Sul Sul! The Sims franchise is a game that has lingered through every stage of my life. As a kid, I played Sims 2 (and the original) with gritty graphics and a laptop that crashed constantly. As a teenager, I upgraded to Sims 3 and found the expansive realm of mods that allowed my game to change and grow with increasingly questionable outfits. Now, in college, too many work-less nights are filled with the most recent iteration: Sims 4.
Sims 4 is the base game, but Origins constantly releases additions that come in the form of expansion, game, or stuff packs depending on the amount of content. For anyone new to the game, having so many options of what to buy along with the base, is hugely overwhelming.
Instead of agonizing over which one to buy with the next Origin sale (because there’s always one somewhere on the horizon), here’s every Sims 4 expansion pack ranked.
Expansion Packs
These are the most expensive additions, but they also come with the most additional content. This content will typically change the course of “day-to-day” gameplay.
6. Seasons: While I was initially really eager for this expansion because I wanted the inclusion of changing weather, this expansion loses me on the holidays. Because time passes much faster for sims than for us (thank goodness), holidays are constantly rolling around when I play and if I’m focusing on something else for too long, then my sim will miss the festivities and be sad for days.
While I love the addition of weather and clothing fitted for it (finally my sims can wear coats!), this expansion wasn’t as wonderful or as realistic as I’d originally envisioned.
5. Get Together: Much like seasons, I thought that the Get Together pack would have added something essentially familiar to the game from real life: friends and gatherings and groups. Instead though, it’s added a constant phone call inviting my sim to join a club.
Clubs aren’t really something I pay attention to after owning the expansion for months, and while the social dynamics this pack adds are a nice addition, it’s not a necessary pack. Â
3/4: City Living and Cats & Dogs: The middle of the road options for expansions are hard to rank. City Living and Cats & Dogs both feel like they could be swapped in this list because it depends how you’d like to play. For certain sims I’ve created, the city living pack is essential to allow for apartment life (which is a nice change from the family-centric focus of a lot of the sim maps) and the pet pack itself is undeniably adorable.
After the initial cuteness however, unless you’d like to train a pet to compete, the furry friends don’t add a lot to the gameplay. They do round out virtual families and provide some new chaos to the game which can be fun.
2. Get to Work: This game pack was a huge change to how the game is played. It allows the player to follow the sim to a place they never could before (in Sims 4): to work. This pack made it possible to micro-manage every step of the sim’s life.
Additionally, this pack introduces retail stores for a sim to own and operate. These elements are instrumental changes and add a lot (if you utilize the careers it unlocks).
1. Get Famous: While this pack has an advantage in being the most recent (except for Strangeville), this feels like the biggest step in the recent expansion packs because it’s a concept that was never introduced in an earlier iteration of The Sims (at least in this modern way); it allows for everyone to live out their beauty guru fantasies.
I loved the added element from this pack both for sims striving to be in the public eye and those who find it as a surprise. It changes the day-to-day play and provides a lot more depth for sim development.
Other than the expansion packs, game packs can add a considerable amount of depth to the gameplay offered in Sims 4. Alongside these expansions, Parenthood and Dine Out are my top picks for the smaller game pack content.
When these expansion packs run up to $40 a pop, it’s not as fun to buy all of them at once, so before jumping in with every bit of extra content, buy one based on this list or on what type of play appeals to you most. No matter what, happy simming!