The Sims 4 is beloved by many cozy gamers for its creativity and endless possibilities and over the years have released numerous expansion packs to add to the gameplay. While many add exciting features and depth to the gameplay, not all have hit the mark, I regret to say!
Some expansions have left players disappointed due to lacklustre content, underwhelming themes, or bugs that mar the experience. In this blog post, we'll delve into the five worst Sims 4 expansion packs that failed to live up to the hype. Whether you're a seasoned Simmer or a curious newcomer, read on to discover which packs you might want to skip and why they didn't quite make the grade.
Five Worst Sims 4 Expansion Packs
The Sims 4: Eco Lifestyle
The SIms 4: Eco Lifestyle was aimed to introduce environmentally conscious living to the world of The Sims, however it received mixed reviews for its execution. While the concept is noble, the gameplay can feel rather forced and limiting.
The Neighbourhood Action Plans are meant to drive eco-friendly initiatives, but it often becomes more of a nuisance than an engaging feature. The pack’s focus on environmental themes can also come off as preachy and detract from the sandbox nature of The Sims, whilst many players even finding the content too niche or not impactful enough. Overall, it’s a neat concept but it’s just been executed poorly.
The Sims 4: For Rent
Considering the rental market in real life is completely messed up, who wouldn’t want to escape into the fantasy of owning rentals in video games. The Sims 4: For Rent focused on rental properties, but it lacks depth and excitement that other expansion packs had.
The gameplay revolves around managing rental homes, which quickly becomes repetitive and mundane. There are limited interactions and minimal customisation options for these rental properties too, which fails to capture players’ interest. Additionally, the pack's features feel like they could have been included in the base game, making it seem like an unnecessary addition. The overall lack of engaging content and innovation leads many players to consider For Rent one of the least appealing expansions in the series.
The Sims 4: Get Together
Despite the promise of social and club interactions, The SIms 4: Get Together falls short due to its lack of substantial content. The club system, while it is interesting, becomes repetitive and boring with limited activities and benefits presented in the gameplay. Not to mention, I was pissed when I got kicked out of someone’s home for cooking, when she invited me round to cook? Make it make sense EA.
The new world of WIndenburg, although beautifully designed, does not offer enough unique gameplay experiences to sustain long term engagement. Players often find that the social interactions and activities introduced in this pack are not compelling enough to justify its pierce tag, hence why Get Together is one of the worst Sims 4 expansion packs.
The Sims 4: High School Years
It’s such a shame that this pack failed us, because there was so much potential for some crazy storylines, but its attempt to capture the excitement of teenage life fell flat. The pack introduced high school routines and events that lack depth and soon become monotonous. The new interactions and activities, while thematically appropriate, offers very limited replay value. After a while, I just stopped following my teenager to school as it got so boring.
Many players felt that the high school experience was not immersive or engaging enough, with repetitive tasks and a lack of meaningful progression, which is a shame as it’s our teenage life which almost shapes up as adults. The overall content feels shallow, leading to disappointment among those hoping for a richer, more dynamic simulation.
The Sims 4: Get Famous
I know that some people may not agree with Get Famous being on a list of the five worst Sims 4 expansion packs, but I personally feel like this game really fails to deliver on a satisfying experience. The fame system, while innovative, becomes tedious with repetitive actions required to maintain your star status.
Even more annoying there is no option to turn off the fame metre, so even if you’re not trying to make your sim famous, you always land up accumulating a star status, which later down the line becomes irritating to maintain and annoying when you lose it. The new world of Del Sol Valley was also criticised for being limited, too baron and lacking engaging activities, I mean come one, this is based on LA- make it exciting!
Its only redeeming feature is the acting career, which has aspiring actors build skills up for the role and audition for parts, then you actually get to act out your part in a fun little mini game- I admit, I loved that. Overall, Get Famous falls short in providing a compelling and enjoyable fame-focused expansion.
