There are dozens of Sims 4 DLCs and it can be a dang headache trying to keep track of which expansions, game packs, and stuff packs are actually the best additions to the game. That's especially true now, when several packs have overlapping themes and there's a new, even smaller DLC type called Kits compounding the confusion.
Sims 4 cheats: Life hacks
Sims 4 mods: Play your way
Sims 4 CC: Custom content
Sims 5: What we know
Sims 4 building tips: Renovate
Sims 4 challenges: New rules
Now that the Sims 4 base game has gone free to play, you can try it out before deciding if you want to spend money on DLC. If you do take the plunge, this list of the best Sims 4 DLCs will guide you toward the most valuable add-ons.
Here's what to expect from a Sims 4 DLC: New worlds are their own neighborhoods (some bigger than others) with buildable lots and usually community areas too. "CAS" items are all the Create-A-Sim additions like hairstyles, clothes, and other Sim customization. Build/Buy mode items are furniture, décor, fixtures, and sometimes landscaping. Gameplay additions can really range from big to small, but we'll outline what the pack actually does in each case.
One final note: Sims 4 DLCs go on sale quite often, so if you want to save a little money, wait for discounts to show up and then reference this page to make sure you're getting the most for your money.
Best Sims 4 Expansions
Growing Together
Price: $40/£35 | Includes: New world, CAS items, Build/Buy items, gameplay
💸 Goes on sale for: $20 (50% off)
This expansion is fun for the whole family, literally. Unlike the Parenthood game pack, Growing Together adds new gameplay for all of your Sim life stages from infants to elders. There are life milestones to unlock, family dynamics to help dictate how they get along, and events to manage like visiting family members. This one is a great pack for gameplay, especially for those who want to be prompted with ways to tell stories instead of dictating everything themselves.
San Sequoia is a pretty solid new world with a couple starter homes, multiple empty lots, and some family oriented public lots to hang out at. The build mode items aren't really must haves—though the tree house is pretty cool—but the Create-A-Sim items add lots of styles for kids.
High School Years
Price: $40/£35 | Includes: New world, CAS items, Build/Buy items, gameplay
💸 Goes on sale for: $20 (50% off)
While several of The Sims 4 expansions are the newest take on expansions from past games, High School Years is a first time experience for the series. You can finally attend school with your teenage Sims, directing them through all its highs and lows: social media, prom, homework, sneaking out their bedroom windows. The new school lot type is a great challenge for players who love building, with tons of new furniture fit for the classroom and plenty for your teen Sims' bedrooms too. All the CAS clothing additions are on the trendy side, which is fitting for the new ability to thrift clothes and set style trends. Oh, and this pack brought body hair to the base game for the first time, with lots of specific CAS options in the expansion itself.
Discover University
Price: $40/£35 | Includes: New world, CAS items, Build/Buy items, gameplay
💸 Goes on sale for: $16 (60% off)
College life is when you're supposed to experiment, and this expansion gives your sims lots to do as they work towards their degree. Not only does this pack have some of the best Create-A-Sim items in the game, it's nice to take a break from managing a household to hang around on campus and get whisked away into some student shenanigans. There are two universities to choose between and each has a unique culture to soak up. Naturally, this pack is filled with new careers and skills, including branches into the Law, Education, and Engineering sectors.
Get Together
Price: $40/£35 | Includes: New world, CAS items, Build/Buy items, gameplay
💸 Goes on sale for: $16-20 (50-60% off)
This expansion really doesn't get enough love for the big world and really versatile gameplay it adds. Creating clubs is its main feature, which is a way bigger boost to my Sims' lives than I'd anticipated. It's just so hard to meet neighbors and new friends for your families in ways that don't feel weird. I could take or leave the nightlife clubbing stuff (DJ and dancing skills) but the actual hobby clubs are pretty darn versatile. They also give you a quest-like experience of unlocking club perks, visiting the hangout spot, and group activities.
On top of that, the Windenburg world has a ton of lots. It packs in 14 residential lots and a whopping 13 public lots ranging from parks to bars to gyms. It's great for getting all your existing Sims in other neighborhoods out into the world beyond their front doors.
Seasons
Price: $40/£35 | Includes: CAS items, Build/Buy items, Gameplay
💸 Goes on sale for: $16 (60% off)
Seasons sounds like it could just cover the weather, but there are plenty of holidays and seasonal activities to get stuck into as well. In Autumn/Fall it's great to take part in the wholesome Harvestfest festivities, cook a big feast, and watch as pesky Holiday Gnomes spring up in your house. Love Day, Winterfest, and New Year's Eve are scattered across the rest of the year to persuade us to splash the cash on some decorations, open presents, and celebrate. There are even surprise holidays like 'Prank Day', and smaller hobbies to try like flower arranging.
Considering we're on the fourth instalment of the Sims, you'd think Seasons would be baked into the base game at this point. Sadly, we still need to part with our hard-earned pennies to experience dynamic weather. It's definitely worth it to trudge through snow in puffy coats and see the look on your Sim's face when they're scared of thunder.
Cats & Dogs
Price: $40/£35 | Includes: New world, CAS items, Build/Buy items, gameplay
💸 Goes on sale for: $16 (60% off)
The name gives it away, and if you're an animal lover this is a must-buy. Not only can you create the perfect pooches and kitties, you can customise their coats to have green spots, or pink boots, if that's your thing. This expansion adds Brindleton Bay to your neighbourhood, an area that's brimming with parks that are perfect for walking your pets. If you're keen to make petcare your sim's priority, you can also follow the veterinarian career path, and build your own clinic, which is a lot easier than the five years you'd have to spend studying in real life.
Best Sims 4 Game Packs and Stuff Packs
Crystal Creations
Price: $10/£9 | Includes: CAS items, Build/Buy items, gameplay
💸 Goes on sale for: $8 (20% off)
Becoming a gemologist in Crystal Creations is a flawless example of how Stuff Packs are some of the best value DLC for The Sims 4. Your Sims can forage their own crystals around the neighborhood or buy materials then get to work crafting at a gemology table and either wear or sell their creations. Different gems impart mood buffs and other benefits for your Sims and honestly sometimes it feels like I'm crafting my own cheat codes. You can turn jewelry crafting into a new side hustle or propose to your beloved with a ring you forged yourself too.
Home Chef Hustle
Price: $10/£9 | Includes: CAS items, Buy Mode items, gameplay
💸 Goes on sale for: $8 (20% off)
Like Crystal Creations, Home Chef Hustle adds new gameplay that you can turn into gigs for your Sims. There isn't a lot of Buy Mode stuff here, but the new kitchen appliances like the stand mixer, pizza oven, and waffle iron are all used for whipping up new recipes that you can sell at a customizable food stall. Even when I don't engage in the "hustle" part of Home Chef Hustle, I pretty much always make use of its kitchen clutter and appliances.
Realm of Magic
Price: $20/£18 | Includes: Small world, CAS items, Build/Buy items, gameplay
💸 Goes on sale for: $12-14 (30-40% off)
Realm of Magic is up there with Werewolves on the list of occult packs I think are worth grabbing. The Glimmerbrook world itself is really small but the magical realm it adds for your spellcasters to explore is honestly very fun. Magic school, dueling grounds, and magic market all in one, I'm constantly sending my spellcaster Sims there to hang out and learn potions and spells from their sages. Like Werewolves, Spellcasters have their own leveling track and unlockable rewards to earn as they progress in their magical abilities. Magical Sims can study up to make their lives easier with magical cleaning and cooking or just make mischief by setting stuff on fire, it's totally up to you.
StrangerVille
Price: $20/£18 | Includes: Small world, CAS items, Build/Buy items, gameplay
💸 Goes on sale for: $12-14 (30-40% off)
While some DLCs are more open-ended, StrangerVille is one that really wants to tell you a story and it's genuinely fun. It's all very Area 51 with government agents, military training, and a mysterious secret lab. By giving your Sim the "StrangerVille Mystery" aspiration in Create-A-Sim you'll go on a journey to figure out why everyone in this town is acting so suspicious. Although the Buy Mode objects don't feel enticing, I do find myself using the very stylish windows and doors in my builds across other worlds.
Werewolves
Price: $20/£18 | Includes: New world, CAS items, Build/Buy items, gameplay
💸 Goes on sale for: $12-14 (30-40% off)
Like Vampires, the Sims 4 Werewolves pack includes a new paranormal form and a new neighborhood. This is a pretty killer DLC, adding lots of new CAS clothes and hairstyles, new cabin aesthetic décor, and a customizable werewolf form that borrows the pretty expansive fur editing choices from the Cats & Dogs expansion. There's new Werewolf gameplay that forces you to manage your rage so you don't involuntarily change, two rival werewolf pack factions to join, and a pretty cool community, too. The neighborhood is much bigger than it appears. Although there are only five editable lots (one empty, one starter home, two community lots, and an inhabited house) there's tons of community space to freely explore, including the two werewolf pack hangout spots.
Tiny Living
Price: $10/£9 | Includes: CAS items, Build/Buy items, gameplay
💸 Goes on sale for: $6-7 (30-40% off)
Andy couldn't stop building tiny houses when this expansion launched, and Chris got creative as he tried to cram everything into his titchy builds. If City Living's huge apartments are feeling a bit echoey and you're looking for a challenge, this stuff pack will make you question what you really need in your living quarters. There are pull-down beds and genius space-saving items in the build/buy menu. The Create-A-Sim additions also look super cute and comfortable.
While this is one of the cheaper add-ons, it offers exceptional value for money as it shakes up the gameplay and feels very different to how a lot of us usually approach the Sims. Rather than save up our Simoleons to fill our space with pretty junk, it encourages us to furnish a cosy home with the essentials.
Paranormal
Price: $10/£9 | Includes: CAS items, Build/Buy items, gameplay
💸 Goes on sale for: $6-7 (30-40% off)
Whether you're dead set on ghost hunting, or want to have a chat with some friendly spirits, you'll need this stuff pack to get your Paranormal Investigator license. Just like Tiny Living, this DLC is surprisingly reasonable for the content it offers. The Ghost Hunter profession that we first tried in The Sims 3 has been resurrected here, and haunted houses have been added as a new lot type. It's fair to say that performing seances changes the course of your daily routine, and it's a blast from the past reuniting with Makin' Magic's Bonehilda.
