The Sims 4 has some pretty great additions based on concepts both new and old. Added content based on concepts rooted in reality tend to be the most popular, and work seamlessly with The Sims gameplay and designs.

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The Sims 4 content is a bit different to previous versions of the game. Content packs come in the form of stuff packs, game packs, and expansion packs. Stuff packs are the smallest, cheapest, and most numerous. They are based around a theme, and often come with a small addition to gameplay, with a dozen or so additions to create-a-sim and build and buy mode. Game packs are focused on a single theme, with a new gameplay system added which add significant changes to the game. The biggest packs are expansion packs, which add dozens of new items, systems, and interactions.

10 Laundry Day

Laundry Day is a stuff pack. As the title suggests, it introduces a laundry system where your sims can wash their clothes.

Items range from some cool new clothing items in create-a-sim, a laundry machine, a dryer, and a clothes line. For a game lacking in systems of play, adding new ones is always going to be a good thing. What's also cool about Laundry Day is that you can choose energy efficient methods to wash your clothes, which means that the systems are compatible with off the grid lots.

9 Eco Lifestyle

While some aspects of Eco Lifestyle are disappointing (the litter being purely aesthetic for example), Eco Lifestyle is an expansion pack that adds a lot of interesting gameplay that makes your neighborhood feel like a living community.

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Self-sufficiency is the name of the game in this expansion pack. You can produce your own electricity and collect your own water. There's also a recycling system, and you can sell your own crafts online. Eco Lifestyle allows your sims to live their lives on their own terms, and gives them the opportunity to live completely new alternative lifestyle.

8 Kids Room

Items for kids in The Sims 4 have been woefully lacking, so this stuff pack was a welcome addition.

Although the new system of a card game was introduced, this stuff pack is more useful for the buy mode items that come with it. Decorating kids spaces is a dream with this new pack. The Sims 4 has one of the best build modes of the franchise and Kids Room builds on that for one of the best stuff packs in this edition of The Sims.

7 Cats and Dogs

 

Pets packs have always been popular (excluding the controversial My First Pets Stuff pack), and Cats and Dogs is no different.

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Although veteran Sims players may feel as if this expansion pack is lacking, as The Sims 3 Pets had horses and other animals added to the game, Cats and Dogs expands on previous versions of this theme. The create-a-pet system is detailed, and the team has made sure that you can create any kind of cat or dog you could ever imagine. The personalities and independence of the pets are also evident, and that you can't control them directly adds a sense of realism to the gameplay.

6 Dine Out

Dine Out Render - Two sims being served by a waiter as a chef looks on.

Dine Out is a game pack that adds a restaurant system to your Sims game. The game involves both dining out and creating your own restaurant.

Adding another social aspect to The Sims 4 is always a good thing, and having another thing to do in your neighborhood adds to making it feel more like a living world, rather than feeling like you're on a lonely island separated from civilization by loading screens. The restaurant system is modern and dynamic, with some great customization options. Menu customization is especially fantastic, and you can even make your restaurant vegetarian-only. Staff in your restaurant wear uniforms, and there's a critic system to rate your restaurant, which influences how lucrative your restaurant is.

5 Tiny Living

If you enjoy playing without cheats, particularly money cheats, then Tiny Living is incredibly useful. This stuff pack includes everything you need for sims who live in budget-friendly or tiny homes. It's also great for large families where space is a commodity.

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Tiny Living also sees the return of the notorious Murphy bed, a bed which folds up into the wall and also serves as a new way to kill sims if they aren't careful. Regardless of consequences, Tiny Living is essential for those sims who want to make the most of the space available to them on a budget.

4 Get Together

The best thing about this expansion pack is its club system, a gameplay mechanic completely new to The Sims franchise. Get Together gets extra points for being fresh and new, which is something sadly rare in a series that just recently celebrated its 20th anniversary.

Get Together is all about groups, and to facilitate that goal is its club system. Anyone can be added to a club. Clubs can be customized to fit just about any purpose you can think of, and half of its success is from just how much detail you can put into the customization, from who can be added to club dress codes and club activities. Clubs work well beyond the obvious purpose of going out, and can be used to keep track of large extended families.

3 Discover University

University has been a staple of The Sims since The Sims 2, and The Sims 4 is no different. Discover University shakes up the old formula by giving you the option of two different universities: the University of Britechester and the Foxbury Institute. You can choose which university is right for your sim.

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Sims have a wide range of courses available to them, all which correlate to different careers. The more they learn and the better they do in their course, the better they'll do in their chosen career. Discover University adds an entirely different living space for your sim, and is a wonderful break from their day-to-day, while also benefiting their lives once they return home.

2 Parenthood

Parenthood Render - A family comprising mum, dad, teen, child and toddler.

This is a game pack which adds a layer of complexity to playing The Sims. Parenthood gives you all the more control over how your sims are raised and what kind of sims they'll grow up to be.

Parenthood introduces new dynamics to parent-child relationships, and each life stage benefits from it, from toddlers to teenagers. Parents can now influence their children by praising or criticizing certain behaviors, and these influences follow into adulthood. Toddlers, children, and teenagers have a range of new behaviors, and parents now have to level up their parenting skill to become competent parents. This game pack creates a rich and dynamic lived experience for your sims, and adds needed layers of gameplay.

1 Seasons

Seasons has always been a popular addition to The Sims franchise. Out of all the packs, Seasons creates a living world in the most nuanced and obvious ways, and changes the way players approach the game. Weather is dynamic, seasons are overt, and holidays truly create the feeling of time passing by.

The neighborhoods change depending on the season, and the effects are truly stunning, particularly in autumn and winter. Sims are affected by lightning storms and blizzards, and every day brings its own new challenges. Of all the packs for The Sims 4, Seasons truly lifts the bar.

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