The Sims 4 base game went free-to-play a couple of weeks ago, bringing tons of new Simmers to the Sims community. Over the years, EA has added new features from Expansion Packs, Game Packs, and Stuff Packs to the base game. As a result, free-to-play Sims players have way more to do in the base game than old-school Simmers (like me) had from the beginning.
But as with any live service game, players can add a lot to their experience with DLC. There are currently 47 (soon to be 49) different Expansions, Game Packs, Stuff Packs, and Kits to enhance your Sims 4 stories. So which Packs are the best buys for free-to-play Simmers? Keep reading to find out.
Get to Work EP
The Get to Work EP brought three new careers to the Sims 4 – Doctor, Scientist, and Detective. But what makes the Get to Work EP so unique is that it debuted a whole new form of gameplay to the Sims 4.
Without the Get to Work EP, all Sims careers worked pretty much the same – get the skills required for promotion, go to work a couple of times to get your performance up, and voila! You’ve got a promotion!
But in Get to Work, when you send your doctor, scientist, or detective to work, you have the option of following them to their workplace – a hospital, science lab, or police station. There, you guide your Sim to complete tasks throughout their workday. The more tasks they complete, the better their performance, and the faster they get a promotion.
Plus, you earn skills and build relationships for your Sim while helping them at work, so it makes their work hours more valuable.
Tiny Living Stuff Pack
In Build Mode, you can choose to build a small home, tiny home, or micro home. The smaller your home, the more benefits you get, like improved moods, faster skill gain, better relationship building, enhanced plant growth, and reduced household bills.
And we’re not talking small gains here, either. Plants grow crazy fast, skills level up like lightning, and everyone’s your new BFF almost as soon as you invite them over. If you enjoy any of those things, you’ll love the Tiny Living Stuff Pack.
One thing I don’t love – your Sims can randomly get killed by a Murphy Bed. It ruined my whole save, but it was pretty funny.
Cottage Living EP
The Sims 4 Cottage Living EP introduced a cozy historic village, Henford-on-Bagley. This neighborhood is full of rustic charm, cute new NPCs, and loads of new collectibles.
But the coolest part of the Cottage Living EP is the farming. While your Sims have always been able to garden, this EP takes that to another level with special fertilizers, oversized crops, and village fairs to show off your skills. And with Cottage Living, you can raise chickens, cows, and llamas to collect eggs, milk, and wool to use in cross-stitch patterns.
Where other EPs have urbanized the Sims, this one takes us back to a cozier time. It’s a great EP if you want to have your Sims live their best life at home with their plants.
Parenthood Game Pack
Most of the time, I prefer to play single Sims living it up on their own, but the Parenthood Game Pack changed all that for me. This EP gave families whole new ways of interacting with each other and the world around them, which makes raising Sim kids a lot more interesting.
Adults can now earn Parenting Skill, which allows them to influence Child and Teen Sims’ choices by encouraging, punishing, or restricting them. Young Sims will occasionally ask Adults in their household for advice, and the higher that Adult’s Parenting Skill, the more options they have to give.
Throughout their childhood, young Sims earn character values such as Manners, Conflict Resolution, and Empathy. Sims with very high or very low values in these areas gain unique traits when they age up into Young Adults that are otherwise unavailable.
If you like the idea of multigenerational gameplay, you should definitely try out the Parenthood Game Pack.
City Living EP
For the first time since the Sims 4 was released, the City Living EP gave us apartment buildings. San Myshuno Valley, the new neighborhood in the EP, is full of restaurants, lounges, and public places for Sims to gather with their friends.
The best part of the City Living EP, by far, is the addition of new festivals. Each area of San Myshuno Valley is home to a different festival – the Spice Festival, Humor and Highjinks Festival, Romance Festival, and GeekCon. Every festival allows Sims to earn aspiration points, meet their neighbors, learn new skills, and have some fun.
Seasons EP
The Sims 4 Seasons EP added tons of variety and cool new game mechanics to the base game. While free-to-play Simmers already have access to the household calendar, the Seasons EP adds year-round holidays with new interactions, activities, and decorations. Call your friends over to help you decorate the tree for Winterfest, cook a giant tofurkey for the family on Harvestfest, and plan a date for Love Day.
The EP also added four distinct seasons, each with unique weather patterns. Sims can get hot, cold, and uncomfortable when it rains and even feel afraid when the weather turns stormy. Aspiration rewards can make Sims immune to hot, cold, and rain, which is great if they love gardening or just being outdoors.
This EP also added the Gardening career, a work-from-home career path that lets your Sim earn a regular paycheck on top of what they get from selling their crops. You can plant, grow, and arrange all new flowers into beautiful sellable arrangements, and every growable plant has its growing season, going dormant when it’s out of season.
Spa Day Game Pack
Last but not least, the Spa Day Game Pack is, to me, one of the most underrated Sims 4 packs. With this Game Pack, Sims can earn the all-new wellness skill by doing yoga or meditating. They can also get massages for some serious moodlet perks.
But that’s not the most exciting part. If you’re not interested in sending your Sims to a rabbit hole five days a week to earn money, Spa Day is a great way to give them more income-generating potential. Any Sim can go down to the spa and give massages to patrons for money. They can also teach yoga or lead meditation classes, charging NPCs 80 simoleans each – not a bad haul.
What do you think of our essential Sims 4 Packs? What expansion, game pack, stuff pack, or kit could you not live without? Let us know in the comments! And don’t forget to check out our other Sims coverage, including things you need to know if you’re playing Sims 4 for the first time.
