What Are The Worst and Best Sims 4 Expansion Packs?
Before digging into the meat of this list, let’s make sure that we’re all on the same page about what an “expansion pack” actually is in the Sims world.
For better or worse, EA really, really loves their TS4 content. I will be optimistic and say that it’s because they’re excited to release new items to their equally excited players. A less positive soul might say it’s because they are trying to make as much money off their poor starving players as they can. Whatever the explanation, the numbers don’t lie. To date, EA has released 14 stuff packs, 6 game packs, and 6 full expansion packs-their latest release being Get Famous.
But what’s the difference between a stuff, game, and expansion pack? EA sums it up in their “about packs” page: “Stuff packs are smaller packs that add more to your Sims’ lives with fun objects and fashion. Game packs are medium-sized packs that add new experiences to play in new thematic ways. Expansion packs are large packs that expand your game and take your Sim on new adventures.”
Okie dokie. Now that we’ve cleared that up, we will just be focusing on expansion packs. Bear in mind that this is like, my opinion, man—I don’t really think that there’s a “bad” expansion pack in the TS4 series, just ones that aren’t quite as good as others.
#6: City Living
The Sims 4 City Living
Price: $39.99
The concept of City Living is exactly what it sounds like, your Sim can finally leave the suburbs and live in a sweet high-rise apartment in the new world of San Myshuno. Everything that you would expect from living in an apartment is included in this pack: noisy neighbors, meddling landlords, skyscrapers, the occasional vermin infestation, even protestors. The game does a great job of spawning very diverse Sims for you to interact with in the city-themed world of San Myshuno, however; City Living ended up falling pretty flat for me. The festivals that come about every so often are cute and well-put-together, but ugh. I find myself ignoring them when I play these days because they are so repetitive and such a process. Plus, I’m a builder in TS4. Building in apartments is so hopelessly restrictive, and I just don’t enjoy that playstyle.
OVERALL RATING: 65/100
#5: Get to Work
The Sims 4 Get To Work
Price: $39.99
You know how something can sound really good in theory, but ends up just a little disappointing when you actually lay it out? That’s how Get to Work was for me. I mean, don’t get me wrong, this is a solid pack with lots of interesting new gameplay giving you the ability to follow your Sims to work and help them achieve daily goals to improve their career. I know Simmers have been asking for something like it for a long time, but to me, it was a little anticlimactic. I play the Sims to escape work in real life, so going to work with my Sims wasn’t my favorite idea in the world- but there were 3 new careers added with this pack as well as plenty of cool objects and new lots. A new “world” is included in GTW, if you want to call it that—4 whole lots with a commercial backdrop. Yawn.
OVERALL RATING: 73/100
#4: Get Together
The Sims 4 Get Famous
Price: $39.99
I really liked the idea of this expansion pack- get your Sims out of the house and get them actively involved in clubs with other Sims. The activities are up to you, and with enough “club perks,” you can upgrade your club until it’s the most popular spot in town. The new world that comes with it, Windenburg, is reminiscent of a little German town, and is absolutely beautiful. The club system works so that you have total control over what kind of club you create, what activities are allowed, and even what the dress code is. With that being said, after a while, the clubs are a bit cumbersome and dull. You have various members calling to ask when the next get-together is, and I lost interest pretty quickly. When I log in to play the Sims, the clubs are not the first thing I get excited to play with, so I feel like the purpose of this pack is a little defeated for me. High marks for Windenburg though!
OVERALL RATING: 80/100
#3: Get Famous
The Sims 4 Get Famous
Price: $39.99
The latest in the Sims 4 line, Get Famous, brings the glitz and glamour of Hollywood right to your PC. Your Sims can get famous in a variety of ways, but the new Actor/Actress career really drives that theme home. Your Sim can go on auditions, practice acting, and update their Simstagram story to get more adoring fans. Del Sol Valley, the new world that came with Get Famous, is disappointingly small-so that brings the rating down some for me. Overall I think this expansion pack is well done with high marks for theme and purpose. There is more than 1 way to get your Sim famous, so really your imagination is the limit as far as that goes. I love how open-ended this expansion pack is.
OVERALL RATING: 87/100
#2: Cats and Dogs
The Sims 4 Cats & Dogs
Price: $39.99
I had a horrible time putting this one at second place, since WE FINALLY GET FURRY FRIENDS IN THE SIMS 4!! Creating my real-life family is a blast and now it’s properly complete with my two labradors. Create-a-Style is back in Cats and Dogs, at least when you’re designing your pet, so you can get your kitty or doggo looking exactly like your real-life friend. My Sim yellow lab Chassie has a properly pink nose, and my Sim black lab Diesel has the “scar” on the tip of his tail (unfortunate wagging accident). You can really fine-tune the details on your pet, including their collars and some pet clothes for them as well. The new world is an American East Coast-themed world full of ocean air and lovely landscapes called Brindleton Bay. The interactions with your pets are adorable, and I must credit EA for making the little pixel animals so damn realistic. My Sim dog Diesel gets super happy and excited when he’s allowed on the couch. Sim Chassie barks at objects she doesn’t recognize and runs to her people for reassurance. It’s cute, it’s funny, and rightfully should be the number one expansion pack as far as enhanced gameplay if my number one pick didn’t exist.
OVERALL RATING: 98/100
#1: Seasons
The Sims 4 Seasons game cover
Price: $39.99
Okay, so here’s my justification for Seasons being at the top spot: we needed Seasons in the game to make it feel more realistic. Before this expansion pack, the weather never changed and it was a perpetual summer. That’s great and all, but so many Simmers were frustrated about the lack of variety in the weather—this is a life simulator, after all, and seasons are part of real life! Yes, I know, so are dogs, but suspend that thought for a second. When EA finally gave us a seasons-themed expansion pack, they delivered. Each season has its unique weather patterns for every world—for example, there is no snow and little rain in Oasis Springs (the desert world), but Brindleton Bay has constant rain and clouds during the Spring. Those little touches and the thought put into them, make this pack worth it most for me. Sims can declare their weather preference to another Sim, they get spooked when it’s thundering outside, and even slip and fall in mud puddles. The gardening and plant system was totally revamped for Seasons too, so that plants will only bloom when they’re in season. EA did a fantastic job making Seasons so realistic and gave Simmers everything that they’d been missing in their worlds.
OVERALL RATING: 99/100. Nobody’s perfect.
