So I’m thinking of finally giving it ago and play the last iteration of the seriea. The base game alone bores, so I’d be interested to hear which packs are worth getting/buying (the list os overwhelming and I might not have enough hard erive space). Do note, I had a taste of vampires, realm of magic and I remember visiting San Myshuno. Should I get these again or should I save my money/time before installing some others first?

(I'll work on this overtime. It's a lot lol)

Keeping in mind that no matter what you buy, the game will still feel incredibly hollow, I will make this tight but very comprehensive, giving feedback for each non-kit piece of content over the past decade.

+ Positive
~ So-So
- Negative

Overall, packs feels very "Different Ways To Play With The Base Game" instead "Play With New Content." You'll notice a pattern...

Is this the whole list of EPS/GPS? I think I’ll go first with City Living, as I feel like Business and Hobbies doesn’t (seem to) bring any World to explore and gameplay depented on other packs, while Life and Death might be boring to play as first EP.

On second thought, I’m on a fence with these three: Get Together And Getaway. I guess what I value in a sims game for me is for my Sims do more stuff, gain skills and make a change to the world.

There are more. I got tired and had to go to work lol this is just EPs. There are around 100 pieces of DLC.

Personally, I hate Get Together but it has items I like and use often (closets, DJ booths, etc.). Adventure Awaits has a TON of every day gameplay items but only offers getaways and custom venues. The items carry the pack a lot. You can also make your customized venues.

Life & Death is a bit boring but doesn’t really kick in until someone dies. However, this is important for wills, ghosts, funerals, etc., which feels necessary now that it exists.

Business & Hobbies has a world but is focuses on business ownership, not exploration.

While I agree with the vast majority of @matrix54 evaluations, there are a few oddities depending on what type of player you are. If a builder, then it's true that For Rent sucks as a Landlord simulator, as well as being buggy, but it has what I've come to regard as a builder, essential items that every venue whether residential or community requires. The water boilers, central heating, air conditioning, electrical box, all that jazz. Every build, needs them, as standard, certainly once you do have the otherwise awful For Rent pack installed. Likewise all the Eco living solar panels, water collectors, wind turbines, all that jazz, as the best complement to the For Rent plumbing and electrical essentials. But only if you are a building nut who needs each job done finished and correct... as standard

Almost forgot, of course Seasons also required, for the all important Thermostat gizmo that ties all of the above mentioned electrical and plumbing essentials together. Plus the hot and cold weather to make all of the above have an actual point. Yep, cannot deny that. If you don't have Seasons, everything I've just said above is pretty much worthless.

I’m also a builder. I enjoy For Rent for the build items. I’m an absolute slut for the cabinets in For Rent. However, I can’t recommend it on good faith.

I also like the build items in Strangerville… but… yikes

I'd look up on Instant Gaming (as Snatch promoted, suggesting it's possibly the only platform that sells the dlc at cheapest price) and so far the affordable for now that might keep me interested I can see is City Living. So I probably will be installing this one Hoping the eye-candy city keeps me entertained, as I heard there's little to do and festivals are annoying.

Though I wonder If I should refrain from purchasing GPs first before expansions packs, or no? Werewolves seems like would be a fun thing to play from the start, than any other pack because I do remember Vampires and ROM kept me hooked to play TS4 at all (Parenthood would be my other vote, but for that I'll have go the cumbersome process of building a family to get the mechanics running). Other packs seem to be very niche or very situation-specific to even start playing them

The only game pack I'd recommend is Dine Out. Maybe Parenthood.

I love Spa Day, but it's very niche. It's very build mode focused, but the gameplay is not for everyone.

I heard running a restaurant is buggy/broken, isn’t it? P.S. Enjoying CL so far. Might post a review about it.

There's Carl's Dine Out Reloaded mod that fixes ALOT of the issues with Dine Out and makes the experience a lot more smooth.

I never bought For Rent and from what I hear I dodged a bullet there with how badly that pack might corrupt your game. Enchanted by Nature also have its annoyances with the Balance and Ailment system. Love Struck has its issues with how it changes the romance system.

I'd recommend Seasons myself. Having weather and holiday events makes the game feel much more alive. I personally think Crystal Creations is a hidden gem, pardon the pun. It pairs nicely with Realm of Magic and the things you can make can help your sims a lot. I also like the Home Chef Hustle pack because it with it, your sims can make pizza and waffles!
I feel like Cottage Living is a nice pack to have if you enjoy gardening and farm life. Growing Together adds a lot of family gameplay and pairs nicely with Parenthood if that's your cup of tea.

I use the Blooming Rooms kit a lot when designing greenhouses myself. I love the flowers and living things it contains The Paranormal game has some fun concepts with haunting houses and being a medium, if you like that. It also adds Bonehilda which is a bonus. Meanwhile Vintage Glamour pack adds butlers... though not much more than that gameplay-wise.

For gameplay, I'd prioritize Seasons, Get Together, and Growing Together. They add features you'll notice in almost every save. If you already enjoyed Vampires and Realm of Magic, they're definitely worth picking up again.

For major gameplay features useful to the simulation, I'd say Get Together, Seasons, and For Rent.


Get Together has the clubs feature, which is great for not only 'controlling' NPCs, but also useful for setting up custom 'cliques'. Also the World of Windenburg is very beautiful and even still to this day has the most lots of any World.

Seasons introduces the obvious, but it's more-or-less a needed pack if you want your worlds to feel more dynamic.

For Rent, while not the greatest pack if you're playing from the landlord perspective, it is useful for if you have a lot of playable custom-made families and are running out of space to build for and house them all.

For content then I'd say the Werewolves pack. I'm not too into the actual werewolf features, and find it very odd half-assed that the werewolves don't have tails, but at least they look better in TS4 than they did in their comically awful TS3 appearance. Only true reason why I suggest this pack is because it comes with a lot of low-wealth poor shabby furniture and a lot of useful Industrial style content for warehouses and lofts.

For kits, I really can't recommend any personally. The basement treasures kit is good for some more shabby furniture too, and the backyard one is good for picket fences... that's all I can say about those.

Also wanted to add that if you like building Windenburg, which comes with Get Together, it is one of the largest worlds with the most lots. So a win in that book. I'm a family player, so I like packs like Parenthood, Growing Together, and Adventure Awaits (just got that one and haven't explored it yet, but the Build/Buy items are a nice addition)

The packs I regret based on my play style, that I have, would be:

Vampires: I find them annoying; I personally don't care for occult anymore, at least in this iteration, and I never visit the world, and they're forgetful to me
Strangerville: Once you finish the "storyline," it's boring, and well, it was only interesting the first time through. Never go there anymore, and I just ignore it completely.
Jungle Adventure: Another one like Strangerville. Once you run through it, it's lackluster and boring. Don't send my sims there anymore.
Island Living: Turned it into a vacation world. That speaks for itself.
Snowy Escape: Will be turning it into a vacation world; it just feels like that's what it should be.


I realize the only reason I got these packs was for the CAS and Build/Buy items. But after consideration, I can do without it. Not worth the items when I'm annoyed by it or don't even use the world, haha.

I feel like Outdoor Retreat should have been combined with Adventure Awaits, and For Rent and City Living are another one that should have been combined. Businesses and hobbies should have been a part of Get to Work.

Last thing I want to add is I was one of the folks that had issues with For Rent. I built apartments in Oasis Springs in one sub-neighborhood; it bugged out and made the world go completely white. The save was corrupted, so I lost my builds and stopped playing for over a year because I was furious. And again, a save I was just building in. Never even got to gameplay like I'm currently doing now.

Also, why does every EP or GP seem to have a world? I don't have everything, and I have like 21 worlds (With the 3 from the base game). Building and renovating has been super exhausting... like please stop already (>_____<)'

Having played City Living (as of so fa4), I can admit it’s not a bad choice, or very least - certainly a safe choice for anyone starting to get into TS4. My only gripe would be that there’s is only one aspiration to choose, is what kept me invested to play the EP when there’s a direction to follow (weakess point of TS4, but hey it can be fun if you have two ya sims in the household. Singing is a meh skill, but the festival I will admit are fun to partake in!

P.S. I wonder if it’s a bug, or is there a reason moving into another apartment unit is only eligible for ‘unfurnished’ option?