Sims 4 Game Packs

GAME PACKS:
I think the Sims Team has done a great job with the game packs and I enjoy them all. I find they all add a lot to the game, but again whether it’s a fit for you depends on what you like to do in your game.😊

Parenthood:
If you like family play, then I would recommend Parenthood as it adds a lot to family play, including new interactions and with the use of the family bulletin board the ability to give curfews (but it’s for all the kids in the house, regardless of age, but it’s also optional). It adds new character values which toddlers through teens can work on and earn when they age up to young adult (manners, responsibility, empathy, emotional control and conflict resolution, either positive or negative depending on the actions as a toddler through teen). It also adds a new family aspiration (for parents/caregivers) and it makes it a lot easier for a sim caregiver to influence their children to do things, which is very handy if you are doing challenges that don’t let you control them directly (such as Drifter Challenge).  It also adds a lot of nice CAS/build/buy items which I use a lot.

While I use all the features from Parenthood in many of my Let’s Plays, including my Drifter Challenge & Foster Child Challenge, I have a completed Let’s Play that was specifically for the Parenthood Game Pack, here’s a link to playlist:

I also did a two part tutorial on the benefits of having positive Parenthood values and how to get them, here’s a link to the first part:

There are two vacation packs, Outdoor Retreat and Jungle Adventures.
My favourite game pack is Outdoor Retreat because I like to do challenges and it is used in a lot of challenges (more so than any other game pack) and I use it myself when I do Rags to Riches challenges as the tent, portable shower and cooler can come in handy for those.  I also like to use the cloud gaze/star gaze interaction to make my Sims inspired and if you do it with another sim it helps build their friendship very easily. The Carl Sims 4 Guide it mentions that it added three reward traits, one of which is ‘Incredibly Friendly’ (it costs 2000 reward points) which I often get my sims as it makes making friends so much easier.  This pack also comes with one new (nature) aspiration, one new trait and one new skill (the herbalism skill). I also like to use Granite Falls as a destination for family vacations and honeymoons. The world of Granite Falls comes with a rental neighbourhood with 5 rental lots, one of which is a camp site.  It also has the National Park and the hidden lot for the hermit that you access from the National Park.  The rental lots and the hermit’s hidden lot require the bb.enablefreebuild cheat to edit while your sims are on the lot. I do use the CAS/build/buy items, but I like and use build/buy items from most of the other packs a bit more (apart from some of the terrain plants, which I do use quite often from Outdoor Retreat.

I have a tutorial on how to find the Hermit, here’s a link:

I’m really enjoying Jungle Adventures and if you max the new archaeology skill that comes with the pack it can be a real money maker (as can exploring the temple). It fits well if you have Outdoor Retreat as the tent, portable shower and cooler can come in very handy when you are exploring, and you can also use the insect repellant and deodorizing cream you can craft with the herbalism skill. The vacation world of Selvadorada is very large, even more so when you include the jungle that you need to explore (and the areas are shown on the map with a ‘?’ as you always have to explore to find them). It also adds two new lot traits, two new aspirations (one knowledge & one nature), two new collections and a few more collectibles to existing base game collections (fish, fossils and crystals). It also works really well if you like to build your sim’s skills as certain skills (gardening, fishing, handiness, logic, rocket science and charisma, as well as the two new skills, archaeology and the local culture skill) help you do better when exploring the jungle and the temple. The CAS/build/buy items work well with the theme and I love the new display case you can use to display collectibles that came with this pack.

I did a Let’s Play exploring Jungle Adventures, here’s a link:

I also have a three part tutorial with some tips on Jungle Adventures, here’s a link to the first in the playlist: https://youtu.be/guLUqy1ylHU

Spa Day:
Spa Day adds the new wellness skill and the items you need for it (yoga mat, meditation stool, massage chair and massage table). It comes with a few pre-built spas that you can add to any world, but you can also add the spa items to any gym, including existing ones in the world and the massage therapist and yoga instructor will come to those lots (so they function as both a spa and a gym). You can also have your female sims get a fertility massage which is supposed to increase their chances of getting pregnant (for a window of time) and increase the chances of multiples. I use the CAS/build/buy items from Spa Day quite a lot.

Dine Out:
Dine Out is great if you want to run restaurants and it can be fun to take your sims to restaurants, though dining can take a lot of time. You can own more than one restaurant and unlike retail stores that come with Get to Work, they can run when you aren’t there, though they are likely to lose stars. Your sims can manage the restaurant, but they can’t be the chef, host or wait staff, and neither can any of your household members. It still is challenging to try and get a 5-star restaurant. I use the build/buy/CAS items from Dine Out quite often, especially the décor items.

Vampires:
Vampires is great if you like vampires as they did a very good job with them in this iteration of the game. This pack also added the small world of Forgotten Hollow which comes with 5 lots, one is empty, 2 are occupied and 2 are unoccupied.

Vampires can level up in rank, and as they level up in rank they can add strengths and weaknesses. Only teens and up display their powers, and once they reach young adult they stop aging (or they stop when they are turned). This pack comes with three aspirations (family, knowledge and popularity).  It also adds the 15-level vampire lore skill and the 10 level Organ skill. If you don’t want vampires to ‘feed’ on your sims and night, locking the door can help, though I’ve had my sims mesmerized and come outside. I tend to have my non vampire sims learn enough vampire lore to buy garlic (and plant it at their doors) and to make garlic wreaths. I have also had my sims (vampire and non vampire) make a lot of money by maxing their vampire lore skill, planting the necessary ingredients and making and selling the cure and the draught of reconfiguration (you can sell it into your inventory, but the real money maker is if you sell it with a 300% mark up on the yard sale table, which comes with City Living and Jungle Adventures). The build/buy items add a lot of Victorian items, as well as wall/window decals & spider webs you can use to make houses look decrepit. The CAS items are also in keeping with this theme, though even so, I still find I use a few items quite regularly.

I have a Rags to Riches series that focused on Vampires, here’s a link to the playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyPCBQSeZfrLGL-akQpVx0_fUfpUekohM

StrangerVille:

StrangerVille is quite different from other game packs as it adds a story/mystery that your sims can play through.  EA has made it so that the ‘possessed sims’ are only supposed to be in the new world of StrangerVille that comes with the pack.  If you want to completely remove any signs of the mystery, you need to play through the mystery and the Strangerville Mystery aspiration has been added to help guide you through it (it’s found under the Location type of aspiration). That said, if you don’t want to play through the mystery, apart from having a few possessed sims in the StrangerVille world and some harmless strange plants around, there’s not much impact on game play until you start investigating.  The new world is quite large for a game pack; it has 11 editable lots and one special, not editable lot (unless you add use a mod).  It also adds the aforementioned  aspiration and a trait (paranoid) that fit with the theme of the pack.

The pack also adds the military career, which your sims can choose to work from home or go into work (then it’s like the other rabbit hole careers).  It also adds new build/buy/cas items, including laptops (2 versions, one entry level & one better quality) that can be dragged into your sim’s inventory and taken with you though it has to be placed on a table, desk or island counter to be used, sims are unable to use it in their lap.

I have a completed mini Let’s Play where one of my sims completed the StrangerVille Mystery if you’d like to check it out.  https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyPCBQSeZfrLAVXnKQ86F6QvH67QCOsru

Realm of Magic:

Realm of Magic added the new occult, Spellcasters.  Sims can be created as spellcasters in CAS, in the game or they can be born as spellcasters.  There is no new skill but there are 24 spells from three different types of magic (Practical, Mischief and Untamed) and 15 potions sims can learn.  Similar to vampires, spellcasters rank up and as they do, they earn points that they can use to buy perks.  Unlike vampires, spellcasters do not have to choose weaknesses, but they can be cursed when doing magic, brewing or drinking potions since the spells and potions have a chance of failing.  A spellcaster can have up to three curses at one time, though there is a spell and a potion that can be used to remove them (though these can fail and result in more curses).

If a sim is born a spellcaster, they can’t use any powers until they are teens, though those born as spellcasters can have one of the three new traits that came with the game, weak bloodline, strong bloodline and ancient bloodline. These traits affect how quickly they rank up as spellcasters and how many perk points they earn as they rank up. There are also two new aspirations with this pack (one knowledge and one nature).

This pack came with the new world of Glimmerbrook which has 5 lots, 2 are occupied, one is a bar, one is empty (with a few trees) and the other is unoccupied.  It also comes with Magic HQ which you access through the magic portal in Glimmerbrook or through a spellcaster’s ‘glimmerstone’ which can be found in their personal inventory.

This pack adds CAS/build/buy items that fit with the magic theme, including a cauldron for making potions and even a few cooked meals, including mac & cheese.

I find making my sims spellcasters helps when them get to class on time as university students if you have the Discover University Expansion pack.

I have a Rags to Riches Let’s Play for Realm of Magic, here’s a link to the play list:
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLyPCBQSeZfrKbCbCLyrF1HCoEaDe3pbrO