There’s a lot of noise about The Sims around at the moment, as the lifestyle management game is turning 25 this year. Have I really been playing The Sims since 1999? I can’t remember being an early adopter but I definitely remember the first game very vividly, so maybe I have. The recent announcements are some sizabale updates to the base game, and a new Behind the Sims video stream, where more goodies may be forthcoming.

Alongside this, there was talk of The Sims 3 getting an update. It turns out that was for Windows users only, of which I am not one. But because there were whisperings about the game, I quickly re-installed it to remember fondly what it was like. It’s not really playable, if I’m being honest, particularly when compared to the Sims 4, but oh how I love that you can play the entire town maps without loading screens. Oh the joy! Having your Sim cycle to work and be early or late. Or hang around after work and go out somewhere after that, it’s all so natural. Such a shame that feature was taken away for Sims 4.

But anyway, here we are, many years into The Sims 4 and lots of expansion packs in as well. I realised I haven’t written about The Sims in any capacity since Feb 2023 so it was about time for a catchup. In this post, I want to take a minute to look back at the recent expansion packs and what has worked well for me, and what hasn’t.

Life & Death

The most recent expansion pack features a deep dive into occult, ghosts, and living your best life… whilst you’re still alive and also after your inevitable demise. I’ve dipped into bits and pieces of this, and I quite like it, but the best bit by far is the bucket list feature. There are plenty of tasks and wishes and aspirations for Sims to achieve through their life, but this one is new and interesting.

Lovestruck

A total disappointment. Just building on existing relationship capabilities and not really expanding them much. Plus, to my mind, it’s just made relationships so much harder to manage to the point of not being worth the hassle.

For Rent

It’s always interesting to have a new way of living, I remember when the city apartments arrived and had their own quirks and fun interactions. Those were technically rentals, but this pack expands on the idea to make being a tenant slightly more interactive, and also giving the option of owning a rental property and being a landlord. I have tried this once or twice and not gotten very far, but I need to give it a fair shot to get the most out of it, I think.

Horse Ranch

I love the new town that arrived with this pack, all American Western-style with tumbleweeds and hitching posts. The goats and sheep are SO CUTE. Initially the actual horse part of it wasn’t that interesting to me, I’m not a big horse person so could take it or leave it. But I have recently started playing a Sim with a horse and taking part in the competitions and stuff, so it’s growing on me.

Growing Together

This was about to be released when I wrote my previous post, and I was looking forward to it. It’s probably less obviously impactful, similar to the Lovestruck one, but I do quite like the new life stages and milestones, and family interactions, so I’m happy with it.

High School Years

The final pack that I’ll mention here is the high school one, introducing the scary world of the teenager. I love the school and the teen town that comes with the pack, a boardwalk theme park and trendy fashion cafe. All great stuff. I just wish the school had slightly more variety - each week is the same, ending with an exam and then a prom, and I just think a few different scenarios or options might help to make it a bit more interesting - considering how much time teens spend at school.

Overall, it’s been a hit and miss last few expansion packs and as mentioned right at the top of the post, there are things that I wish we could have so desperately that don’t seem likely to come to fruition. In the second part of this two-part post, I’ll discuss some other things that would be great to see in this game, and what I would be working on if I was in charge.