The Sims 4: Growing Together expansion gave fans a lot of new content and changed the game in a few different ways.
Since 2014, different packs and kits have added new features to The Sims 4, but most of the updates haven’t paid much attention to family-friendly gaming. The Sims 4: Growing Together didn’t just add new family-related events and features; it also made a huge number of changes that completely changed the way the game is played.
Simmers now have new ways to keep track of milestones, family relationships, compatibility systems, and unique traits for babies. This doesn’t even include the new things and extra perks that The Sims: Growing Together gave Sims this year to make the game more random, exciting, and fun.
Self Discovery
In a game where Sims can be made to act on their own or not, The Sims 4 is not known for having Sims with complicated minds. Sims are known to be clumsy, start fires by mistake, and cause chaos when left alone. This means that players have to carefully plan and keep an eye on their Sims’ lives to keep them from hurting themselves. Because of the urge to control and the fact that Sims could only have a limited number of traits, they all seemed to have the same personality.
With Self Discovery, The Sims 4: Growing Together makes huge steps toward making Sims more unique. Self Discovery is a small addition that has unique benefits. It lets Sims find out on their own what they like, don’t like, or what traits they have as they play. Sims might become “Active” if they work out often, but they can fix every device and still dislike “Handiness” very much. Self-Discovery gives Sims a total of six traits, from “Jealous” to “Squeamish.”
Childhood Aspirations
Some Simmers find kid Sims boring, even though they should be happy. Child Sims are often forgotten by players and The Sims 4 team because they aren’t as hard to take care of as babies and toddlers or as unique as teens. Content for children (clothes, hairstyles, goals, and skills) is rarely updated beyond occasional kits, and childhood can easily become a blur of perfecting homework routines, as the four child goals seem dull and unrewarding.
The Sims 4: Growing Together adds four new child goals, which can help Playtime Captains or Slumber Party Animals get a well-rounded set of skills. In The Sims 4, new goal-oriented aspirations bring back old parts of childhood and push players to invest in their child Sims instead of just skipping to their teens.
Work Rivals And Midlife Crises
In The Sims 4: Growing Together, an adult-only feature called “Midlife Crisis” was added. It works with pre-selected “Aspirations,” which give the player a list of goals that can be reached. You can ignore or work through the four types of crises (Adventure, Success, Creativity, or Relationships) to find new likes and hobbies.
If you thought you could avoid unfair repetition in The Sims 4, you were wrong. Sims who have jobs can now be fired at random if they don’t do a good job and keep their performance high. The ‘Dazed’ moodlet from the Burnout System tells Sims not to work too much, and it’s hard for Sims who are burned out to get promoted. Randomly chosen townie Sims can become work rivals, which can stop a Sim from moving up in their job until the rivalry is resolved.
Social Events
The Baby Shower event celebrates new babies born through pregnancy, adoption, or the new “Science Baby” option, with cute and fun goals and interactions like “guess the baby’s future career” and “suggest a baby name.” Family gathering can cost a lot of money. 200 Simoleons to see family members that Sims normally get to see for free. But it does say to take pictures of your family and have dinners together.
With a Stay Over, any Sim can be asked for the first time to an official sleepover with sleeping bags, suitcases, snacks, and stories. There are no more fake calls, scary movies, hot chocolate, or teddies at sleepovers.
New Items
The Sims 4: Growing Together was the first game to have the Keepsake Box. It was an item that only elders could use to take special items to give to younger relatives. Elders use the box to change Family Dynamics by thinking about things that are important to the family.
For many Sims players, building a tree house is like going back to their youth. In a tree house, kids can play make-believe games like “house” or have sleepovers. Tree houses can be designed and enjoyed by people of all ages. Adult Sims who use tree houses as a place to Woohoo might enjoy them a little too much. Splash Pads, the new water park feature, adds to beaches and swimming pools. Finally, caregivers can teach young Sims how to ride bikes.
Infant And Toddler Quirks
One thing that makes babies and toddlers unexpected, cute, and hard to play are their habits. Randomly given quirks are found at both stages of life, making each baby and toddler unique (and annoying) in its own way. Some quirks are cute, like “Little Babbler” for happy babies who talk a lot, “Loves to be held,” or “Self Soother.” Some are dirty and can make babies spit up, hiccup, sneeze, or have accidents in their diapers.
Challenges like ‘Snuggly Sleeper’ are cute but hard to deal with because they make babies only want to sleep in their parents’ arms. Some babies may really hate being held. Toddlers can be “aggressive,” which means they are likely to bite and hit. This brings the real-life horrors of being a parent into the Sims game.
Family Dynamics
Ever wanted your Sims to be estranged from their parents, fight with their brothers, or fight with their in-laws? Simmers can now decide in CAS how their Sims will get along with every family member or find out as they play. Parents, grandparents, or brothers can now be “Supportive” to younger Sims by giving them compliments and praise often. “Permissive” parents don’t punish their kids for bad behavior, so they grow up to be uncontrolled brats.
‘Strict’ Parents are quick to punish bad behavior, which makes stressed-out kid Sims feel even worse. The ‘Difficult’ dynamic makes for a toxic atmosphere where insults and meanness come up out of the blue. Family relationships can be used to tell more complex stories while playing. Try making “Jokesters,” which are socially awkward Sims who deal with their family by making them laugh. Or, players might want to recreate the hostile environment at Privet Drive by giving Sim Harry Potter and the Dursleys the “Difficult” family dynamic. Stop Sim families from acting like roommates, and give awkward Thanksgiving meals for Sims a more real feel.
Conversation Topics
Players who want their Sims to have more depth can now change things like whether a shy Sim hates praise or prefers small talk. Sims will get upset if you talk about things they don’t like, but they will be easy to charm if you talk about things they do like. Conversation topic preferences are a small addition that lets Happy Wheels players make more difficult situations by picking conversation topics that don’t go together.
Maybe one Sim likes acting silly but hates dirty jokes. Maybe a Sim likes to flirt but hates getting close. Or, a Sim might hate cheesy pick-up lines but want to be touched. Everyone has a different way of showing love.
Sim Characteristics And Compatibility
How can a player tell if two Sim characters like each other or would be happy if they got married? Or if someone like Mortimer Goth should be Nancy Landgraab’s friend? Throughout the Sims series, players often forced Sims to get together. They knew that if they spammed enough flirty interactions, their lonely Sim could meet an NPC, fall in love, get married, and have a kid on the way by dinner time. Who could tell if Sims were in love or just roommates who sometimes kiss?
With Sim Characteristics and Sim Compatibility, a big change was made in The Sims 4: Growing Together. This made it easier to see who should hang out with whom. In CAS, players can choose their own tastes to see if their Sim can get along with “funny,” “romantic,” or “argumentative” Sims, for example. This major change affects the new Sim Compatibility system. Based on their traits, Sims can have “Awful Compatibility” or “Amazing Compatibility” with anyone they meet. With Sim Compatibility, players can finally pair up Sims and NPCs who really like each other. No more picking partners and friends based on how easy they are to get along with.
Milestones
Players would often look for a paper trail of memories to remember how busy their Sims’ lives were. Sims can keep track of all of their Milestones, from their first smile to their first steps to their first love to their first job and everything in between.
Unfinished gray milestones can be worked on or ignored as unnecessary lessons for the Sim. When a Sim reaches a Milestone, he or she may get a chance to do something in a later life stage. However, if the Milestone is bad, it will affect the Sim’s mood throughout his or her life. Every memory matters, which makes the player’s choices in the game more important and useful.
The Sims 5 is being made.