When it comes to franchises known for their downloadable content, The Sims often comes up in the conversation. This is especially true with The Sims 4, with there being an overwhelming amount of Expansion Packs, Stuff Packs and Game Packs available for the game. Picking up every bit of content that The Sims 4 has to offer isn’t really possible for the average new player. If you’re looking at picking up The Sims 4 and want to check out what the DLC has to offer, there are some notable packs that are borderline essential for new players.
The Sims 4: Get Together
Get Together‘s content doesn’t really add to anything from the base game. Rather, it introduces a new mechanic in the form of clubs. Clubs are by far one of the most fun additions that The Sims 4 introduced to the series, as they really call back to the franchise’s sandbox roots. Players can make their own clubs in Get Together, with a ton of options for customizing how the club behaves. You can set the do’s and don’ts of the club, directly impacting how Sims act during club meetings.
Routine meet-ups are a lot more fun with Get Together.
It’s such a simple feature that adds so much to any playthrough of the game. You can create such a wide range of different clubs in Get Together. There are obviously a ton of serious clubs to form, but the real fun with Get Together comes from messing with the sillier club behaviors, such as making a club of bookworms who will instinctively brawl with a rival group of jocks on sight, or creating a group of menaces to society that’ll go around town pranking everyone and anyone.
Get Together is such a good Expansion because it appeals to a wide range of players. Those who just want a more down-to-earth life simulator can use clubs to help expand their Sim’s skills. Those who enjoy the wilder aspects of The Sims 4 can create chaotic clubs that play directly into the silly undertones that The Sims have always had. As a bonus, Get Together works great with other packs as well.
The Sims 4: Seasons
Each entry in the Sims series typically has an Expansion themed around seasons. The Sims 4‘s take on weather is by far one of the best, bringing so much great content to the game. Seasons has two main components worth focusing on, with these being the titular seasons and the introduction of holidays. Seasons act just like they do in the Northern Hemisphere of the real world. In the winter, it’ll snow. It gets hot in the summer. Each season brings unique activities and some surprisingly nice visuals that change how you approach the day-to-day life of your Sims.
Even rainy days can mix up the daily grind.
The second aspect of Seasons has a lot in common with Get Together. Holidays occur yearly in-game, with each one bringing its own unique traditions and special events. There’s a handful of default holidays included, but players can also create their own holidays. Much like with clubs in Get Together, these custom holidays can range from realistic to absolutely silly. Even some of the default seasons embrace the sillier side of the game, such as Neighborhood Brawl Day.
The Sims 4: Paranormal Stuff
The first Stuff Pack on our list has a little bit of something for every kind of Sims player. For the serious life simulation fans, there’s the Medium skill and a huge range of vaguely-spooky new objects to decorate houses with. For those who love the more fantastical side of the series, there are new haunted houses and a paranormal investigator career. This Stuff Pack also brings back the fan-favorite skeleton maid Bonehilda, a staple character of the series.
This Stuff Pack adds a ton of ways to interact with the supernatural.
While not everyone will have a use for everything in the Paranormal Stuff Pack, it’s a great example of a pack that lets players interact with what they want. Some packs can be a bit invasive with their content and can be difficult to not interact with. Packs that let players play around with what they want are the perfect level of modularity. It’s hard not to recommend Paranormal Stuff, especially given how well-received it is among fans.
The Sims 4: Dream Home Decorator
This Game Pack brings back a job from The Sims 3: Ambitions, giving Sims the ability to decorate other people’s houses while trying to play to their likes and dislikes. This isn’t a DLC that would be used in every playthrough, but the job itself is a fantastic inclusion to the game. On top of that, Dream Home Decorator is a Game Pack and thus is a bit cheaper than the other types of Expansions available for the game.
Knowing a Sim’s likes and dislikes is crucial to the home design career.
Another perk of picking up Dream Home Decorator is the selection of new furniture available for Buy Mode. Any pack that expands the admittedly limited base game furniture selection is always great. While there are plenty of Stuff Packs that are more focused on new Buy Mode content, the new job that comes along with Dream Home Decorator is a great perk for a lower price than some of the other options.
The Sims 4: Growing Together
Much like The Sims 3: Generations before it, Growing Together is by far one of the best Expansions available for the game. Players of all types will find something to enjoy with Growing Together, especially given how much more depth Growing Together adds to the basic gameplay loop. Raising a family has always felt a bit bland in the base game Sims despite it being a core aspect of most life simulation titles.
Growing Together is likely one of the most essential Expansions for any Sims player, no matter what kind of gameplay they prefer. Even players who never raise long generations of families will still have a ton of fun with the key choices and milestone mechanics.
The Sims 4: Moschino
The Stuff Packs for The Sims 4 can be hard to recommend for all players. They are generally themed around specific content that might not appeal to everyone. However, the Moschino Stuff Pack is a rare exception, as it also comes bundled with a new career. Much like Dream Home Decorator, the Photography career included with this pack and the lower price make it an easy recommendation for new players looking to add careers to their game.
Besides the Photography career, the main content in this pack is high-fashion clothing from the real-life clothing brand Moschino. Branded content can typically be hit-or-miss, but once again the Moschino Stuff Pack is an exception. It doesn’t feel as invasive as previously branded content packs, possibly because it’s a real-life clothing brand. Having real-life clothing in The Sims has always felt a bit more fitting than other branded packs have.
The Sims 4: Cats & Dogs
The last Sims 4 Expansion that we’ll recommend for new players is Cats & Dogs. The pet editor alone is incredibly diverse with a huge range of options, both serious and silly. It’s another Expansion that plays to both silly and serious players quite well, hitting the two tones of the Sims franchise perfectly. Pets are at the center of this Expansion, though there are fewer options than in previous Sims titles. Horses were notably absent, only to recently be added by an Expansion Pack.
Players can get incredibly creative with their pets.
This Expansion is also noteworthy for the town included alongside it. Brindleton Bay is a wonderful location that adds some much-needed variety to the selection of towns. Most towns added by Sims 4 Expansions are either way too small to be viable or are too catered to a specific Expansion’s mechanics. Perhaps due to how well Cats & Dogs blends with the normal Sims gameplay, Brindleton Bay is one of the few new towns that feels like it works well with any combo of Expansion Packs.
