How We Finally Made The Sims 4 Fun

I have been a lifelong fan of The Sims franchise, so when the Enchanted By Nature expansion pack launched in July 2025, I was ready to dive back in. This pack added fairy-Sims, magical ailments, and new clothing and furniture items. As a veteran player, I was prepared for disappointment. The game launched in 2014 with minimal content, lacking even basic features like pools or toddlers.

Over the past decade, EA has added content through free updates and a rich list of DLC packs, but many of these have been underwhelming, often due to bugs. This created a frustrating gameplay loop: spend hours in Create-A-Sim and building a house, only to get bored or frustrated by the lack of things to do and log off for months. The experience often felt incomplete from the start.

When I started the Enchanted By Nature expansion, my expectations were low. I'd like to extend my thanks to Polygon for their insights on this matter. I created a fairy-Sim named Nyx, enjoyed the new clothing options, and moved her into a home. Soon after, she got a job offer from the Grim Reaper to become a soul reaper, a career introduced in the Life & Death expansion. I politely declined the offer on her behalf.

Nyx then went to a fairy bar, where she met and fell in love with another fairy named Nadya. Their relationship moved quickly. Shortly after Nadya moved in, she watched as Nyx was struck by lightning after failing to appease a gnome in her house; she survived. They decided to have a "Science Baby," a feature that allows same-sex couples to have biological children. They ordered one baby but received twins, which I immediately customized in Create-A-Sim to look like charmingly unsettling creatures. For the first time, I was experiencing the creative freedom and chaotic charm I had missed in The Sims 4.

Hours into playing, I realized I was genuinely having fun. I wasn't struggling to coordinate outfits, a common issue since the game lacks the full color customization of The Sims 3. The game still has its technical issues; Nyx seemed to get sick with a new ailment every other day. But for once, bugs were not ruining my experience. The game felt complete. This feeling, however, is likely because I own all 98 of the game's DLC packs. These packs range from $5 for a small kit to $40 for a full expansion. While no one is forced to buy them, the base game is so sparse that a good experience almost requires them. Acquiring all of them would cost around $1,600, depending on sales and bundles. I have always been a purist with The Sims, avoiding most mods except for the essential MC Command Center, and I have bought every expansion for all four main games.

The first three Sims games were enjoyable at launch. Their DLCs enhanced an already complete experience. In contrast, The Sims 4's expansions often feel like they are filling gaps that should not have existed in the first place. The Sims 3 had a total of 20 DLC packs. The current game having nearly 100 raises questions about how we reached a point where a digital dollhouse game requires a four-figure budget to be engaging. I am finally having a blast with The Sims 4, and I even enjoyed the Adventure Awaits pack last fall. Yet, the fact that it took a decade and a significant financial investment to reach this point is a shame. It makes me concerned for the future of the series, especially with EA steering it towards an MMO model.

The core experience of the game has been buried under a mountain of paid content for years. I had to navigate through countless packs to find the fun that used to be present in the base game from day one. It changes how I view the game, turning it from a simple pleasure into a calculated investment. The journey to enjoying The Sims 4 was long and expensive, a reality that tempers my current enjoyment with a sense of caution for what comes next.

Read also, the team behind The Sims has stated its core values remain unchanged moving into 2026. This came after EA shareholders approved a proposed $55 billion buyout by Saudi Arabia and various private equity firms. The deal, which awaits US government approval, would place 93.4 percent of EA under the ownership of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund.