetics because they lack a skill tree. Besides the beaches, the only other community lot in Sulani is a bar. At the beach, you have some activities you can do like jet skiing and building sandcastles, but diving is a rabbit hole, and the only career is the conservationist. There are special events, but casual players are likely to be unaware of them. There is not much gameplay in this pack compared to other packs, so if Island Living interests you, I would definitely wait for a sale.

#15 Get Together

Get Together is the 2nd expansion pack for The Sims 4. The pack focuses on socializing, partying, and creating and managing clubs, and it includes the European-inspired world Windenburg. Both the DJ and dancing skills were added to the pack.

World

I love the world of Windenburg and there are a total of 27 lots including 12 homes, 2 empty lots, 2 bars, 2 nightclubs, 2 cafes, a gym, pool, library, park, chalet gardens, ancient ruins, and island bluff. The lots are divided into 4 neighborhoods with Olde Platz being an older neighborhood with community lots and Lykke Centre being more modern with community lots. The Windslar neighborhood includes homes in the countryside while The Crumbling Isle is a separate island with modern homes.

Clubs

The main focus of Get Together is clubs. Your sim can join a pre-made club or you can create your own club. You can add 8 sims to a club, set requirements to join such as the age of sims, careers, and marital status, and decide on activities to do and not to do. The clubs are great if you created a new sim and you want them to quickly get to know other sims because, with a click of a button, you can start a gathering. For club gatherings, you can set a lot where the gatherings will take place.

During the club gatherings, you will gain club points that you can use to earn perks for the club members. You can make a club for pretty much anything such as friend groups for kids and teens sims, a dance club where sims dance and gain in that skill, or a fishing club. Other club ideas can be making an art club, gardening club, gaming club, movie club, or swimming club (like I did in this save). I think the club system is fine and it can definitely be useful to quickly find a group of friends for your sims.

Build mode

A lot of the build mode does have an older European home feel with the windows, doors, wallpaper, and flooring. The furniture is a mix of older elegant furniture with modern sleek furniture. There are also dance floors, DJ booths, a game table, and new items for the pool like a diving board. Get Together also has a lot of cafe items to build your own cafe.

CAS

CAS has a good amount of new hair and clothes for adult sims. There are some cute clothes, but some I would not use. There is a mix of everyday wear and outfits for bars and nightclubs. Also, there are a few different outfits too like a knight outfit, but kids have a smaller selection of new clothes.

Overall Thoughts

I love the world of Windenburg because it is huge and there are so many lots including community lots. I also like the build mode and the mix of old and new. The club system is good especially because you can make a club for anything and you can quickly have your sim get to know other sims. I do think Get Together is a fine pack, but I would wait for a sale.

#14 Eco Lifestyle

Eco Lifestyle is the 9th expansion pack for The Sims 4. The pack focuses on sustainable living, renewable energy, and crafting. The pack introduces the new world of Evergreen Harbor and adds new skills in fabrication and juice fizzing.

World

Evergreen Harbor is an industrial coastal town. There are 15 lots that are divided among 3 neighborhoods and each neighborhood has its own community space. The Grims Quarry neighborhood has 2 residential lots, 2 apartments, and a community space. Port Promise has 3 residential lots, a bar, and a community space while Confier Station has 2 residential lots, 2 apartments, and a community space.

The community spaces are different than community lots in other worlds because you can vote on how the community lot should be. The default community space is abandoned, but you can vote to make it a community garden (an area for gardening), a maker space (an area with a recycling machine, fabrication, candlemaking, and juice fizzing), or a marketplace (an area with tables to sell items). You can also edit the community spaces and build each version of the community space yourself.

Eco Lifestyle also added neighborhood action plans, which is where you and other sims vote for plans that will affect the neighborhood. There are 19 different action plans ranging from power and water conversation to free love and we wear bags. The neighborhood action plans can be a pain if you forget to vote or turn them off in-game because you can be stuck with a plan that you do not like. It is difficult to get the action plan repealed without cheats because have to get 5 signatures from other sims to repeal it, but it is random which sims will sign it. However, neighborhood action plans are available in all worlds and neighborhoods outside the pack too.

Careers

Civil Designer

The civil designer is a work-from-home career, but your sim can go to work. The focus is on the logic and handiness skills. At level 4 of the career, you can choose between a civic planner or a green technician. The civic planner needs logic and charisma skills and to gain influence points while the green technician needs logic and fabrication skills and fabricate eco-upgrade parts. If you work from home, the tasks can be to perform a handiness or eco parts upgrade on an appliance, acquire recycled materials, draft a municipal concept, and submit a municipal report. It is a fine career and I do like that the green technician path uses the fabrication skill.

Build Mode

The furniture in Eco Lifestyle has an upcycled look. There is a lot of wooden furniture and there is even hidden furniture that your sim can fabricate with the home fabricator including beds, tables, chairs, couches, a dresser, a bookshelf, and decor. Build mode items are also given an eco-footprint value, and the less eco-footprint you build with, the cleaner the environment will be while building with higher eco-footprint items, the environment will have smog.

There are also water collectors, solar panels, and wind turbines that are good if you want your sim to be off-the-grid. There is also a fizzing station to make your own juice as well as a candle-making table to make candles. You can sell juice and candles at a market table. There are also some interesting items including a bug motel where you can use the bugs for cricket flour or biofuel, a vertical garden where you can grow a meat wall, and a dumpster, which is great for doing rags to riches because you can find food, furniture, and money by dumpster diving.

CAS

CAS is focused on streetwear as well as clothes with a DIY/repaired look with patches, rips, and tears in the clothing. Kids have a few clothes, but they are more casual, and there is a cute patchwork dress. Toddlers have even fewer clothes, but there is a cute overall dress. There are some new hairs for adults and a few hair for kids, but none for toddlers.

Overall Thoughts

Eco Lifestyle is an interesting pack because it is so different from any other packs The Sims have released. I do like the world and having community spaces that you can vote for. The neighborhood action plans are a nice idea, but I find them a pain to play with. I also like the build mode and CAS because there is an upcycled look and a focus on DIY. I do like the pack, but I would recommend waiting for a sale.

#13 Lovestruck

Lovestruck is the 16th expansion pack for The Sims 4 that expands on the relationship system. The pack adds the new world Ciudad Enamorada, a new career, the romance skill, and an attraction system.

World

Ciudad Enamorada is the new world added with Lovestruck that is inspired by Mexico and Mexico City. The world has 13 lots and is divided into 3 neighborhoods – Nuevo Corazón, Plaza Mariposa, and Vista Hermosa. Nuevo Corazón has a nightclub, gym, and 2 penthouse residential lots. The only other world that has penthouse lots is San Myshuno in the City Living Expansion Pack, so it is great to have more options. Plaza Mariposa has a park and 3 residential lots. Lastly, Vista Hermosa has a lounge and 4 residential lots. Also in Vista Hermosa is a rabbit hole motel where your sims can sleep or woohoo. In the world, sims can find axolotls, which are part of a new collection.

Career

Romance Consultant

The Romance Consultant is a 10-level career, and your sims can work from home or go to work. Work from home tasks can include watching the Telenovela TV channel, researching intimacy on the computer, and sharing love insights and advice. After level 1, sims in the career need the romance, logic, and charisma skills. At level 8, you can choose either the Matchmaker or Relationship Counselor career path. Both need the romance skill, but Matchmaker needs the charisma skill while Relationship Counselor needs the logic skill.

Cupid’s Corner

Cupid’s Corner is a dating app sims can use on their phone or the computer. They can make a dating profile, add the age of sims they are interested in (young adult, adult, and elder), and display two of their traits. Afterward, you can look through 7 potential matches. The matches are sims from the game, but there can be sims from the Gallery. You can turn off this feature in the settings if you do not want Gallery sims showing up. As you look through the matches, it will show you if any of the traits are turn-ons or turn-offs. You can save matches you are interested in and then plan a date. You can also refresh the matches once, but then you have to wait 12 in-game hours to refresh again.

Dates

For Get To Know You and Romantic Dates, you choose at least 3 activities for sims to do like be friendly or funny, be romantic or woohoo, get food or drinks, watch TV or paint, and more. Then you choose the location, which can be at any community lot or your sim’s home lot. During the date, your sims will have a list of tasks to complete depending on the activities you choose.

Your sims also have the option to go on a Blind Date through Cupid’s Corner. You will still be able to choose the activities and location, but your sim will go on the date with a random sim. When one of my sims went on a Blind Date, their date was the mayor from Cottage Living!

The last new date option is the Romantic Repair Date. If your sims have a negative romantic relationship (the romance bar is in the red), you can plan a Romantic Repair Date to hopefully restore some of the romance. Like with all the other dates, you can choose the activities and location.

Attraction, Turn-Ons, Turn-Offs, and Romance Satisfaction

Lovestruck added an attraction system. In CAS, you can set your sims turn-ons and turns-offs, which are divided into Way of Life, Sim Characteristics, Romance Styles, Hair Color, Outfit Color, and Fashion. A sim’s turns-ons and turns-offs will affect how Attracted or Unattracted the sim is towards other sims. The more attracted a sim is, the easier it is to do romantic interactions. When a sim starts a romantic relationship, Romance Satisfaction will begin. Romance Satisfaction ranges from Very Satisfied to Very Unsatisfied. Your sims will have to regularly do romantic interactions to ensure the sims are satisfied. If a sim becomes unsatisfied, they may want to break up or divorce. Sims in relationships can go to Cupid’s Counseling, which costs §1,000. You can choose to focus on attraction, romantic satisfaction, romance dynamics, or romantic relationship to hopefully improve those aspects.

Build Mode

The build mode has numerous items inspired by Mexico. There is a mix of elegant and modern items along with love-themed items. One of the items The Sims finally brought back is the heart bed! There is also a costume trunk for sims to put on costumes, and several blankets to cloud and stargaze, have a picnic on, and even woohoo. Furthermore, there is new gym equipment including a treadmill and exercise machine. I do like the build mode, but I feel like it would have benefitted from having a kitchen set.

CAS

Lovestruck mainly has CAS for young adult and older sims. There are revealing clothes and costumes as well as some date night and casual clothes. There are new tattoos and eyelashes along with hairs including a few hairstyles for kids. Lastly, there are 2 new traits including Lovebug and Romantically Reservered.

Overall Thoughts

I like that Lovestruck expands on the relationship system, but the pack is geared towards young adult and older sims looking for love with the addition of Cupid’s Corner and the dates. However, for couples in established relationships, Lovestruck is more annoying than anything. I started a new legacy challenge and had a married couple with 2 kids. However, when one sim went to work, the relationship bar was completely depleted when they got home because one of the sims had the fear of being cheated on while the other had the fear of being alone.

Apparently, this is a current bug where fears are rapidly depleting relationships, and the only way I could fix it was to turn off wants and fears in the settings. Even without the fear bug, it is harder to maintain relationships. You have to make your sims do romantic interactions daily to keep the romance bar up and the sims satisfied in the relationship. This can be challenging if you play with multiple sims at once. With all that said, Lovestruck is not a bad pack, but I would wait for a sale.

#12 Discover University

Discover University is the 8th expansion pack for The Sims 4. The pack re-introduces the college experience for young adults and older sims and adds robots, roommates, new careers, and the new campus world of Britechester where two rival universities are located. The pack also added the robotics and research and debate skills.

World

Britechester is divided into 3 neighborhoods with 13 lots. Both Foxbury Institute and the University of Britechester have 4 lots with 3 university housing lots and the commons. Gibbs Hill is more residential and it has 5 lots including 3 homes, a library, and a bar.

Careers

Education

The first career added to Discover University is the education career, which is a work-from-home or go-to-work career. The education career needs the research and debate, logic, and charisma skills. Work-from-home tasks can be asking another sim to volunteer time, researching a topic, creating a lesson plan, or tutoring a student online. At level 6 of the career, you choose between the administrative branch or the professor branch. Both branches need the research and debate skill, but administrative needs the charisma skill while the professor needs the logic skill. The education career is a fine career and I do like that there is the option of working from home.

Law

The law career is also a work-from-home or go-to-work career. The focus is on the research and debate, logic, and charisma skills. Work-from-home tasks can include researching the current case, filing court documents, attending the deposition, and meeting a prospective client. At level 4, you have to pass the lawyer’s exam to be promoted, which my sim passed on the first try. At level 8, you choose between the judge branch or the private attorney branch. Both branches need the research and debate skill, but the judge needs the logic skill while the attorney needs the charisma skill. I think the law career is a fine career like the education career.

Engineer

The last career added to Discover University is the engineer career, which is also a work-from-home or go-to-work career. The career focuses on the robotics, programming, and handiness skills. Work-from-home tasks include practicing programming, reviewing diagnostics, and writing product reports. At level 7 of the career, you choose between the computer engineer or mechanical engineer branches. Both need the robotics skill, but the computer engineer needs the programming skill and the mechanical engineer needs the handiness skill. Out of the careers in Discover University, I find the engineer career the most fun and intriguing because you often work at the robotics workstation where you can build a utili-bot, a robo-arm, and a servo bot.

Degrees

There are 13 degrees available in Discover University including

• Art History
• Biology
• Communication
• Computer Science
• Culinary Arts
• Drama
• Economics
• Fine Art
• History
• Language and Literature
• Physics
• Psychology
• Villainy

Foxbury Institute has more science-based degrees while Britechester University has more art-based degrees. After enrolling in university, your sim can take 1-4 classes per semester, and your sim needs 12 classes to graduate. There are scholarships available based on what world your sim lives in. Also, if your sim has a high enough skill like the fitness skill, they can get a scholarship if your sim joins the soccer team. Your sim can also get loans if the household funds are not enough to pay for classes.

Classes

Each term lasts 5 in-game weekdays, and your sim will have each class 2-3 days a week for 1 hour and 25 minutes. After each class, your sim will have homework. Each class will also have a final on the last day of class, and the final can be taking the final exam (which happens during the last class), giving a presentation (your sim will be given a presentation board to work on), or submitting a term paper (you sim writes the term paper on the computer). Classes are rabbit holes, but your sim will actively be doing homework or working on the final presentation and term paper.

Organizations and Sports Teams

Both Foxbury Institute and Britechester University have 3 organizations your sim can join, and they can only join the organizations at their own university. Foxbury has the Spirit Squad, Bot Savants, and The Brainiacs organizations, while Britechester has the Spirit Corps, Debate Guild, and Art Society. Your sim can join an organization by finding a current member and asking them to join, and the easiest way to find a member is at one of their events. Along with the organizations, there are 2 sports teams your sim can join.

Spirit Squad – The Spirit Squad hosts the spirit day, game day party, and bar night events. After joining, your sim will be given tasks like putting up banners on the sports arena, taking a selfie with the mascot, and pranking the rival school.

The Brainiacs – The Brainiacs have study sessions and bar night events. After joining, your sim will have tasks like doing homework, going to office hours, and studying.

Bot Savants – The Bot Savants have robot building, utili-bot contests, and bar night events. After joining, your sim’s tasks can be leveling up the robotics skill, crafting a bot, and enhancing a bot.

Spirit Corps – The Spirit Corps is Britechester’s version of Spirit Squad.

Debate Guild – The Debate Guild has debate practice, debate showdown, and bar night events. After joining, your sim has tasks to debate a topic and research a topic.

Art Society – The Art Society has figure painting and bar events. After joining, your sim will be given a task to do a specific type of painting.

Secret Society – The Secret Society is a bit different than other organizations because your sim can join regardless of which university they attend. To join, your sim first has to make an offering to the university statue and the offering can include an excellent dessert, a rare crystal or metal, or a pristine harvestable. The night after making the offering, your sim will be invited to join the secret society, and there will be sprite celebration events. Your sim will also have tasks to make offerings of food, metals, or harvestables to the altar and tending to the sprite’s garden.

Soccer – The Soccer team focuses on the fitness skill, and your sim will have soccer practice 5 days a week and a soccer game on Saturday. All the practices and games are rabbit holes.

Esports – The Esports team focuses on the video game skill, and your sim will have meeting 5 days a week and a tournament on Saturday. Like with the soccer team, all the meetings and tournaments are rabbit holes.

Build Mode

The build mode is focused on university living, and there is a lot for dorms including single beds, desks and chairs, mini-fridges, and toilet stalls. There are two different build styles – more modern and older furniture, which fit the two different styles of the universities. There are also banners and flags for the universities that you can use as decor. Other build mode items include the robotics workstation, debate podium, soccer ball, kegs, ping pong table, food and coffee stands, and a cafeteria. Some of the furniture like the bed, nightstand, dresser, and bookcase set can definitely be used outside of the pack especially if you have teens and young adults sims. I also love the potted plant decor, and I use it all the time.

CAS

CAS fits the university vibes with crop tops, hoodies, t-shirts, university apparel, jeans, and loungewear. I have definitely used CAS outside of the pack because they are cute clothes, which are perfect for young adult sims. There are also some cute hairs, but there is nothing for kids or toddlers, which is expected since this pack is focused on young adults and older sims.

Overall Thoughts

Discover University is fun to playthrough every now and then, but it is not a pack to play all the time because it does take a while for your sim to finish university (at least 1 month in-game if your sim takes all 4 classes each term). I do like living in the dorms and having roommates, but I find the classes can be tough because you have to keep on top of homework, the final exam projects, and studying if you want your sim to do well.

There are plenty of fun organizations including the Secret Society for your sim to join, and the events on campus are fun too. In comparison, the sports teams are boring because those events are all rabbit holes. I do like the added careers because even if your sim does not go to university, they can do one of the careers. The CAS and build mode are also usable outside of the pack. I do recommend Discover University, but since it is not a pack I recommend playing all the time, I would wait for a sale.

#11 High School Years

High School Years is the 12th pack for The Sims 4. The focus is on teen sims and having an active school, and the new world Copperdale is included.

World

High School Years introduces the new world Copperdale. The world has 12 lots with 2 lots in the Rockridge Heights neighborhood that include the high school and auditorium. You cannot build a high school and auditorium on different lots or in different worlds without mods, but you can build your own high school on the high school lot and decorate the auditorium for each event.

The Prescott Square neighborhood includes 3 residential lots, a library, and a thrift and bubble tea store. Plumbite cove has 2 residential lots, a rental, an empty lot, and a park. You can also access Plumbite Pier from this neighborhood, but the pier is part of the world and not an actual lot. There is not that many lots, but there are areas in the world that can be accessed like the pier and the field behind the high school, so it does make the world feel bigger.

Active School

You can attend high school with your teen sim or send them alone. If you attend, you will be taken to the high school in Copperdale. The day starts with free time, which you can use to talk to friends. Afterward, your sim has their first class. I find the classes boring because your sim just sits there and you cannot control what they do, but there will occasionally be a pop-up with options that will affect your sim’s performance. After their first class is lunch. You can go to the cafeteria and get food and talk with friends. Then after lunch is their second and final class for the day.

After classes, your sim can hang out at school and chill with friends. If your sim is in after school activity, they will go to the activity, which is a rabbit hole location. I do wish the after-school activities were more involved. Your sim will have different classes every day including math, science, language arts, and art. Your sim will also gain skills from the classes like logic, writing, and painting. On Fridays, your sim will have exams instead of regular classes, and at the end of the school day, you are told how well your sim did on the exams.

School Events

There are several events that take place in the auditorium or on the field behind the high school.

Prom

Prom is every Saturday night at the auditorium. Your sim can invite another sim to prom as a date or friend. You can also make a promposal sign or ask another sim to skip prom. At prom, your sim is given tasks to dance, show off their outfit, get a drink, and vote for prom royalty and jester. Near the end of the prom event, the winners of prom royalty and jester will be announced.

I like prom because your sim can spend more time with their friends or partner outside of school. I also like that prom is every Saturday because it gives you a chance to experience prom if you are playing on short life span. If you are playing on long life span or with aging off, you can experience prom multiple times and try to win prom royalty or court jester, or go with a date or friends to prom.

Sports Day

Sports Day is held on the field outside of the high school every Thursday for football and every Friday for cheerleading. On Thursday, your sim can perform a regular or difficult football practice and they are given a score that you then submit to the judge. On Friday, your sim can perform a solo or group cheerleading routine, but whenever I tried to do a group routine, it said I needed more sims to join, so I always did solo routines. Near the end of the Sports Day events, the judge will announce which sim did the best. On both Sports Days you can also buy souvenirs from the stand. The Sports Days are fine events, but my sim never got a high enough score in either event even when they were cheerleading captain, so I do not know how the judging works.

Science Fair

If your sim is on the chess team or computer team, they can request a science fair, which will be scheduled for the next available day. For the chess science fair, your sim will solve a chess problem and submit the score to the judge. For the computer science fair, your sim will do a game jam and submit the score to the judge. However, the scoring for the science fair is bugged for me because I always got a notification that the wool I submitted for Finchwick Fair did not win (the Finchwick Fair is an event that happens in Cottage Living, but the Finchwick Fair would not even be occurring on that day). The Science Fair is an okay event, but it would be nice if the judging was not bugged.

Career Day

Career Day is scheduled for a Tuesday in the month you are currently playing in. The event is held at the auditorium during school hours, and at the event, there will be 3 tables with sims giving presentations about their careers. Your sim will be given tasks to ask the guest speakers for information about their careers, watch the presentations, and ask their teacher about their future. I like the career day because it is definitely realistic and it might inspire you in deciding what career you would like your sim to have.

Graduation

When High School Years first came out, the graduation event was been bugged and would not schedule, but it seems to work now. After my sim aged up from a teen to a young adult, the graduation event was scheduled for the following Sunday. When the graduation event started, I did not get a pop-up saying the event was starting unlike other events like Prom, Career Day, and Sports Day, so I had to manually go to the event, but I did not miss it since I was excited to see the Graduation event.

At the event, the valedictorian gave a speech then graduates go up on stage and get their diplomas. I had 2 sims in my household attending graduation, but only 1 sim got their diploma before the time for the event ran out. The graduation event does work, but there are still some issues like not being notified when the event is starting so unless you are counting down when the event is, you can easily miss it, and also the time is short so if you have multiple sims graduating, you need to act quickly for them to get their diploma if you want screenshots.

After School Activities

After-school activities are a bit of a letdown because all the meetings are rabbit holes and your sim will be gone for several hours after school a few days a week. Also, your sim will have the same daily task every day regardless if they are level 1 or level 3 in their after-school activity.

Football Team Member

Football focuses on the fitness skill and practicing football, and meetings are after school 3 days a week. You need another a sim to do the daily task of a regular or difficult football practice, but I found it can be buggy because when I would click on another sim in my household to practice with, the other sim will do everything but play football (go on the computer, play guitar, etc.) even though football is in their tasks queue.

Cheer Team Member

Cheerleading focuses on the fitness skill and practicing on the cheerleading mat, and meetings are after school 3 days a week. I found cheerleading a bit boring because the only daily task is to perform a routine on the cheer mat.

Chess Team Member

Chess focuses on the logic skill and meetings are meetings 3 days a week after school. The daily task is to play chess, which is fine because you can practice and play chess with just 1 sim and you do not need another sim to complete the task.

Computer Team Member

The last after-school activity added to High School Years is the computer team, which focuses on the programming skill. There are meetings 3 days a week after school, and the daily task is to practice programming, which is fine.

Social Bunny and Trendi

There are 2 new phone apps added with High School Years, which are Social Bunny and Trendi.

Social Bunny

Social Bunny is like a social media app. Your sim can add contacts they know, post messages on their wall related to events that happened, and send messages to other sims. Social Bunny is a fun addition because you can build relationships through the app, but the messages do get repetitive after a while. Also, I have had issues where all the messages will say they are from 0 minutes ago or 10 days ago. Furthermore, outside of High School Years, there are pretty much no events that happen that you can post about such as being accepted to university, going skiing, or attending the Finchwick Fair. I would love it if they added more things your sim can post about, especially from other packs.

Trendi

Trendi is all about fashion. You can check the latest trends and the app will tell you which fashion trends are high and low. For example, streetwear can be high, and preppy can be low. You can then go to Thriftea (the thrift and bubble tea store in the world) and create an outfit to wear or list it for sale. When the outfit is sold, you click on it in your sim’s inventory to ship it. You can also buy outfits on Trendi and wear them or sell them again. When your sim is wearing an outfit, you can also hype it and potentially start a new trend. It can be fun creating outfits, but it does cost money, and there is no guarantee you will be able to sell the outfit for profit or even at all.

CAS

There are tons of new clothes for teens that can also be worn by adult sims. There is a lot of trendy clothing in a wide range of styles including preppy, kawaii, dark academia, e-girl, rocker, and streetwear as well as formal wear for prom. Some of the clothing is designed by Depop sellers, which I thought was interesting. There are some new hairs as well, but there are no clothes for children or toddlers, but they do get the new hairs.

Build Mode

There are a ton of new build mode items for bedrooms including beds, dressers, and desks. There are also new couches, tables, and chairs. You can definitely use the build mode outside of the pack because they can fit so many styles including vintage, art deco, trendy, and luxurious. There are also photo booths, counters for the thrift store and bubble tea, clothing racks, and displays. Also, an interesting addition is the EZ Exit Windows that teens can actually sneak out of the home using. There is also an ivy trellis of various heights that sims can climb down if the EZ Exit Window is on the second floor.

Overall Thoughts

High School Years is a good pack focused on teen sims. I do like that they added active school because I felt like that was missing from Discover University where all the classes are rabbit holes. However, the active school can get repetitive, and if you join your sim every day, you will not have time to focus on other sims in your household and their careers especially if your other sims have active or work-from-home careers. I do think High School Years is more useable than Discover University because you can easily join your sims 1-2 times a week at school, but there are bugs I encountered when playing. Overall, I do recommend High School Years, but waiting for a sale would be a good idea.

#10 For Rent

For Rent is the 15th pack for The Sims 4. The pack adds the new lot type Residential Rental that allows you to build and play in multi-family dwellings. Furthermore, you can be a property owner and manage tenants or be a tenant yourself. The pack also includes the new world of Tomarang, which is inspired by Southeast Asia.

World

Tomarang is inspired by Southeast Asia. The world includes 9 lots, which is the smallest world out of all the expansion packs, with the exception of Magnolia Promenade in Get to Work. The 9 lots are divided into 2 neighborhoods. Morensong has 4 lots, including a national park, a residential rental, a residential lot, and an empty lot. Morensong also has a night market with several vendors that sell food and goods. However, sometimes the only sims that will be at the night market are your own, and it does not feel lively. Additionally, the Tomarang Temple is in the Morensong neighborhood, which is a rabbit hole location your sims can visit.

The second neighborhood is Koh Sahpa which includes a lounge, residential rental, residential lot, and 2 empty lots. The Sulea Tiger Sanctuary is also in this neighborhood. Your sims can visit the sanctuary, but it is a rabbit hole location. They can also donate or adopt a tiger, and they will receive a tiger plush and poster. There is also the Beard Beard Cave, which is a rabbit hole location, and there will be popups with different scenarios with choices for you to make.

I am disappointed by the size of Tomarang. Even though this is the For Rent pack, there are only 2 prebuilt residential rental lots in the world with 1 unit each that is vacant. It would have been nice if there were more pre-built multi-family dwellings because not every player wants to build their own apartments or multi-family homes. I also understand the appeal of having empty lots, but a third of the lots in the world are empty by default, which is a big chunk that players have to build up themselves.

Careers

Property ownership

Another main feature of For Rent Not is property ownership. Property ownership is not a regular career, but it is similar to running a business in Get to Work. However, you manage a property or several properties instead of a business. As a property owner, you find tenants for your units, set the rent per day, lease length, and unit rules (no social events, no loud noises, maximum occupancy, no trash overload, no pets, or no ghosts), and collect rent. You also handle random events that occur, such as a water leak, trash overload, or haunting.

However, I find it unclear when the rent is supposed to be received. I moved in a tenant on Wednesday, and I received rent the next Thursday. The lease ended that Thursday, and there was a grace period, and I decided to get a new tenant that same day. I then received rent the following Thursday. I know there have been issues with players not receiving rent or only being paid once, but so far I have not had those issues, but the number of days varies when I receive rent.

As far as the grace period, there is supposed to be a grace period after a lease ends, but when there was 1 day left, the lease just renewed for 7 days, and the grace period did not happen until there were 5 days left of the new lease, which does not make sense. I also tried doing a 2-day lease, and the grace period happened when there was 1 day left of the lease. Another thing is that tenant revolts are quite random. You can be friends with the tenant, have done all the maintenance events and inspections, and ensure the unit has a good rating, and the tenant will decide to revolt.

You can evict tenants, and you can either justly or unjustly evict them. If a tenant breaks a rule and does not pay the fine, you can justly evict them. Also, when there is a grace period, you can justly evict the tenant. However, I have found that you can be fined for justly evicting tenants during the grace period, which should only happen if you unjustly evict them. As far as unjustly evicting tenants, you can evict the tenants at any time, but the relationship will go sour, the unit rating will lower, and there is a chance of an eviction settlement of §500.

Handypreson

Handyperson is a part-time job that focuses on the handiness and gardening skills. Your sim can work from home or go to work. Work-from-home assignments can include watering 3 garden plants or calling for assistance. I guess it is a fine job, but a full-time job would be better if you are looking to earn more money.

Events

Pool Party

The lot I was playing in Tomarang was not big enough for a pool, and there are no other lots in Tomarang that have a pool. However, you can have a Pool Party on lots without a pool, so I just had it at the national park. The event tasks are to go swimming, socialize while swimming, socialize in a hot tub, listen to music while in a hot tub, relax on a float lounger or lounge chair, and have drinks. If you have a Pool Party, you definitely need a pool and, ideally, a hot tub to complete the tasks!

Neighborhood Potluck

For the Neighborhood Potluck, you set the host and invite potluck contributors and guests. During the event, you have tasks to eat potluck food, compliment potluck items, call guests to a meal, thank guests for coming, gossip, tell a story, and clean up. Even though everyone I invited was a potluck contributor, I thought no one but my sim brought food. However, 1 hour before the event ended, the sims put the food on the counter, which included cookies, cake, rice, and salad. I decided to have a potluck again at the park, and I set out a table and picnic tables, and the sims put out food at the beginning of the event. If you have a Neighborhood Potluck, make sure you set out extra tables so the sims will put out the food they brought at the beginning of the event instead of the end.

Snooping and Breaking and Entering

Sims can snoop on other sim lots by clicking the snoop option on their bed, bookshelf, computer, and dresser. By snooping, your sim can discover secrets about other sims, which are just randomly assigned. Furthermore, they can break and enter into sims houses or apartments. When they break into another sim’s home, they can snoop and steal belongings. However, make sure the sim you are snooping on is not around, or else they will catch your sim.

Build Mode

Build mode is inspired by Southeast Asia and has a lot of wooden furniture. There is also a plastic chair and table, squat toilets, a hot tub with a more natural rocky exterior, a pressure cooker, and a kettle. For kids, there is hopscotch and marbles, and all sims can collect marbles. There is also a spirit house where fruit or incense can be left. For apartments or multi-family family dwellings, there are multi-unit mailboxes and radiators, as well as water heaters and electrical fuse boxes, which come in both functional and decorative versions.

It is easy to build multi-family dwellings. You can build a home with a guest house or basement to rent out, townhomes, or apartments. Without cheats, you can build up to 6 units, which I think is a good size. It is also easy to set individual units in build mode, as you will assign each room to a specific unit or as a shared space. However, build mode is laggy when you build residential rentals, so I recommend building as a regular residential lot first and then switching over to residential rental to set the units and shared spaces. Lastly, you can build residential rentals in any world except for vacation worlds in the Outdoor Retreat and Jungle Adventure Game Packs and lots in Sulani from the Island Living Expansion Pack that extend into the water.

CAS

CAS has a variety of colorful and patterned clothing that is a mix of casual and traditional. There is clothing and hair for all ages, from infants to elders, which is great to see. Additionally, there are 5 new traits, including nosy, generous, cringe, and child of the village, along with 1 elder exclusive trait, wise.

Overall Thoughts

Before For Rent released, I built pretend multi-family dwellings with 2 houses next to each other or a main house with a guest house. I even built an apartment complex that I never finished until now. I was delighted that I could finally make apartments and multi-family houses functional with this pack. However, the world is tiny. I would have loved more lots and more prebuilt residential rental lots. Additionally, there is not much for sims to do in the world because outside of the national park and lounge, there is just the Night Market and rabbit hole locations. Also, building the residential rental lots has been very laggy, and there is a delay when picking up or placing down objects. The delay is not as bad as it has been, but the lag is still present.

As far as being a property owner, I do not understand when rent is received, and tenant revolts are completely random. I even saw that one player had excellent unit ratings, but their tenants still revolted. Also, when you justly evict tenants, there is a chance you will be fined, even though the fines are only supposed to happen for unjust evictions. However, the new Neighborhood Potluck and Pool Party events are a nice addition, and the build mode and CAS can be used outside of the pack. Overall, I recommend For Rent if you want to build multi-family lots, but I would recommend waiting for a sale.

#9 Snowy Escape

Snowy Escape is the 10th expansion pack for The Sims 4. Snowy Escape introduces winter-based activities in a Japanese-based world named Mt. Komorebi. The pack adds new skills in skiing, snowboarding, and rock climbing.

World

Mt. Komorebi has 14 lots that are divided among 3 neighborhoods. Wakaba has 2 residential lots, a rental, a lounge, and an empty lot. Senbamachi has 3 residential lots, a park, and a bar. Lastly, Yukimatsu has 2 rentals, an empty lot, and an onsen bathhouse. Yukimatsu is also where your sims can go skiing, snowboarding, sledding, and start the mountain excursion event. Around the neighborhoods are also hiking trails. I love the world, and I also love that the lots were built by simmers, so they are much better quality than typical EA builds.

Career

Salaryperson

Salaryperson is a rabbit hole career. The focus is on the writing and logic skills, and the career starts with long shifts that are 10 hours each. At level 5, you choose between the supervision or expert branch. Both branches need the logic skill, but supervision needs charisma and expert needs programming. The career is okay, but it is very easy for your sims to become workaholics because they are working so much.

Festivals

There are neighborhood festivals added with Snowy Escape. The Festival of Youth is for kids, and they can do a void critter hunt, use chemistry sets and art tables, and eat Harajuku crepes. At the Festival of Light, sims can enjoy the bonfire, make a wish on the Tanabata Tree, and eat taiyaki. Finally, at the Festival of Snow, sims can play in the snow, admire the snow sculptures, and eat ikayaki.

Mountain Climb Excursion Event

In Snowy Escape, you can schedule a mountain climb excursion event to climb Mt. Komorebi. You set the team leader and at least one other team member for the climb. When the event starts, you will have a list of goals for each area of the climb from doing a warm-up exercise and resting for an hour to climbing up a rock wall and climbing courageously. Your sim will need a high level of the rock climbing skill to complete all of the climbs and once your team leader and team members reached the top of the mountain, you can celebrate! Also, when you are at the peak of Mt. Komorebi, you can build on the lot. However, if you want to visit the lot again, you will have to complete the climb again.

Build Mode

The build mode is Japanese-inspired, and there is a lot of wooden furniture and cozy furniture too including a chair and a picnic table with a blanket. There are also kotatsu tables, a hot pot, lanterns, a bonsai tree, and a sign that will make sims automatically take off their shoes when entering the home. There is also plenty of decor with a skiing and snowboarding theme. Furthermore, there are the hot springs and vending machines where sims can get collectibles, hot and cold foods and drinks, skis and snowboards, and wilderness necessities.

CAS

CAS has a mix of stylish trendy outfits, traditional outfits, and winter apparel with jackets and snowsuits. Kids have the same mix of trendy, traditional, and winter outfits while toddlers only have a few full-body outfits, but there is an adorable snowsuit There are also some pretty new hair and a few colorful hairstyles too. Kids and toddlers have some new hair too.

Overall Thoughts

I do like Snowy Escape because you can finally have a snow world without having Seasons, and Mt. Komorebi is beautiful. Snowy Escape is also the first expansion pack to introduce rentals, which is great as now you can make rentals in other worlds like Island Living. I also like the build mode and CAS, and both are usable outside of the pack. I recommend Snowy Escape.

#8 Horse Ranch

Horse Ranch is the 14th expansion pack, which adds horses, mini goats, and mini sheep as well as the horse riding and nectar making skills, horse riding competitions, and ranch events.

World

Chestnut Ridge is the new world added with Horse Ranch, and it is inspired by the deserts in Arizona. The world includes 13 lots with 3 neighborhoods. The New Appaloosa neighborhood has 5 lots including a bar, a nightclub, a park that has everything for horses, and 2 residential lots. Also in New Appaloosa is the Hay Now! Equestrian Center, which is a rabbit hole lot, but sims can participate in 5 different competitions (barrel racing, endurance racing, show jumping, western pleasure, and ultimate horse championship) or buy or rescue a horse. Furthermore, there is a general store where sims can buy mini goats and sheep, groceries and goods, or sell items. There is also the clothing store Duke’s Hall where you can change outfits or plan outfits, but it just takes you to CAS.

Galloping Gulch is the next neighborhood with 3 lots including 2 residential lots and a rental. In Galloping Gulch, there is also a rabbit hole cave called Dreadhorse Caverns for sims to explore. The cave is a text-based mini-game inspired by Dungeons & Dragons and your sim will have to fight various enemies and you can choose to do offense or defense during the levels. Your sim will leave the cave when they have run out of health or you have decided they are done exploring. The last neighborhood is Riders’ Glen, and there are 5 residential lots including 1 mostly empty lot. Around the world of Chestnut Ridge are jumps and barrels for horses to practice with as well as open spaces to ride horses.

Horses

Of course, the main new feature of Horse Ranch is horses! Horses are household members like dogs and cats and you cannot control them, but you can encourage them to practice jumps or barrels, eat, drink, or play. However, unlike dogs and cats, horses will not get sick, but they can pass away from old age. However, ghost horses can be brought back to life with the Horsebrosia Treat.

You can create a horse in CAS, buy one for $1,000, or rescue one for $250 at the Hay Now! Equestrian Center. There are 11 new traits added for horses including aggressive, brave, defiant, energetic, fearful, free spirit, friendly, independent, intelligent, mellow, and needy, and each horse will have 3 traits. In CAS, you can select the horse traits, but if you buy or rescue a horse, they will have random traits. However, rescued horses have more negative traits that make them more challenging to train. You can also breed horses, and foals can randomly have the playful, curious, and hardy traits. Furthermore, if one of the horse parents was an ultimate horse champion, the foal will have the champion genes trait.

Along with new traits, horses also have 4 different skills including temperament, agility, jumping, and endurance. Each skill has 10 levels, and the temperament skill is improved by having your sims interact with the horse. The agility skill is increased by practicing barrels, and the jumping skill is improved by practicing jumps. The endurance skill is increased by having your sims ride the horse. At the Hay Now! Equestrian Center, your sim and their horse can participate in competitions, and each competition will have a recommended horse riding skill for your sim as well as skills for your horse.

Furthermore, you will need to care for the horses. The horses will need a horse bed, animal feeder, water trough, and ideally a ball. You will regularly need to clean the horse bed as well as refill their animal feeder with prairie grass you harvested or bought. You can brush the horse and clean their hooves, and their manure can be used for fertilizer.

Mini Goats and Mini Sheep

Along with horses, Horse Ranch also added mini goats and sheep, which can be purchased from your sims phone, the General Store, or the community board. There are 8 different colors of the mini goats that you can choose from, and they can be milked once a day. There are also 11 different mini sheep to choose from, and they can be sheered for wool.

Mini goats and sheep are similar to chickens from Cottage Living in that they are not a household member so you can have as many as you want, but they are not confined to a chicken coop, and they will wander around your lot. You will have to care for your mini goats and sheep by feeding them and cleaning them regularly. If taking care of horses and mini goats and sheep is overwhelming, you can hire a ranch hand that will come from 7 AM to 7 PM every day, but I have found the ranch hands buggy and they will stop showing after 1-2 days and I will have to continuously rehire them.

Events

Horse Ranch also added 2 new events to the game as well as a new dance type.

Ranch Animal Day

For the event, you can invite any guest or have an open invitation. The guests interact with your ranch animals and donate money at the end of the event. During the event, you will have tasks to meet guests, joke with guests, pet, play, hug, and feed ranch animals, and have guests pet, feed, and interact with ranch animals.

Ranch Gathering

For the ranch gathering event, you can invite any guest including sims that your sims do not know. You can also do an open invitation, and random sims will show up. During the event, there will be tasks to make guests happy, meet, socialize, and joke with the guests, light a fire pit and have guests hang around the fire pit, have guests eat grilled food, perform cowpoke dance, craft nectar, and have guests drink nectar.

Line Dancing

Dancing is not a new skill as it was added with the Get Together expansion pack. However, Horse Ranch added 3 new dance floors of varying sizes and cowpoke dancing.

Build Mode

Build mode definitely has a ranch style with a lot of wooden furniture and cow print patterns. Of course, you have the horse bed, water trough, animal feeder, ball, 2 different jumps, and 2 different barrels. There is also the Nectar Maker, and nectar-making is a skill with 5 levels. There are nectar racks, which are used to age nectar, and the nectar will be worth more money when they are finely aged. Furthermore, there are nectar crates and barrels as decor.

CAS

CAS also fits the ranch vibes with cowboy/cowgirl clothing, and some of the clothing has dirty swatches as if your sim has been working on the ranch. Most of the clothing and hair are for teens and older sims. There are a couple of shirts, a pair of pants, and a skirt for child sims, a cute western outfit for toddlers, and a horse onesie for infants. As I mentioned earlier, you can create horses in CAS, and it is very similar to creating dogs and cats in that you can select an existing breed or customize a horse completely. You can also change the saddle, blanket, and bridle as well as give your horses accessories like hats.

Overall Thoughts

When the Horse Ranch expansion pack was first announced, followed by the trailer release, there was a huge debate about whether it qualified as an expansion pack or if it would have been better off as a $20 game pack. However, after playing with the pack, I do believe there is plenty of content to justify Horse Ranch being an expansion pack.

Horses are so in-depth, and they even have their own skills and can be entered into competitions. On the other hand, cats and dogs do not have their own skills, and there are no pet shows or competitions. Also, Chestnut Ridge is a good-sized world that is comparable in size to many of the other worlds, and there is a lot to do with your sims and their horses outside of the 13 lots.

However, I do not see myself playing with horses all the time, unlike with cats and dogs. It is much easier to adopt a dog or cat into your Sims family whereas with horses, you will need the space for their horse bed, animal feeder, water trough, and ball. Also, if you are playing with horses in other worlds outside of Chestnut Ridge, you will need the space for the jump and barrels otherwise, you will have to travel to Chestnut Ridge all the time to practice. Furthermore, many of the build mode and CAS items are specific to ranch living, so I will not use a lot of them outside of the pack unless I am building a home with wooden accents or more western vibes.

#7 City Living

City Living is the 3rd expansion pack for The Sims 4. City Living introduces a city world named San Myshuno and allows sims to rent apartments and penthouses. The main focus of the pack is on apartment living, and the singing skill was added.

World

San Myshuno has 18 lots with 21 apartments and 5 community lots including 2 karaoke bars, a lounge, an arts center, and a park. The apartments are separated into 4 districts – the Spice Market, Arts Quarter, Fashion District, and Uptown. There are also 5 festivals including Geekcon (gaming and hacking), Humor and Hijinks Festival (playing pranks or telling jokes), Romance Festival, Spice Festival (eating spicy foods), and the Flea Market (buying cheaper furniture and decor) that happen in the neighborhoods. I love that City Living added apartments, and I play a lot in the apartments unless I am doing a legacy challenge where I build a house from the ground up. It is also fun having neighbors and having the challenges of living in an apartment.

Careers

Critic

The critic career is a work-from-home career, but your sim can also go to work. If you work from home, your sim will have tasks like practicing writing for 3 hours and painting a mural for 2 hours. The career focuses on writing and painting murals until level 4. At level 4, you can choose the art critic or food critic branch. Art critic focuses on writing, painting, and music or comedy skills while food critic focuses on writing, cooking, and gourmet cooking skills. The critic career is fine, but it is a bit boring at first.

Politician

The politician career is another work-from-home career, and your sims can also go to work. When you start the career, you choose a cause to support and work on the charisma skill. Work-at-home tasks can be to gain a charisma skill level, write a letter, or start a protest. At level 5 of the career, you choose between the charity organizer or the politician branch. Both branches focus on the charisma skill, but for charity organizer, your sim needs to collect donations while politician needs to secure votes. Both can be tedious to do because you need to have a good relationship with a sim before asking them for donations or votes.

Social Media

The last career added to City Living is the social media career, which is also a go-to work or work-from-home career. With the career, the focus is on gaining followers and the comedy or mischief skill. Work-from-home tasks can include taking photos at a certain location or getting to know sims. At level 4, you choose between an internet personality or public relations career. The internet personality branch is focused on getting followers, and the charisma, video gaming, and comedy or mischief skills. For public relations, you need some followers, but nowhere near as much as an internet personality. The focus of this branch is on charisma and writing skills. If you have the Get Famous expansion pack, the social media career and internet personality branch is a good way to get fame.

Build mode

Build mode has a mix of used furniture like beds, counters, a fridge, and an oven that are more affordable as well as luxurious modern furniture. Also, there is tons of artwork, posters, and other decor. There are some interesting items too like a talking toilet. There are DIY murals, karaoke machines, bubble machines, a basketball court, food stalls, and a table to sell items. The furniture can definitely be used outside of the pack because you can use the used furniture in starter homes and modern furniture in luxury builds.

CAS

CAS has a lot of streetwear and eclectic clothing, but it is mainly for adult sims. There are a few new outfits for kid sims. Some outfits are more wearable than others, but they can be used outside of the pack.

Overall Thoughts

I love living in apartments and having actual neighbors. The festivals are a great edition and fun to go to. The careers can be a bit tedious, but I do like that there is the option to work from home because so many careers take your sim to a rabbit hole location. I definitely recommend City Living and I do think it is worth the money.

#6 Seasons

Seasons is the 5th expansion pack for The Sims 4. The pack adds weather, seasons, holidays, and a new gardening career and floral arranging skill.

Seasons

Seasons is the only expansion pack without a new world, but I do not think it is necessary since seasons affect all worlds. Every world will go through the spring, summer, fall, and winter seasons, and you can set the seasons to be 7-28 days in length. In summer, you generally have heat waves, and in winter there is snowfall, but of course, it depends on the world and the desert base game world Oasis Springs will not have snow. There is also rain and thunderstorms. Sims can get too hot or cold based on the temperature, and you can use a thermostat in the house and set an appropriate hot weather and cold weather outfit in CAS.

Career

Gardening

Gardening is a work-from-home career, and the focus is on the gardening skill. Work from home tasks are simple and they can be to fertilize a plant, research gardening, or gift a plant. At level 5, you choose between the botanist and florist branches. Both branches continue the gardening skill, but the botanist also focuses on the logic skill while the florist focuses on flower arranging.

Scouts

Kids and teens can join scouts, which is an afterschool activity. When they join scouts, they will receive a badge board and they can complete various activities including making crafts, completing homework, giving gifts, and being friendly with other sims to receive badges and level up in rank in scouts. The kids and teens go to rabbit hole meetings on the weekends, which is fine since getting the badges are active and fun and it can be a bit challenging if you have a big household.

Holidays

Seasons also adds new holidays including Love Day (like Valentine’s Day), Harvestfest (like Thanksgiving), Winterfest (like Christmas), and New Year’s Eve. There are also plenty of minor holidays too including Talk Like A Pirate Day, Prank Day, New Skill Day, and more. Each holiday will have tasks for your sim to do, which is fun and makes the game realistic. You can also create your own holidays like Earth Day, Halloween, and Spring Cleaning, and choose up to 5 traditions for sims to do on the holidays.

Build Mode

Build mode has a great selection of furniture that can work well with many home builds. The pack also includes an ice rink and skating rink as well as seasonal items like a kiddie pool and water balloons for summer, fall decor with pumpkins and leaves, and holiday trees, wreaths, and presents for winter fest. You can also buy a decoration box and decorate your house for the seasons and holidays. There is also the bee box, flower arranging table, and an umbrella stand for rainy weather where you can pick out an umbrella for your sim to carry.

CAS

CAS adds hot and cold weather outfits for you to set for your sims. Also, CAS includes tank tops and dresses to swimwear and sweaters and winter pants. There are lots of cute items as well as a good amount of clothes for kids too, but their outfits are mostly for cold weather. Toddlers have a few full-body outfits including costumes and swimwear. There is also a fine addition of hairs.

Overall Thoughts

Even though Seasons does not add a new world, I love the pack because it adds seasons to every other world including the base game worlds and worlds in other packs. I also love the holidays and the ability to create your own holidays, and build mode and CAS can be used all the time. I recommend Seasons and the pack is worth the money.

#5 Cats & Dogs

Cats & Dogs was the 4th expansion pack for The Sims 4. The pack allows sims to own cats and dogs, take care of them, play with them, and train them. The pack adds a new world called Brindleton Bay along with the veterinarian and pet training skills and the ability to build and manage a vet clinic.

World

Brindleton Bay is a fairly large coastal town world with 16 lots. Of the 16 lots, 8 are homes, 1 is a vet clinic, 3 are community lots including a lounge, a bar, and a museum lighthouse, and the remaining 4 are 4 empty lots. I love the world and I definitely get the coastal vibes. I especially love the Cavalier Cove neighborhood because you can have your sims home near the sandy beach area. and the Whiskerman’s Wharf area is cute with community lots and homes. Deadgrass Isle is unique too because it is its own little island with the museum lot and the lighthouse.

Career

Veterinarian

The new career added in Cats & Dogs is that you can own and run a vet clinic. Being a veterinarian is similar to the Doctor career in Get to Work, but your vet clinic is not a hidden lot and you can visit it at any time. It functions similarly to a retail store where you purchase a lot, build your vet clinic (or download one from The Sims 4 Gallery), and run it. When you open the vet clinic, sims and their sick pets will come in. From there, you greet them, examine their pet for symptoms, and then treat their pet. Afterward, you bill the owner and you will be paid.

Like the retail store, you can set a markup from 75% to 200%. You can also hire employees to help out and they can work when your sim is not at the clinic. The veterinary career is definitely profitable and the most I made in 1 in-game day was §7494 in profit. However, like with the Doctor career, it can get repetitive. Regardless, I find it much easier to treat pets than sims because with the pets you will have to look for 1-5 symptoms, and once the symptoms are found, you will automatically know what is wrong with the pet and there is only 1 treatment option.

Pets

In Cats & Dogs, you can adopt cats and dogs as well as foxes (acts like a dog) and raccoons (acts like a cat). You take care of your pets by feeding them, bathing them, taking them to the vet when they are sick, and taking dogs for walks. You can befriend your pets, play with them, train them, and teach them tricks and useful abilities. I love playing with pets, and they are a great addition to any household.

Build mode

The furniture leans towards a country vibe, but it is cute nonetheless, and there is even a children’s themed pet bedroom set. There is also a surprising amount of decor, especially with wall art. There are a ton of decals, which are especially great for children’s rooms. As well as build items for the home, there are all the items for pets from beds and food bowls to litter boxes and cat trees, and toys and obstacle courses. Also, there are all the items you would need to run the vet clinic like the check-in podium, exam table, and medicine vending machine.

CAS

As for CAS for sims, there is a good selection of hair and clothes for adults and many of the clothes are pet-themed. There is a small selection of clothes for children, which seems to be the case with most packs. You can create dogs and cats in Create-a-Pet or adopt one in-game. You can also accessorize pets and clothe them in CAS.

Overall Thoughts

I will say I was disappointed that we went from The Sims 3 Pets that had dogs, cats, horses, and small animals like birds, rodents, lizards, turtles, and snakes to just having cats and dogs. It is fine, but I miss having smaller animals. The Sims 4 My First Pet Stuff Pack did add a hamster, rat, pygmy hedgehog, and miniature bubalus, but they should have been included in the main pack and not locked behind a $10 paywall. With that said, I enjoy having cats and dogs in the game, and in pretty much every household I play with, I adopt a pet. I also like the world of Brindleton Bay and I do use the build mode and CAS outside of the pack.

#4 Businesses & Hobbies

Businesses & Hobbies is the 18th expansion pack for The Sims 4. The pack allows your sims to run a small business, and the pottery and tattooing skills are added. Also, there is the new world of Nordhaven that is inspired by Scandinavia.

World

The world of Nordhaven has 12 lots that are divided into two neighborhoods – Iverstad and Gammelvik. Iverstad has 6 lots with a small business residental as a tattoo parlor, another small business residental as a pottery studio, a small business venue with no set businesses, a residential lot, and two empty lots. In Iverstad, there is an alley where sims can find Trashley Reelpearson and buy boxes that have a chance of containing Trashely Certified Art, which is a new collection. Gammelvik has 6 lots with a museum, lounge, a small business residential as a cafe, a residential lot, and two empty lots.

Both neighborhoods have daily hobby meetups where sims can use various skill objects and meet other sims. There are also locations where sims can clean the canals and find bike parts that are part of another new collection.

Small Businesses

Sims can register a small business for §750. You can name the business, choose a logo, and write a description. From there, you can make a business for pretty much anything. There are numerous presets including a bar and cafe to a museum and pool as well as a pottery studio and tattoo parlor. If you do not want to go for a preset business, you can choose 5 activities. The categories include food and drink, art and music, hobbies, fun and games, mischief and mayhem, outdoor, social, kid activities, and home activities.

Also, you can either have the business on a small business residential lot where your sims live at the small business or you can have a separate small business venue Lot and your sims will live at their normal home lot. So far, I have made a cat cafe with an upstairs apartment. I have also made a separate art school where sims can do pottery, photography, paint, knit, cross-stitch, and take classes.

Next, you choose if you want to charge an entrance fee and whether it should be an hourly or a one-time rate. You can set a price modifier of -50% to +100%. If you are charging an entrance fee, you do a need kiosk. As an optional choice, you can choose target customers and set them as required. However, I would not set any customers as required because it does limit the number of sims that come. Lastly, you can hire up to 3 employees and assign them tasks to do. You can even hire family members. Besides owning and running a small business, sims can also visit other small businesses.

Small Business Perks

With Business & Hobbies, small businesses have a skill tree known as Small Business Perks. As your sim’s small business grows, you can unlock various perks. There are 3 different paths including schemer, neutral, and dreamer that have associating abilities. Schemer perks include making fake payments for bills and starting fires on objects to get insurance money. Neutral perks include getting tips and increasing customer satisfaction. Lastly, dreamer perks include giving employees bonuses and hosting a customer appreciation day.

Classes and Lectures

Your sims can use a whiteboard to attend or teach classes in a variety of skills. When teaching a class, the small business needs to be open and your sim or employee needs at least level 3 or 5 depending on the skill. While teaching the class, you will have tasks to complete. Depending on the number of tasks completed, the sims payment from the attendees will vary. Sims can also host or attend a lecture at any time. Lectures are free for sims to attend.

Build Mode

The build mode has a Scandinavian minimalist design. Since the focus of the pack is on businesses, I did not expect furniture for the home. However, there is a bed and wardrobes, dining room and living room furniture, and a desk, laptop, and bookshelves. There is not a new kitchen set, but I think is fine since there are so many items for businesses. There are 2 different kiosks where visitors check-in along with a pottery wheel, a kiln, and display shelves and tables. Also, there is a tattoo table, counter, candy maker, display case, coffee bar, and drink bar. Lastly, there is a street stall table, a whiteboard for classes and lectures, and signs and decals to use for businesses.

CAS

The clothing in CAS is a mix of business and casual wear. There is clothing for all ages from infants to adults, which I appreciate. There are also new hairs for adults and kids. Furthermore, there is a plethora of new tattoos. Businesses & Hobbies also added custom tattoos, you can use different stamps, stencils, and brushes to make your own tattoos. You can download custom tattoos from the Gallery. Lastly, there are the idealist and shady traits, and the master mentor and esteemed entrepreneur aspirations added.

Overall Thoughts

I think Businesses & Hobbies is a great expansion pack. Your sims can monetize their hobbies and have a small business for pretty much anything. Whenever a new expansion pack is released, there is always a debate over whether there is enough content to justify the pack being an expansion pack or in this case, if Businesses & Hobbies should have just been an update to Get to Work. With Get to Work, your sims can run a retail lot whereas the focus of Businesses & Hobbies is on running a business and teaching classes. I also do think there is more than enough new content to justify Businesses & Hobbies as an expansion pack, and I would recommend the pack.

#3 Growing Together

Growing Together is the 13th and latest expansion pack for The Sims 4. The pack is focused on family gameplay and includes the new world of San Sequoia.

World

San Sequoia is a harbor world inspired by San Francisco. The world has 12 lots that are divided into 3 neighborhoods, which is on the smaller side when it comes to new worlds. Anchorpoint Wharf has 4 lots including 1 residential lot, 1 rental, a library, and an empty lot as well as a rabbit hole movie theater where sims can watch movies. The Gilbert Gardens neighborhood has 2 residential lots, 1 empty lot, and the new lot type of recreation center. The recreation center can be built on other lots and in other worlds. In the Gilbert Gardens neighborhood, there is also the community Splash Pad play area and a park where sims can go for a walk, jog, and fish. The last neighborhood Hopewell Hills has 3 residential lots and 1 empty lot. Hopewell Hills has a pier area, but there is nothing for sims to do there.

Milestones

A new feature in Growing Together is Milestones for all age groups from infants to elders. Each age group has specific milestones you can complete with your sims and track key moments in their life. Infants have fine motor, gross motor, firsts, life, and social milestones that include learning to grab, crawl, have a bath for the first time, being born, and smiling. Toddlers have cognitive, firsts, life, motor, and social milestones including studying shapes, reading their first book, celebrating a birthday, and learning to walk and talk.

Children have their own firsts, life, and social milestones including the first day of school, learning to ride a bike, and the childhood phase while teens have firsts, life, and social milestones including beginning puberty and graduating high school. Young adults, adults, and elders have firsts, life, and social milestones including first promotion and energy failure, having a baby, getting a job, retiring, getting engaged, and getting married.

Social Compatibility and Family Dynamics

Growing Together also adds social compatibility. Sims have new likes and dislikes that are divided into 18 sim characteristics and 16 conversation topics. Depending on the likes and dislikes of your sim, it will affect their social compatibility with other sims and how well they get along.

Family dynamics can be set between family members including extended family like grandparents to be close, distant, difficult, or jokesters. For caregivers, there are 3 additional dynamics you can set including supportive, permissive, or strict, and the dynamic will affect how sims interact with family members such as being tense when around a strict parent. Also, when you are playing The Sims, there can be popups that ask if you want to set a specific family dynamic based on how the sims have been interacting, and you can choose to accept or decline the suggestion.

Quirks, Aspirations, and Child Confidence

For infants and toddlers, new quirks have been added. There are 18 quirks for infants and 18 quirks for toddlers, and they will be randomly assigned 3 quirks. If your sim has several babies, the infants and toddlers will feel different in how they act. For infants, they can have the feeding tinkler, free-air-tinkler, frequently hiccups, frequently sneezers, gassy, happy spitter, hates being held, little babbler, loves being held, self-soother, and snuggly sleeper. Toddlers can have aggressive, charmer, destructive, hates bedtime, hates being carried, heavy sleeper, light sleeper, little singer, loves being carried, loves books, and loves water quirks. Both infants and toddlers can also have the earlier riser, good appetite, hates wakeup time, loves sounds, loves wakeup time, messy eater, and picky eater quirks.

In Growing Together, children get 4 new aspirations including Playtime Captain, Creative Genius, Mind and Body, and Slumber Party Animal, which is a nice addition. Furthermore, children now have Child Confidence that is affected by school performance, skills, and interactions. There is low, neutral, and high Child Confidence, and you can raise their confidence by gaining skills, having a good school performance by doing homework and going to school, having positive interactions with other sims including having their caregiver praise them, fulfilling their needs, and being in a confident mood.

On the other hand, you can lower their confidence by having a bad school performance, negative interactions including their caregiver criticizing them, and being in an embarrassed mood. If the child has low confidence when they age up to a teen, they will have the low self-esteem trait as a teen whereas if the child has high confidence, they will get the high self-esteem trait as a teen.

Self-Discovery Traits

Another feature in the expansion pack is that your sims can gain 3 additional traits through gameplay. In CAS, you can select 3 traits for your sims, and while playing with them, they can discover 3 additional traits. For example, if your sim starts working out more and they do not have the active trait, a popup will ask if you want the sim to have the active trait and you can accept or decline. Also, old traits can be replaced by new traits and if your sim currently has the slob trait, but then they start cleaning a lot, a popup will ask if you want to change the slob trait to the neat trait.

Events and Stay Overs

There are new events added to the game including baby showers, slumber parties, and family reunions as well as stayovers.

Baby Shower

The baby shower is for expecting parents and you do not have to have a currently pregnant sim, but your sim can be expecting to get pregnant, adopt a child, or have a science baby. At the event, you have tasks to talk about the baby, gush about the baby, tell funny stories, and thank guests for coming.

Slumber party

Slumber parties can be hosted by sims of any age, and you should have a sleeping bag in your inventory, which can be purchased in build mode. During the event, you have tasks to talk together, play games together, dance to music, eat together, tell stories on the sleeping bag, and get some sleep in the sleeping bag. A slumber party is a fun event for kids and what adults would not want to have a slumber party with their friends?

Family Reunion

You can also have a family reunion with family members and friends. At the event, you have the tasks to take photos, share photos, thank guests for coming, talk about family, hug sims, and call them to a meal. The event is a cute way to get family and friends together and to take photos to keep as memories.

Stay Overs

With stayovers, family and friends can call your sims to stay over, and you can accept or decline. If you accept, the sim will then bring their suitcase and stay between 1-6 days. The sim can help with housework, cooking, and taking care of younger sims. You can also schedule stayovers in the calendar and set the number of days yourself. Stayovers are great if your sim just had a baby and you need help around the house or if you want grandparents to come and stay for a few days.

Midlife Crisis, Workplace Rival, Layoff, and Burnout

Midlife Crisis

In adulthood, sim can randomly get 1 of 4 midlife crises including the desire for success (be promoted in their career, learn new skills, buy new objects), desire for relationships (make new friends, get married), desire for adventure (travel to new areas, hunt for treasures, participate in extreme sports), and desire to create (paint, play piano, visit a museum). You have 7 days to complete various tasks of the midlife crisis and afterward, the sim will receive the happy moodlet for 2 days.

Workplace Rival

Sims can also get a workplace rival and you will need to deal with the rival before your sim can be promoted. My sim randomly got a workplace rival one day when they went to work, and you have several options to handle the rival including befriending them, sabotaging them, or you can “accidentally” take them out of the game *cough cough*

Layoff

Your sim can now be fired from their job. I have not had this happen to my sims yet, but I have read that it is random. However, your sim will get a ‘Looming Layoff’ notification, and they can work hard and complete daily work tasks to try to avoid being laid off.

Burnout

Burnout can occur in your sims career or other activities that your sim regularly does like working hard at work and playing chess or painting and writing. The sim will get the moodlet of starting to burn out and you can either let your sim take a break from doing that activity or continue on with the activity and your sim will get a full-on burnout and tense moodlet. Burnout negatively impacts work performance, promotion, skill gain, energy, fun, and mood. The duration of burnout will increase or decrease depending on what your sim does. If your sim continues to do the same activity, it will increase the duration while doing a different activity with your sim like taking a vacation from work or going for a jog can decrease the duration.

Build Mode

Build mode is a craftsman style with a mix of modern flair. A lot of the build mode includes family-related items like the treehouse, game table where sims can do puzzles, splash pads, bikes for children, sleeping bags, a new bunk bed, friendship bracelets, infant carriers, infant changing table, toddler potties, suitcases, and keepsake boxes. You can definitely use the build mode outside of the pack especially if you are playing with families.

CAS

CAS is for all ages, and there is a good selection of clothes, hair, and accessories for infants to older sims. The style of the clothing is casual comfort wear, and the clothing and accessories can be used outside of the pack.

Overall Thoughts

Growing Together is a great pack especially if you often focus on family gameplay including starting a family with your sims and doing legacy challenges. The world of San Sequoia is nice, but it does feel small. I wish there were more lots and more to do in the world besides the rabbit hole movie theater, splash pad area, and park. There are no new careers in this pack, and I think it would have been nice if they added a stay-at-home career like the Daycare profession from The Sims 3. In this profession, NPC sims would drop off their toddlers and children for you to take care of, and the career would fit perfectly with the family gameplay in Growing Together.

However, one thing I love about this pack is that you do not have to go out of your way to play it like Discover University or Get to Work. You will always have access to milestones your sims can complete during their lifetime, infants and toddlers will always be given 3 quirks, sims can gain additional traits while you are playing, your sim can get a midlife crisis, and more. I also enjoy the build mode because it is geared towards families, and I love that CAS includes clothing for all ages because, in other expansion packs, I often feel like the focus is on adult sims, and child and younger sims hardly get anything if anything at all in the pack. If you regularly play with families in The Sims, I do recommend this pack.

#2 Life & Death

Life & Death is the 17th expansion pack for The Sims 4. The pack adds the new world of Ravenwood, two new careers, the thanatology skill, and the tarot card collection.

World

Ravenwood is inspired by Romania and the Balkan region. The world is divided into 3 neighborhoods with a total of 13 lots, which is a good size and comparable to other packs.

The Crow’s Crossing neighborhood has 5 lots including 4 residential lots and the new lot type of cemetery. You can build cemeteries in any world and you are not restricted to Ravenwood. Also in Crow’s Crossing is the Well of Longing and Regret where sims can make a wish, which is similar to the well in the Romantic Garden Stuff Pack. However, there is only one positive and one negative outcome for each wish. The Whispering Glen neighborhood has 4 lots including a bar, 2 residential lots, and 1 empty lot.

The last neighborhood Mourningvale has 4 lots including a nightclub, 2 residential lots, and an empty lot. Mourningvale is also the location of Baleful Bog where sims can sim at and have an out-of-body experience where they turn into a temporary ghost. There is also a secret lot, the Netherworld Department, which is only accessible for sims in the Reaper career.

Careers

Reaper

Reaper is the new active career added with Life & Death. You can either join your sim at work or send them alone, like with the careers in Get to Work or the acting career in Get Famous. For typical days, your sim will scry to get an assignment, go to a random lot, investigate the cause of death, collect the soul, return to the office, and release the soul in the Netherworld portal.

There can be an emergency at the Netherworld Department and you will have to fix the scrying bowl and repair the Netherworld portal. Furthermore, there is an escaped lost souls event where your sim will be taken to a random lot where they will have to collect lost souls and close netherworld fissures. To be promoted in the career, your sim will need the thanatology, fitness, and charisma skills. The Reaper career can be fun, but like with the other active careers, it can become repetitive. Therefore, I do think it is better to join your sim a couple of times a week and send them alone the rest of the days.

Undertaker

Undertaker is the second career added with Life & Death, and it is a rabbit hole career. Your sim will need the fitness, gardening, and charisma skills to be promoted. At level 5 of the career, you can choose between the mortician or funeral director career. The mortician will need the painting, fitness, logic, and thanatology skills while the funeral director needs the charisma, fitness, gardening, and thanatology skills. I do like that a regular rabbit hole career is included with the expansion pack because it is nice to have the career option where you do not have to actively play it like with the Reaper career.

Events

Funerals

Life & Death added the event of funerals. For a funeral, you will choose the deceased sim (or pet), invite guests, choose the location, and select a minimum of 3 activities to do such as give an eulogy, mourn, have a moment of silence, light a candle, plant something, listen to music, dance, and serve food. You will then have tasks for your sims to complete based on the activities you choose. I do think it is great that funerals have been added because it is a good way for your sim’s family and friends and also yourself to remember sims who have passed.

Grief

Grief is a new feature added to Life & Death. It can be caused by the death of a sim, loss of a pet, divorce, a breakup, or being fired from a job. Sims can experience one of four types of grief including anger, blues, denial, and holding it together. However, it is possible your sim will not experience any grief. If your sim does experience grief, they can work through it by attending grief counseling, reaching out for help to other sims, or through specific activities tied to their grief.

With anger grief, sims can work out or play an instrument while for blues grief reading, painting, playing an instrument, and leveling up the logic skill is recommended. Sims with denial grief can cook, garden, paint, write, or play an instrument. Lastly, holding it together grief does not have specific activities, however, having your sims do positive activities can help.

If sims your does activities to help their grief, they can become relieved and the grief will end. If you do not do anything or enough activities to help your sim, they can experience a personality change. Also, the grief type may change to a different type of grief, for example, going from holding it together to blues.

Festivals

There are daily festivals and events that happen in Ravenwood.

Afterlife Anonymous

Afterlife Anonymous is Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays in Mourningvale. Sims can eat food, drink coffee, and talk to ghosts.

Crow’s Crossing Celebration of Life

The Celebration of Life is on Tuesdays, Thursdays, and Sundays in Crow’s Crossing. There will be a memorial display that your sim can make a dedication to a sim who passed. Also, sims who show up will be wearing a crow costume.

The Moon Revelry

The Moon Revelry is every night in Whispering Glen. During the Moon Revelry, sims can moonbathe, night swim, dance by the bonfire, fire dance, play an instrument, and eat food. On the full moon, clothing will be optional.

Ravenwood Family Day

Family Day is on Saturdays in Crow’s Crossing. Sims can look for the death frog in the fountain, interact with a crow, eat food, and talk to the inheritance lawyer to make a will.

Thinned Festiveil

The Thinned Festiveil is on Wednesdays in Mourningvale. Your sims can give a gift to the Guardian Tree, have a tarot reading, play a game of chance with a Grimtern, dance, and eat food. Sims can also meet Alice and begin Alice’s Sorrow quest to learn what happened to her children.

Try Before You Die Casket Sale

The last event is the Try Before You Die Casket Sale on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays in Crow’s Crossing. Sims can try out a coffin and purchase a discount coffin from the funeral director.

Soul’s Journey, Rebirth, and Bucket lists

Soul’s Journey is a new gameplay feature in Life & Death. There are 9 levels to Soul’s Journey with 6 levels your sims can complete when they are alive and the other 3 levels they can complete when they are a ghost. If a sim reaches level 6 when they are alive, they can choose to be reborn when they die. However, if your sim reaches level 6 as a ghost, they can be reborn in the Baleful Bog in Mourningvale. Furthermore, ghost sims who reach level 8 will gain the Burning Soul trait that allows them to remember their previous traits when they are reborn. Sims gain levels of the Soul’s Journey by completing milestones of their aspiration and items on their bucket lists.

To create a bucket list, sims can use a computer or journal to add up to 4 goals. Sims can either write a random goal or you can choose from one of the categories. The categories include wanting to get busy, party, adventure, success, family, create, travel, or something else. If your sim attends an Afterlife Anonymous meeting, witnesses another sim die, or has the chased by death trait, you will have the option to write a perfect goal where you are able to the specific goal your sim should have.

Bucket list goals will be base game and Life & Death related if you only have this pack. However, if you have other packs, sims can make a goal to do something related to that pack. For example, some bucket list goals my sims got were to get married, woohoo in a hot spring (from the Snowy Escape Expansion Pack), be a parent, make 5 masterpieces, craft 30 items, read at the library, ride a rocket ship, and reach level 10 of the cooking skill.

Wills and Heirlooms

Your sims can use a computer, go to the town hall in Crow’s Crossing, or talk to the inheritance lawyer during Ravenwood Family Day to start a will. Your sim will then be given a will in their inventory that they can use to set a dependent, decide what happens to their simoleons, what activities to do at their funeral, what their urn or tombstone should look like, the emotion of the will, and you can even write a personal note.

Sims can also click on objects in their home to set as a heirloom. Many objects can be made into an heirloom including a painting your sim made, a book they wrote, jewelery from the Crystal Creations Stuff Pack, furniture and decor, and even a toilet. After selecting objects to make as heirlooms, you can choose in the will which heirlooms to get passed onto specific sims.

Ghost Abilities

The base game update that came along with Life & Death allowed sims to become either a freeroaming ghost where they will no longer be part of the household or a playable ghost. Life & Death expanded on playable ghosts by adding a skill tree. Ghost sims will gain experience points that you can use to unlock neutral, good, and evil abilities. Neutral abilities allow ghost sims to teleport anywhere and nap in any object to regain stamina. Good abilities can remove the negative mood of a sim, repair objects instantly, and extend the lifespan of a sim. Evil abilities include scaring sims by flickering lights, giving negative emotions to sims, and reducing the lifespan of a sim. Also, if your sim was a werewolf, spellcaster, or vampire, they will keep their powers as a ghost.

Build Mode

Build mode has a gothic, Victorian style. There is furniture for the whole home including new kitchen counters with a fridge, stove, and sink, a shower and tub for the bathroom, bedroom sets, and tables and chairs. Other notable items are new memorial displays where you can place an urn and picture of sims who passed, coffins, 7 new gravestones, and a crypt where your sims can explore. There is also a crow on a perch that your sims can feed and befriend. The crow is tied to the perch, therefore, it will not free roam around your sim’s home like with cats and dogs.

CAS

CAS also has a gothic, Victorian style. There is clothing for all ages from infants to adult sims, which I appreciate. There is also a crow and sheet ghost costume. Furthermore, there are new hairstyles for children and older sims. Lastly, Life & Death added the macabre, skeptical, and chased by death personality traits and the ghost historian aspiration.

Overall Thoughts

Life & Death is a solid expansion pack. It is a great pack for simmers who play legacy challenges as they can create wills, make heirlooms, and have funerals. Simmers who like playing with occult types will be glad that ghosts now have a skill tree and ghost sims who were a werewolf, spellcaster, or vampire will keep their powers. Life & Death also expands on everyday gameplay with completing the Soul’s Journey and bucket list goals, and the daily festivals and events give something for your sims to do. Also, the expansion pack is good for builders who like darker, Victorian-style builds. Overall, Life & Death is a great pack that I recommend.

#1 Cottage Living

Cottage Living is the 11th expansion pack for The Sims 4. The pack adds the new world Henford on Bagley that is inspired by the English countryside. The focus of the pack is on farming and raising animals, and the pack adds the cross stitching skill.

World

Henford on Bagley has 3 neighborhoods with 12 lots. The Finchwick neighborhood is like the town center with a bar and 3 residential lots. Old New Henford has 3 residential lots and an empty lot while The Bramblewood has 2 residential lots, a rental, and a national park. I love the world and it does feel like the English countryside. Also even though there are 12 lots, the world feels bigger because there are so many areas where your sims can go, and also the Finchwick Fair has its own area that is not an actual lot.

Farming

Cottage Living does not have a new career as the focus is on farming. Gardening is in The Sims 4 base game, and now with Cottage Living, you can grow crops and oversized crops including aubergine, lettuce, mushroom, pumpkin, and watermelon. Cottage Living also added berries and mushrooms you can collect in the world as well as canning which makes food last longer, and your sims can make jams, conserves, and even a meat substitute. You can also take your sims on picnics and bring your canned goods and anything else your sims have made.

Along with growing crops, Cottage Living also added farm animals including chickens, cows, and llamas. In the pack, you take care of your animals, feed them, clean them, give them treats, and you can get milk from cows, wool from llamas, and eggs from chickens. There are also wild animals including birds, rabbits, and foxes. You can befriend the rabbits and birds, and they can help with farming. You do have to watch out for foxes because they can steal chicken eggs and even fight your chickens, but you can befriend the foxes though and ask them to not steal. Another cute thing is that you can even dress up your farm animals, wild rabbits, and foxes!

Finchwick Fair

Finchwick Fair has 5 rotating competitions every Saturday including the Chicken Fair where you can enter your best chicken and egg, the Llama Fair for your llamas and wool, the Cow Fair for your cows and milk, the Oversized Crop Fair for oversized crops and pies, and the Garden Fair for fruits, vegetables, and pies. I love the fairs because it gives you a goal to work towards and you can receive ribbons for participating and winning. The mayor of Henford on Bagley will judge the submissions, and you can even try to bribe the judge. Also, you can buy specialty items during the fair and sell your own items for an extra 10% profit.

Errands

Your sim can also run errands for the NPCs in Henford on Bagley including The Creature Keeper and Agnes and Agatha Crumplebottom. The errands can range in tasks from growing crops, delivering food, ordering drinks at the pub, watching a wild animal, and delivering packages. When you complete the errands, you will get rewards.

Build Mode

Build mode definitely has a cottagecore vibe with country and rustic furniture. There are also tons of decor to make a cozy country cottage. You also have an animal shed for the cows and llamas and a chicken coop as well as garden patches to grow crops. Other interesting items are the cross-stitch kit, picnic baskets. rabbit holes, and bird tree stumps.

CAS

CAS also has cottagecore vibes with sweaters, vests, dresses, and cute floral patterns. Kids and toddlers have some cute clothes as well. There are also a lot of cute new hairs for adult and kid sims.

Overall Thoughts

I believe Cottage Living is the best Sims 4 expansion pack. I love farming and being able to have a cute cozy cottage. The Finchwick Fairs are also fun and I enjoy doing the errands in between farming. I also love the build mode and CAS, and I do use it outside of the pack. Cottage Living is definitely worth the money.

For more posts on The Sims 4, you can check out The Best Sims 4 Mods and Custom Content and The Best Sims 4 Challenges.

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Do you play The Sims 4? What is your favorite expansion pack?