The Sims 4 is a game that successfully caters to a variety of play styles, whether that be storytelling, taking on complicated challenges, or building amazing properties across the numerous available lots. For builders, the chance to create stunning, experimental residences and businesses has undoubtedly been improved by the many packs released since the game’s inception. This article aims to look at which packs are best for players who focus on building in The Sims 4.
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When looking at what makes a pack suitable for builders, there are several factors worth considering. Primarily, there is the question of build mode items. Expansion packs, as well as game packs, and stuff packs, offer items that can be used in the game’s build mode. Arguably, some packs offer better quality items than others, like the celebrated Seasons pack, and some are simply a lot more useful than their more niche counterparts, like My First Pet Stuff, which was criticized for its limited functionality. Other packs are great because they offer unique build styles, like City Living’s introduction to apartments and communal living, which was expounded upon by Discover University, and most recently, the For Rent pack.
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Tiny Living Stuff Pack
Minimal But Useful
While this may be a controversial pack, there’s no denying that Tiny Living offers special gameplay options that can be very useful for builders. The pack unlocked a whole new lot type, Tiny Home, and offers perfectly compact furniture to fit into those tiny spaces. This lot type allows for far greater customization of small lots, encouraging players to get creative with shapes and designs.
Moreover, while build mode items in Tiny Living may be few, they are all stylish, functional and compatible with all times of small building. Many of them have an emphasis on neon accents to complement neutral backgrounds.
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For Rent Expansion Pack
Focuses on Property Management But It’s Full of Great Build Mode Items
For Rent allows players to delve further into apartment living, dividing units and letting players take on the role of landlord. This pack is great for not only builders but also storytellers, with the possibility of a lot of community interaction within shared lots. The new world, Tomarang, focuses on South-East Asian architecture, full of bold colors and designs.
For Rent’s build mode offers over 200 items, with gates, walls, and floors that are unlike anything else in the game, as well as some charming basic furniture items like beds and chairs. This pack also offers a lot of functional clutter that will add to any building project, and some more realistic apartment features, like mailboxes, air-conditioning units, mold and dirt marks, power-boxes, and signposts.
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Island Living Expansion Pack
Offers a Location For Building Like No Other
The Sims 4 offers a unique world, Sulani, with the Island Living expansion pack. The beautiful, tropical landscape comes complete with a number of waterfront properties that are ideal for residential, community, and vacation lots. One highlight for builders is the outdoor items, including trees and shrubs that are suitable for most gardens, and a couple of great pool accessories for enhancing external spaces in other worlds.
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While the Island Living pack offers a large amount of furniture and building items, including everything needed to create functional homes, bars, and retreats, the issue with Island Living is that some items are not necessarily transferable to other worlds. Unfortunately, the tropical items seem rather incongruous when compared with what is available in the base game and other packs. In particular, the beach items found in this pack are fantastic, but ultimately not useful in other packs because there aren’t many residential or community lots in the game that offer access to large bodies of water.
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Seasons Expansion Pack
A Fan Favorite Pack For Its Versatility
What would a build list be without the Seasons pack? Seasons is, at its core, a fun pack with a bunch of options for residential and community lots, offering players so much versatility in what they can create. Seasons isn’t necessarily celebrated for its simple furniture offerings: basic windows, doors, and upholstery that don’t add a whole lot to the game, but it finds its feet with holiday items, including lights, wreaths, and garlands, as well as some much-needed household clutter.
Further, Seasons excels with fun items, such as ice skating and roller rinks, and gardening tools, which could work well in community centers and public parks, ensuring there is something for every Sim to enjoy during a visit.
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Dream Home Decorator Game Pack
Create a Career From Building Aspirations
This game pack is self-explanatory – players take on the role of interior designer, a new career that comes with the pack, designing rooms and houses for clients. This offers a competitive, challenging angle for experienced builders wishing to show off their skills some more, unlocking a whole new facet of gameplay.
The Dream Home Decorator pack offers 140 build mode items, most of which are extremely practical and versatile, adding endless possibilities to all builds in the game. Highlights include multiple storage options, from wall-mounted units to boxes and hangers, as well as a selection of beds and sofas, which many have argued are missing from the limited selection found in the base game.
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Snowy Escape Expansion Pack
Traditional and Modern Japanese Items Make for Beautiful Building Possibilities
The Snow Escape expansion pack features the snowy landscape of Mt. Komorebi, a Japanese-inspired world with snow sports and wellness activities available for Sims. The combination of stunning design features, minimalist furniture, and specific items inspired by Japanese culture make this pack ideal for building residential and community lots, especially with a holiday/retreat focus. The design items are particularly rare, with a selection of screens, Shoji doors, and stunning entryway features that set it apart from other packs.
Arguably, Snowy Escape also offers some of the best items by way of clutter and decoration available in the whole game. Players can decorate their builds with spare skis, lanterns, signposts, and vending machines, all of which add depth and realism to the world and its resort feel.
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City Living Expansion Pack
Includes Many Helpful Items For Creating Apartment Complexes
Most fans are aware that City Living is known for introducing apartments to the Sims 4. The functionality of this pack is second to none, with a variety of different apartments to customize, from humble flats to sprawling penthouses. While space is obviously limited in the apartment spaces, the items offered in the pack were entirely fresh and exciting when released, offering new opportunities for keen builders. This included unique mailboxes and trash chutes, which could, of course, be applied to any other house for subtle and convenient amenities, and the more unusual basketball hoops and courts, which could be placed indoors for sports-fanatic sims, as well as in community lots.
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The City Living pack emphasizes the colorful and artistic, with a number of paintings and prints that reflect the cultural variation of the world, San Myshuno. All of this artwork works well alongside a selection of tasteful furniture that also comes with the pack. Community lots and social events became easier to design with the inclusion of food and produce stalls that could be placed across the world, with the option of adding flair to other businesses in the game too.
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Eco Lifestyle Expansion Pack
Combines Modern Styles with Environmentalism
The Eco Lifestyle pack successfully combines several aesthetics frequently used among builders, infusing naturalistic elements with industrial features that have proved very popular since its release. While some of the build mode items offered are more popular than others, the Eco Lifestyle pack is particularly notable for its doors and windows, which fit well in any modern home, while offering a huge amount of scope in size and shape. There are also a number of items that draw on the mid-century furniture style, which has had a significant revival in the past few years.
While the decor for this pack lets players create delightful buildings and community projects, this pack also encourages builders to engage in sustainable practices through the use of solar panels, water collectors, and wind turbines. Players find themselves in the polluted Evergreen Harbor, with players challenged to improve the landscape through sustainability projects, bridging the gap between builders, storyteller,s and challenge lovers through a task that requires all elements to be successful.
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Get Together Expansion Pack
The Right Pack for Building Residential and Community Spaces
Get Together was one of the first packs released for the Sims 4, and it has certainly stood the test of time. The build mode items that Get Together offers are mostly period pieces, with an emphasis on European, Tudor-style architecture; many of these items contain historical elements that work well when designing archaic and reclaimed buildings. One perk of the Get Together expansion pack is that the build mode items work well with both residential and community lots.
The world of Get Together, Windenburg, offers numerous lots, most of which are very large, perfect for building mansions and retail or commercial lots. The whole town is one of the most charming in the game. All the buildings follow the European style with quaint squares and quays.
- Released
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September 2, 2014
- Publisher(s)
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Electronic Arts
- OpenCritic Rating
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Fair