[Top 10] The Sims 4 Best DLCs (Ranked)

Updated:

23 Apr 2024

DLC’s are a loved yet hated part of gaming. It is downloadable content for games that are already published to add to their gameplay. For the sims there are 4 different types of DLC packs, from expansion packs that add more gameplay, to kits that add objects or clothing to the game. There are 15 expansions, 12 game packs, 20 stuff packs and 27 kits for a total of 74 DLC packs. For this ranking I will only be ranking expansion packs and game packs, as they add gameplay along with items and clothing.

1.Eco Lifestyle (good)

Pretend to be a good person and save the environment.

Eco lifestyle came out 4 years ago in 2020. It was one of the more popular expansion packs at that time adding in a new town, new activities and new lifetime aspirations. Eco lifestyle focuses on conserving water and energy and recycling. They utilized recycling in a new skill called fabrication where you can make items, candles, juicing to make fizzy drinks. You can live in one of three neighborhoods that you can vote on action plans for the neighborhood and even vote on the community lot for what you want that lot to become. It focuses on making the neighborhoods cleaner and better for the sims around you.

Eco lifestyle Review:

This pack was one that really added more features to the game that was not the usual gameplay. It added features that we really haven’t seen much of before with being more “green”. Being able to produce more items and recycle is a feature that people can relate to experience for the first time in game.

Eco lifestyle key features:

New world of Evergreen harbor.
Includes new hairstyles, clothing and accessories
Includes new build/buy objects
Make your own energy and water with solar panels, turbines and dew collectors.
More lot traits added
Neighborhood voting board with neighborhood action plans
Community center with voting board. You can vote on what you want the center to become.
New career in conservation
What you do for conservation and what you vote on for action plans can affect the world around you, going from foggy to sunny.
Fabrication and Juicing added as a new skill
New traits like freegan, green fiend or maker.
Added aspirations
New death, by Beatles or swarmed by flies.

Eco Lifestyle rating: 7/10

2.Seasons (excellent)

Snow. Rain. Thunder. It can all kill you.

A staple that the sims have had since Sims 2 is Seasons. Giving the sims different weather, skills and activities, this pack offers so much that I feel that everyone should have this for their game. It offers new gameplay with weather, skills you can learn, and activities that your sim can enjoy around town. It’s one of those packs that you think is part of the game. Like you can’t play the sims without having seasons.

Seasons review:

Seasons to me was a pack that builds on the base game. It could be from how long I've played the sims in general (all the way back to the first one) that we’ve had weather that it seems a must. It makes the game seem more realistic having years instead of just everyday being the same. It also adds little touches like snow days or being scared of thunderstorms, making living a bit harder in game.

Seasons key features:

New skill in flower arranging (and skating as a hidden skill).
Hot and cold weather
Sims can now skate in an ice rink or skating rink
Holidays and calendar.
New career as a gardener and after school activity as a scout.
Seasonal plants and collectables.
New ways to die like overheating, freezing or struck by lightning.
Actions for sims like playing in the rain or building a snowpal.

Seasons rating: 8/10

3.Get to work (good)

Get a job you bum.

An updated version of the sims 3 ambitions, get to work offers 3 new careers where you can follow your sims. This offers more gameplay by adding time that you can control your sim at work and how well they complete the work. You have an allotted amount of time to complete your daily tasks while also ensuring your other needs are met.

Get to work Review:

I was really excited to try to get to work after Sims 3. I wanted the sims 3 ambitions to work better but mine constantly glitched and half the day was wasted just trying to get to work. With sims 4 not being open world I feel that it cuts down on the time to get to work allowing you to actually complete the tasks. It added new professions that you can build off of and focus on while also having to meet your needs.

Get to work key features:

Has three new professions: detective, doctor and scientist.
With a profession you can follow your sim to work or let them go alone.
Sims can open up a retail business.
Added aliens
Can learn baking as a skill.
Added new collectibles including geodes, metals and crystals.
Added three new plants
Can choose to have baby at hospital
Sims can now become ill.
New secret lot

Get to work rating: 7/10

4.City living (good)

Like New York, but not at all.

This pack adds not only new gameplay, but also a new town and a new type of home that your sim can live in. Each neighborhood offers different types of apartments, each coming with their own problems or traits. Each neighborhood also has a community type space like a bar, and every 2 weeks an event or festival. If you have the seasons expansion pack you can see when these festivals are per the calendar.

City living review:

City living was also another expansion pack I was excited for due to apartments. I loved starting my sims out in small homes or apartments like in the sims 3 as that is how a lot of young adults start off. Being able to either move out into a home or work your way up to a penthouse made the game have more depth. The game also added more culture and interests to the game with festivals and events.

City living key features:

New world called San Myshuno
Sims can now rent apartments or penthouses
Weekly festivals in each neighborhood
New careers as a critic, politician and in social media.
New art center and karaoke bar.
Added the unflirty trait.
Several new lot traits
Sims can now learn the singing skill
New aspiration of city living
New collectibles including city posters, snow globes, and two new fish
Sims can now die by pufferfish.

City living rating: 7/10

5.Horse Ranch (Excelent)

Horse girl IRL and in game.

Horse ranch review:

A much anticipated pack, horse ranch was more than I expected. I thought it was going to be just about horses and dealing with them but it really expanded on the ranch side of it. Even without a horse you can live in a new world, and have other animals that can “help” you by eating weeds from your garden. It also added a juicing skill which gives you more options for skills to learn and focus on.

Horse ranch key features:

Added horses, goats and sheep
New “western” style socializations
Nectar making as a skill and craftable item.
New collectibles including horse manure, plants and prairie grass.
Horse riding as a skill
Horses can learn the skills agility, endurance, jumping and temperament.
Two new social events
Two new traits
Two aspirations as a championship rider and expert nectar maker.
New lot challenge
Ranch hand as an NPC

Horse ranch rating: 9/10

6.For rent (good)

You can be that creepy landlord that just randomly stops by.

For rent was one of the most anticipated expansion packs I have seen in the past few years. It expands on apartments allowing you to be a landlord or to build and rent other apartments. You can add the apartments or townhomes to more lots and edit them how you please. It also adds new gameplay for being a renter and more responsibilities and consequences.

For rent review:

This pack not only added more features to how your sim can live, but also added a lot more culture. They listened to those who were from southeast asia about the culture in order to be accurate. It is not only fun to experience other worlds in game, but to also learn new facts about those cultures that I would not have known otherwise. This is not just from the game but from those who play the game also and share experiences online.

For rent key features:

New world, Tomarang.
Added residential rentals outside of San Myshuno and Evergreen Harbor.
Can own property as a landlord.
More socialization with having neighbors in apartments.
Five new traits
Added Handyperson as a part time job.
4 new aspirations.
New lot challenges of mold and maintenance troubles.

For rent rating: 8/10

7.Dream home decorator (Excelent)

To broke to decorate your own home? Get paid to decorate others.

A well loved pack, dream home decorator was smaller than expansion pack but offered a new career and builds that others loved. As an interior decorator you can help design rooms for other sims as a career. It also adds more traits for style likes and dislikes, making each sim have their own style for home decor.

Dream home decorator review:

One of my top favorites, dream home decorator, brought building and decorating together in game and not just in build mode. Letting others play out new designs and ideas this pack lets you have a career in decorating.

Dream home key features:

New career of interior decorator.
Can be fired by a client for unprofessional behavior.
New objects.
Added new likes and dislikes for decor items.

Dream home rating: 8/10

8.University (Excelent)

You can now cheat on your homework in simulation.

Making it towards the top of my list of best DLC’s for the sims is university. I love the added gameplay of having the sims become young adults going off to college. Like the sims 3 you can send your sim off to college for them to live in a dorm. Unlike the sims 3 version, your sim also has the option to complete their degree from home. They added term papers, projects and exams for them to complete and various other university activities. There are two universities to choose from, each having their own perks. This pack added a new town, careers, skills and aspirations.

University review:

My favorite part of this pack is being able to attend college online. Part of the university experience is not always in the dorm, and I love being able to let my sim live in their own home or move out into another home. I feel that it adds a new phase in young adult life instead of going straight to the work field.

University key features:

New world called Brichester
Sims can now obtain degrees
Added university commons and housing.
New aspiration called Academic
Two new skills in research and debate and robotics.
Three new careers and 2 after school activities.
Added two new ways to die (one for servos only).
Added shower woohoo
Can now attend skill classes

University rating: 9/10

9.Tiny living (Excelent)

The chances of this bed of killing you are low...but never 0.

I among plenty of other swimmers love the tiny living pack. While it is not an expansion pack, it is a stuff pack that adds some of the best features to the game. When building a home, you may now choose between three different “tiny” homes that each has perks. The smallest of the homes, the tiny home, can only be up to 32 tiles. While tiny and difficult to have more items, it has the cheapest utilities and you can earn your skills the fastest here.

Tiny living review:

A small pack that made a huge impact on the sims community. It allowed for the sims to live in smaller homes that had perks, adding new challenges for simmers to attempt. The three options for the homes makes it more complex on what perks you want and how big of a house you need. I like to try to see how many children or kids you can have in one home while keeping it small and functional.

Tiny living key features:

Added tiny home residential to lot assignment
Added a murphy bed
Three types of tiny homes have different perks.

Tiny living rating: 10/10

10.Cottage Living (Best)

Who's scared of chickens? Not me. duh.

And in 10th place as my favorite pack is cottage living. I love how it expands gardening into more of a farming style with garden plots, cows and llamas. You can now make a living (or try to) with gardening and animals, and can even complete tasks for the sims in the neighborhood. There is the creature keeper who lives in one of the neighbors where you can purchase clothing for your animals, and for the rabbits and other critters in the area. You can also submit your chickens or crops into the fair that happens every week but varies on the type of fair it is. With this pack you can also make it so you have to grow your own ingredients or purchase them in order to make the meal. This can really add to the depth while also adding more difficulty to your gameplay.

Cottage living review:

Cottage living is and probably will be my favorite pack. I enjoy gardening in games as it gives a little extra money and an activity for the sims to do. If you also build your “farm” up enough it can add more difficulty in game to keep up with it along with your needs, family or job. That is one thing that I miss from the sims 2 is how hard it was to keep the sims alive while also doing other tasks in game.