With The Sims 4 base game becoming free on all platforms including EA, Steam, PlayStation, and Xbox, I wanted to rank the 12 expansion packs for The Sims 4 including the latest High School Years expansion pack. There are frequently 50% off sales as well as bundles with the expansion packs that you can buy for the base game. I will not include the game packs, stuff packs, or kits in this ranking as I only have a handful of those, but I do own and have played through all the expansion packs.

For the rankings, I will include information on the worlds, careers, build mode, Create-a-Sim (CAS), and any other gameplay elements to determine which expansion packs are worth the money, which ones should you wait for a sale, and which ones you are better off without.

#12 Get to Work

Get to Work is the first expansion pack released for The Sims 4. The pack allows sims to run their own business and it introduces three active careers: Doctor, Detective, and Scientist. The pack also adds the worlds of Magnolia Promenade with 4 retail lots and Sixam, which is a secret alien world. As far as skills, both photography and baking skills are included in the pack.

Worlds

Magnolia Promenade is not that exciting since there are only 4 lots with 3 lots having pre-built stores. The stores include a toy store, a clothing store, and a combination of a clothing and furniture store. You can use the empty lot to build your own store or renovate or bulldoze the other lots.

Since Get to Work added aliens, there is a secret world that can only be accessed by sims who maxed the rocket science skill or reached level 10 in the Scientist career. It is much easier to max the rocket science skill, but the rocket ship is expensive. Reaching level 10 in the Scientist career is doable, but it takes much longer to do. At Sixam, you can meet aliens and get collectibles.

Careers

Doctor

The Doctor career is an active career in that you can join your sim at work and you have various tasks to do for the day such as checking and treating patients and talking with coworkers. The hospital lot is a hidden lot and you can only access it when your sim is at work or if your sim is having a baby. The Doctor career is fine, and at first, there is not much you can do. Once you get promoted, you unlock more and more to do such as diagnosing sims, doing x-rays, and performing surgery.

I found diagnosing sims challenging especially when you have done all the tests and checks, but you are left with 2-3 possible illnesses. I had to use a guide because I had no idea what the different illnesses were and what animation patient sims would do when they had that illness. Also, I kept waiting for the patient’s animations to get a clearer view of what was wrong, but the animation would never happen and they would just sit on the exam bed the whole time. There are emergencies that can happen such as a patient collapsing in the hospital or your sim having to go to a house call. I did like the house call because you could get outside of the hospital.

Detective

The Detective career is an active career like the Doctor, and you have the hidden lot of a police station. The main task of the Detective career is to solve cases by visiting crime scenes that are actual sims houses in the game, and one time I had to go to the Goth house. At the crime scenes, you find clues, take pictures, and interview witnesses. You then go back to the police station and analyze evidence and find clues on who the suspect is, and when you have enough clues, you can arrest the sim and interrogate them at the police station. The sim will then confess if they are guilty and the case will be closed.

There are other tasks at the police station including taking mugshots and fingerprints as well as searching suspects that are in the holding cell. You can also go on patrol, but it was my least favorite thing to do because you are taken to a neighborhood and you just have to watch sims and give them a citation if they fight with another sim or litter. It can take HOURS of your sim’s day before finding a sim to give a citation to. I do think the Detective career is more exciting than the Doctor and Scientist careers because there are more things to do and you are not stuck at the police station all the time.

Scientist

The Scientist career is the third active career added, and there is the hidden lot of the lab. There are different tasks to do such as inventing objects like the SimRay (freezes sims then later you can upgrade it to do more like mind control sims), creating serums that affect the sim’s mood or needs, analyzing plants, metal, and crystals, and talking to coworkers. I found the Scientist career a bit boring because you are stuck in the lab the whole time. The inventions are a fun addition, but I do not really use them outside of the lab like I am not going around freezing sims. You do have special days such as a collecting day where you go around collecting resources, but they are not really that exciting.

Running a Store

When I was playing through the active careers, I had my sim start building wooden statues with the woodworking table during their days off from work. When I had a decent collection, I decided to make a store to sell them. I choose the empty lot in Magnolia Promenade as it is only §3000, but you can use any lot and change the lot type to retail. I then built a small store and set the statues for sale.

You do need to use your household funds to build and furnish a store, so you should have a decent amount set aside. The only requirement for a retail store is a cash register, so you are free to do whatever you want. I find it useful to have a toilet, shower, and fridge for the sim’s needs, and a bed is also useful so you do not have to travel back and forth from your home lot to your store all the time. For my store, I did the normal 25% markup, but you can choose a higher or lower markup.

In 1 game day, my sim made §724 by selling 15 wood statues. The amount is not bad because your sim only makes §100-200 when starting out in a career. However, the issue with retail stores is you have to keep up with the stock. I only had around 5 items left so if wanted to sell 15 items the next day, I would have to work on making more wood statues or pay a high restocking fee. However, you can use the retail stores to pretty much sell any items your sims have made to items in build mode.

You do not have to have 1 theme and you can sell a variety of items in the same store. The Get to Work build mode does include mannequins to sell clothes and a refrigerated display case and vending display to sell food and baked goods so if you want to run a clothing store or a bakery, you can easily do so especially since the baking skill was added with the pack.

Build mode

As you can imagine, the build mode is for the retail stores, the hospital, the police station, and the lab. You most likely will not use many of the items outside of the pack. Unless you are specifically building a retail store or renovating one of the hidden lots, the build mode is not that useful.

CAS

For CAS, one of the main features is creating alien sims. Alien sims will have an alien form and a disguise that looks like a regular sim. You will be able to pick outfits for both forms. There are also a decent amount of hairs for adults added, but only a few I would use. There are not that many clothes, and there is some casualwear, but mostly it is businesswear and outfits for aliens. Also, there is not much for kids, but that makes sense since this pack is focused on jobs for adult sims.

Overall Thoughts

Get to Work is not a good pack. The active careers are fine, but they can get boring and repetitive quickly. When I have more than 1 sim in my household, I occasionally send them to work alone so I can focus on my other sims and what they need to do for their own promotions. To me, the world is pointless and I never take my sims shopping there because there is really no point to go shopping and pay a markup when you can buy everything from the build catalog or simply use a mirror or dresser to change your sims clothes. Unless you are interested in one of the careers or you love aliens, I do not recommend buying Get to Work.

#11 Get Famous

Get Famous is the 6th expansion pack released for The Sims 4. The pack adds a celebrity system, an acting career, and acting and media production skills. The new world Del Sol Valley is inspired by Los Angeles and Hollywood and catered towards filmmaking and the famous Sims.

World

Del Sol Valley includes 11 lots that are divided into 3 neighborhoods. The Starlight Boulevard neighborhood has 5 community lots including 2 lounges, a gym, a museum, and a national park. The Mirage Park neighborhood has 3 residential lots with 2 starter homes and an empty lot. Lastly, the Pinnacles neighborhood has 3 residential lots where rich celebrities Sims live. The world definitely feels lacking because there are so few lots compared to other packs like Cats & Dogs which has 16 lots. Since the world is inspired by Los Angeles and Hollywood, it could have been better if there were apartments or houses on the beach. Also, there are only starter homes and homes that are §200,000+ in the world, so it would have been nice if there was a neighborhood with mid-priced homes.

Career

Acting

The acting career is an active career like those in Get to Work. In the acting career, your sim will audition for gigs, which will have a recommended skill and level such as charisma, fitness, or guitar, as well as tasks for your sim to do. Your sim will then go off to a rabbit hole location for the audition, and if they have high enough skills and did the daily tasks, they are more likely to be accepted for the gig. When your sim is accepted, they will then do a movie or commercial. The set is a hidden lot just like the hospital, lab, and police station in Get to Work, and you can follow your sim there. You can also send your sim to work by themselves, but their performance will not be as good.

When you are at the gig, will have a list of tasks like getting into hair and makeup, putting on a costume, getting to know someone on set, and telling the director your sim is ready. On the set, you will go through several steps, and you can choose for your sim to do a risky or a safe move. When the gig is done, your sim will receive money and fame. At first, the gigs are low paying, but as you successfully complete jobs and move up in the acting career, your sim will earn more money. The acting career is fine, but it can definitely start feeling repetitive because there is a limited number of gigs so you are bound to repeat them and do the same exact commercial again and again.

Drama Club

In regards to kids and teens sims, they can join the after-school activity of drama club. The sims will go to rabbit hole meetings after school on Monday-Friday. To rank up in drama club levels, your sims will need to work on acting and creativity skills and learn new lines. The club also has daily tasks like practicing acting or dramatics in the mirror or learning new lines in the mirror or with another sim, and they will gain a little fame.

Fame

Fame is added to the pack and there are 5 different star levels for celebrity sims. Each star level unlocks new interactions with other sims, and sims can gain fame by being an actor, streaming, posting on social media, selling books, selling paintings, playing an instrument, singing, performing a comedy routine, and more. The fame system is fine, but I personally do not care to make my sims celebrities.

Build Mode

The build mode is focused on midcentury and luxurious furniture. I am more likely to use the midcentury furniture outside of the pack in other builds, but for the luxurious and high-tech furniture like a sleeping pod, I am much less likely to use it. The build mode also does have movie and film equipment, props, and set pieces, and the pack includes two streaming drones that can follow your sims around, and they will gain followers and fame when streaming. I do like the exotic water garden because you can stock it with sharks and piranha.

CAS

CAS includes A LOT of costumes, but there are a few everyday wear pieces including shirts and dresses for adult sims. Adult sims also get some new hair. Kids do not get much, and there are only 4 jacket tops and 2 full-body outfits. Toddlers only get 2 tops and a pair of pants. I find CAS lacking because outside of the acting career, my sims will not wear most of the outfits. Kids and toddlers do not get much, but that is not really surprising since the main focus of the pack is getting fame or doing the acting career, which is only for adult sims.

Overall Thoughts

I do not like Get Famous. I am disappointed by the world because it is so small and I am also disappointed by CAS because most of it is just costumes. The acting career is fine, but it does get repetitive with the same gigs. I also do not care for the fame system, and I do not recommend the pack unless you want to make your sims famous or you like to idea of having them be an actor.

#10 Island Living

Island Living is the 7th expansion pack released for The Sims 4. The pack is inspired by the Polynesian culture and focuses on island life, exploring the ocean, enjoying various beach activities, and relaxation. The pack also includes mermaids as a playable life state.

World

Island Living features the world Sulani which has 3 islands with 14 lots. The Ohan’li Town island has 6 lots including 4 residential homes, a beach, and a bar. The Lani St. Taz island has 5 lots with 3 homes, a beach, and an empty lot. Lastly, the Mua Pel’am island has 3 lots including 2 homes and an empty lot. I LOVE the world, and I love having a beach house on the water and sims to be able to swim all around the islands. Some of the prebuilt lots like Adimaral’s Wreckage are unique because it looks like a shipwreck, but the basement is the actual living area.

Career

Conservationist

The conservationist career is a work-from-home career in that your sims can work from home or go to work. Stay-at-home tasks can be to research conversation, spread conversation, and spray invasive species (you have to do this in Sulani where red algae appear in the water, and survey the algae before you can spray it). The career focuses on the logic skill and spreading conservation awareness. At level 7, you can choose to be an environmental manager or marine biologist. Both focus on the logic skill, but the environmental manager also needs the charisma skill while the marine biologist also needs the fitness skill.

The pack also includes part-time jobs which are just rabbit hole jobs. They are fine if you need extra money, but you are better off with a full-time job for your sims.

Build Mode

The build mode includes wicker and wooden furniture that very much fits the tropical island vibes. Build mode also includes items for the beach including canoes, jet skis, float loungers, and beach towels. There are shacks for food and beach necessities. I would not use a lot of the items outside the pack because they are very much for island houses, but there are some exceptions like the counters for the kitchen, which I have used in other builds in different worlds.

CAS

CAS has a lot of beach tropical wear with short sleeves, tank tops, shorts, skirts, and swimwear. Most of the full-body outfits are for feminine sims. There are some clothes for kids, but again the focus is on feminine sims, and there are even fewer clothes for toddlers. There are some new hairs, but only 2 new hairs are for kids. I would not have my sims wear beach wear outside of the pack because if my sims are living in the desert of Oasis Spring or in the snow world Mt. Komorebi, the style would not fit.

You can also create mermaid sims in CAS or you can find mermaid kelp and eat it. The mermaid sim will have a mermaid form which is just an added mermaid tail. However, besides the aesthetic of having a mermaid tail when the sim is swimming, there is not really much to do as a mermaid. Your mermaid sim can summon azure dolphins and have a few special interactions with sims, but that is it. In The Sims 4 game packs where you have occult sims like vampires, werewolves, and spellcasters, you have a skill tree to work through, but for mermaids, there is nothing and I find mermaids pointless.

Overall Thoughts

I am disappointed by Island Living. The world of Sulani is beautiful, and I love that you can go swimming in the water and even build homes on the water, but there is not much else to do in the pack. Mermaids are more for aesthetics because they lack a skill tree. Besides the beaches, the only other community lot in Sulani is a bar. At the beach, you have some activities you can do like jet skiing and building sandcastles, but diving is a rabbit hole, and the only career is the conservationist. There is not much gameplay in this pack compared to other packs, so if Island Living interests you, I would definitely wait for a sale.

#9 Get Together

Get Together is the 2nd expansion pack released for The Sims 4. The pack focuses on socializing, partying, and creating and managing clubs, and it includes the European-inspired world Windenburg. Both the DJ and dancing skills were added to the pack.

World

I love the world of Windenburg and there are a total of 27 lots including 12 homes, 2 empty lots, 2 bars, 2 nightclubs, 2 cafes, a gym, pool, library, park, chalet gardens, ancient ruins, and island bluff. The lots are divided into 4 neighborhoods with Olde Platz being an older neighborhood with community lots and Lykke Centre being more modern with community lots. The Windslar neighborhood includes homes in the countryside while The Crumbling Isle is a separate island with modern homes.

Clubs

The main focus of Get Together is clubs. Your sim can join a pre-made club or you can create your own club. You can add 8 sims to a club, set requirements to join such as the age of sims, careers, and marital status, and decide on activities to do and not to do. The clubs are great if you created a new sim and you want them to quickly get to know other sims because, with a click of a button, you can start a gathering. For club gatherings, you can set a lot where the gatherings will take place.

During the club gatherings, you will gain club points that you can use to gain perks for the club members. You can make a club for pretty much anything such as friend groups for kids and teens sims, a dance club where sims dance and gain in that skill, or a fishing club. Other club ideas can be making an art club, gardening club, gaming club, movie club, or swimming club (like I did in this save). I think the club system is fine and it can definitely be useful to quickly find a group of friends for your sims.

Build mode

A lot of the build mode does have an older European home feel with the windows, doors, wallpaper, and flooring. The furniture is a mix of older elegant furniture with modern sleek furniture. There are also dance floors, DJ booths, a game table, and new items for the pool like a diving board. Get Together also has a lot of cafe items to build your own cafe.

CAS

CAS has a good amount of new hair and clothes for adult sims. There are some cute clothes, but some I would not use. There is a mix of everyday wear and outfits for bars and nightclubs. Also, there are a few different outfits too like a knight outfit, but kids have a smaller selection of new clothes.

Overall Thoughts

I love the world of Windenburg because it is huge and there are so many lots including community lots. I also like the build mode and the mix of old and new. The club system is good especially because you can make a club for anything and you can quickly have your sim get to know other sims. I do think Get Together is a fine pack, but I would wait for a sale.

#8 Eco Lifestyle

Eco Lifestyle is the 9th expansion pack released for The Sims 4. The pack focuses on sustainable living, renewable energy, and crafting. The pack introduces the new world of Evergreen Harbor and adds new skills in fabrication and juice fizzing.

World

Evergreen Harbor is an industrial coastal town. There are 15 lots that are divided among 3 neighborhoods and each neighborhood has its own community space. The Grims Quarry neighborhood has 2 residential lots, 2 apartments, and a community space. Port Promise has 3 residential lots, a bar, and a community space while Confier Station has 2 residential lots, 2 apartments, and a community space.

The community spaces are different than community lots in other worlds because you can vote on how the community lot should be. The default community space is abandoned, but you can vote to make it a community garden (an area for gardening), a maker space (an area with a recycling machine, fabrication, candlemaking, and juice fizzing), or a marketplace (an area with tables to sell items). You can also edit the community spaces and build each version of the community space yourself.

Eco Lifestyle also added neighborhood action plans, which is where you and other sims vote for plans that will affect the neighborhood. There are 19 different action plans ranging from power and water conversation to free love and we wear bags. The neighborhood action plans can be a pain if you forget to vote or turn them off in-game because you can be stuck with a plan that you do not like. It is difficult to get the action plan repealed without cheats because have to get 5 signatures from other sims to repeal it, but it is random which sims will sign it. However, neighborhood action plans are available in all worlds and neighborhoods outside the pack too.

Careers

Civil Designer

The civil designer is a work-from-home career, but your sim can go to work. The focus is on the logic and handiness skills. At level 4 of the career, you can choose between a civic planner or a green technician. The civic planner needs logic and charisma skills and to gain influence points while the green technician needs logic and fabrication skills and fabricate eco-upgrade parts. If you work from home, the tasks can be to perform a handiness or eco parts upgrade on an appliance, acquire recycled materials, draft a municipal concept, and submit a municipal report. It is a fine career and I do like that the green technician path uses the fabrication skill.

Build Mode

The furniture in Eco Lifestyle has an upcycled look. There is a lot of wooden furniture and there is even hidden furniture that your sim can fabricate with the home fabricator including beds, tables, chairs, couches, a dresser, a bookshelf, and decor. Build mode items are also given an eco-footprint value, and the less eco-footprint you build with, the cleaner the environment will be while building with higher eco-footprint items, the environment will have smog.

There are also water collectors, solar panels, and wind turbines that are good if you want your sim to be off-the-grid. There is also a fizzing station to make your own juice as well as a candle-making table to make candles. You can sell juice and candles at a market table. There are also some interesting items including a bug motel where you can use the bugs for cricket flour or biofuel, a vertical garden where you can grow a meat wall, and a dumpster, which is great for doing rags to riches because you can find food, furniture, and money by dumpster diving.

CAS

CAS is focused on streetwear as well as clothes with a DIY/repaired look with patches, rips, and tears in the clothing. Kids have a few clothes, but they are more casual, and there is a cute patchwork dress. Toddlers have even fewer clothes, but there is a cute overall dress. There are some new hairs for adults and a few hair for kids, but none for toddlers.

Overall Thoughts

Eco Lifestyle is an interesting pack because it is so different from any other packs The Sims have released. I do like the world and having community spaces that you can vote for. The neighborhood action plans are a nice idea, but I find them a pain to play with. I also like the build mode and CAS because there is an upcycled look and a focus on DIY. I do like the pack, but I would recommend waiting for a sale.

#7 Discover University

Discover University is the 8th expansion pack released for The Sims 4. The pack re-introduces the college experience for young adults and older sims and adds robots, roommates, new careers, and the new campus world of Britechester where two rival universities are located. The pack also added the robotics and research and debate skills.

World

Britechester is divided into 3 neighborhoods with 13 lots. Both Foxbury Institute and the University of Britechester have 4 lots with 3 university housing lots and the commons. Gibbs Hill is more residential and it has 5 lots including 3 homes, a library, and a bar.

Careers

Education

The first career added to Discover University is the education career, which is a work-from-home or go-to-work career. The education career needs the research and debate, logic, and charisma skills. Work-from-home tasks can be asking another sim to volunteer time, researching a topic, creating a lesson plan, or tutoring a student online. At level 6 of the career, you choose between the administrative branch or the professor branch. Both branches need the research and debate skill, but administrative needs the charisma skill while the professor needs the logic skill. The education career is a fine career and I do like that there is the option of working from home.

Law

The law career is also a work-from-home or go-to-work career. The focus is on the research and debate, logic, and charisma skills. Work-from-home tasks can include researching the current case, filing court documents, attending the deposition, and meeting a prospective client. At level 4, you have to pass the lawyer’s exam to be promoted, which my sim passed on the first try. At level 8, you choose between the judge branch or the private attorney branch. Both branches need the research and debate skill, but the judge needs the logic skill while the attorney needs the charisma skill. I think the law career is a fine career like the education career.

Engineer

The last career added to Discover University is the engineer career, which is also a work-from-home or go-to-work career. The career focuses on the robotics, programming, and handiness skills. Work-from-home tasks include practicing programming, reviewing diagnostics, and writing product reports. At level 7 of the career, you choose between the computer engineer or mechanical engineer branches. Both need the robotics skill, but the computer engineer needs the programming skill and the mechanical engineer needs the handiness skill. Out of the careers in Discover University, I find the engineer career the most fun and intriguing because you often work at the robotics workstation where you can build a utili-bot, a robo-arm, and a servo bot.

Degrees

There are 13 degrees available in Discover University including

• Art History
• Biology
• Communication
• Computer Science
• Culinary Arts
• Drama
• Economics
• Fine Art
• History
• Language and Literature
• Physics
• Psychology
• Villainy

Foxbury Institute has more science-based degrees while Britechester University has more art-based degrees. After enrolling in university, your sim can take 1-4 classes per semester, and your sim needs 12 classes to graduate. There are scholarships available based on what world your sim lives in. Also, if your sim has a high enough skill like the fitness skill, they can get a scholarship if your sim joins the soccer team. Your sim can also get loans if the household funds are not enough to pay for classes.

Classes

Each term lasts 5 in-game weekdays, and your sim will have each class 2-3 days a week for 1 hour and 25 minutes. After each class, your sim will have homework. Each class will also have a final on the last day of class, and the final can be taking the final exam (which happens during the last class), giving a presentation (your sim will be given a presentation board to work on), or submitting term paper (you sim writes the term paper on the computer). Classes are rabbit holes, but your sim will actively be doing homework or working on the final presentation and term paper.

Organizations and Sports Teams

Both Foxbury Institute and Britechester University have 3 organizations your sim can join, and they can only join the organizations at their own university. Foxbury has the Spirit Squad, Bot Savants, and The Brainiacs organizations, while Britechester has the Spirit Corps, Debate Guild, and Art Society. Your sim can join an organization by finding a current member and asking them to join, and the easiest way to find a member is at one of their events. Along with the organizations, there are 2 sports teams your sim can join.

Spirit Squad – The Spirit Squad hosts the spirit day, game day party, and bar night events. After joining, your sim will be given tasks like putting up banners on the sports arena, taking a selfie with the mascot, and pranking the rival school.

The Brainiacs – The Brainiacs have study sessions and bar night events. After joining, your sim will have tasks like doing homework, going to office hours, and studying.

Bot Savants – The Bot Savants have robot building, utili-bot contests, and bar night events. After joining, your sim’s tasks can be leveling up the robotics skill, crafting a bot, and enhancing a bot.

Spirit Corps – The Spirit Corps is Britechester’s version of Spirit Squad.

Debate Guild – The Debate Guild has debate practice, debate showdown, and bar night events. After joining, your sim has tasks to debate a topic and research a topic.

Art Society – The Art Society has figure painting and bar events. After joining, your sim will be given a task to do a specific type of painting.

Secret Society – The Secret Society is a bit different than other organizations because your sim can join regardless of which university they attend. To join, your sim first has to make an offering to the university statue and the offering can include an excellent dessert, a rare crystal or metal, or a pristine harvestable. The night after making the offering, your sim will be invited to join the secret society, and there will be sprite celebration events. Your sim will also have tasks to make offerings of food, metals, or harvestables to the altar and tending to the sprite’s garden.

Soccer – The Soccer team focuses on the fitness skill, and your sim will have soccer practice 5 days a week and a soccer game on Saturday. All the practices and games are rabbit holes.

Esports – The Esports team focuses on the video game skill, and your sim will have meeting 5 days a week and a tournament on Saturday. Like with the soccer team, all the meetings and tournaments are rabbit holes.

Build Mode

The build mode is focused on university living, and there is a lot for dorms including single beds, desks and chairs, mini-fridges, and toilet stalls. There are two different build styles – more modern and older furniture, which fit the two different styles of the universities. There are also banners and flags for the universities that you can use as decor. Other build mode items include the robotics workstation, debate podium, soccer ball, kegs, ping pong table, food and coffee stands, and a cafeteria. Some of the furniture like the bed, nightstand, dresser, and bookcase set can definitely be used outside of the pack especially if you have teens and young adults sims. I also love the potted plant decor, and I use it all the time.

CAS

CAS fits the university vibes with crop tops, hoodies, t-shirts, university apparel, jeans, and loungewear. I have definitely used CAS outside of the pack because they are cute clothes, which are perfect for young adult sims. There are also some cute hairs, but there is nothing for kids or toddlers, which is expected since this pack is focused on young adults and older sims.

Overall Thoughts

Discover University is fun to playthrough every now and then, but it is not a pack to play all the time because it does take a while for your sim to finish university (at least 1 month in-game if your sim takes all 4 classes each term). I do like living in the dorms and having roommates, but I find the classes can be tough because you have to keep on top of homework, the final exam projects, and studying if you want your sim to do well.

There are plenty of fun organizations including the Secret Society for your sim to join, and the events on campus are fun too. In comparison, the sports teams are boring because those events are all rabbit holes. I do like the added careers because even if your sim does not go to university, they can do one of the careers. The CAS and build mode are also usable outside of the pack. I do recommend Discover University, but since it is not a pack I recommend playing all the time, I would wait for a sale.

#6 High School Years

High School Years is the 12th and latest expansion pack released for The Sims 4. The focus is on teen sims and having an active school, and a new world Copperdale is included.

World

High School Years introduces the new world Copperdale. The world has 12 lots with 2 lots in the Rockridge Heights neighborhood that include the high school and auditorium. You cannot build a high school and auditorium on different lots or in different worlds without mods, but you can build your own high school on the high school lot and decorate the auditorium for each event.

The Prescott Square neighborhood includes 3 residential lots, a library, and a thrift and bubble tea store. Plumbite cove has 2 residential lots, a rental, an empty lot, and a park. You can also access Plumbite Pier from this neighborhood, but the pier is part of the world and not an actual lot. There is not that many lots, but there are areas in the world that can be accessed like the pier and the field behind the high school, so it does make the world feel bigger.

Active School

You can attend high school with your teen sim or send them alone. If you attend, you will be taken to the high school in Copperdale. The day starts with free time, which you can use to talk to friends. Afterward, your sim has their first class. I find the classes boring because your sim just sits there and you cannot control what they do, but there will occasionally be a pop-up with options that will affect your sim’s performance. After their first class is lunch. You can go to the cafeteria and get food and talk with friends. Then after lunch is their second and final class for the day.

After classes, your sim can hang out at school and chill with friends. If your sim is in after school activity, they will go to the activity, which is a rabbit hole location. I do wish the after-school activities were more involved. Your sim will have different classes every day including math, science, language arts, and art. Your sim will also gain skills from the classes like logic, writing, and painting. On Fridays, your sim will have exams instead of regular classes, and at the end of the school day, you are told how well your sim did on the exams.

School Events

There are several events that take place in the auditorium or on the field behind the high school.

Prom

Prom is every Saturday night at the auditorium. Your sim can invite another sim to prom as a date or friend. You can also make a promposal sign or ask another sim to skip prom. At prom, your sim is given tasks to dance, show off their outfit, get a drink, and vote for prom royalty and jester. Near the end of the prom event, the winners of prom royalty and jester will be announced.

I like prom because your sim can spend more time with their friends or partner outside of school. I also like that prom is every Saturday because it gives you a chance to experience prom if you are playing on short life span. If you are playing on long life span or with aging off, you can experience prom multiple times and try to win prom royalty or court jester, or go with a date or friends to prom.

Sports Day

Sports Day is held on the field outside of the high school every Thursday for football and every Friday for cheerleading. On Thursday, your sim can perform a regular or difficult football practice and they are given a score that you then submit to the judge. On Friday, your sim can perform a solo or group cheerleading routine, but whenever I tried to do a group routine, it said I needed more sims to join, so I always did solo routines. Near the end of the Sports Day events, the judge will announce which sim did the best. On both Sports Days you can also buy souvenirs from the stand. The Sports Days are fine events, but my sim never got a high enough score in either event even when they were cheerleading captain, so I do not know how the judging works.

Science Fair

If your sim is on the chess team or computer team, they can request a science fair, which will be scheduled for the next available day. For the chess science fair, your sim will solve a chess problem and submit the score to the judge. For the computer science fair, your sim will do a game jam and submit the score to the judge. However, the scoring for the science fair is bugged for me because I always got a notification that the wool I submitted for Finchwick Fair did not win (the Finchwick Fair is an event that happens in Cottage Living, but the Finchwick Fair would not even be occurring on that day). The Science Fair is an okay event, but it would be nice if the judging was not bugged.

Career Day

Career Day is scheduled for a Tuesday in the month you are currently playing in. The event is held at the auditorium during school hours, and at the event, there will be 3 tables with sims giving presentations about their careers. Your sim will be given tasks to ask the guest speakers for information about their careers, watch the presentations, and ask their teacher about their future. I like the career day because it is definitely realistic and it might inspire you in deciding what career you would like your sim to have.

Graduation

When High School Years first came out, the graduation event was been bugged and would not schedule, but it seems to work now. After my sim aged up from a teen to a young adult, the graduation event was scheduled for the following Sunday. When the graduation event started, I did not get a pop-up saying the event was starting unlike other events like Prom, Career Day, and Sports Day, so I had to manually go to the event, but I did not miss it since I was excited to see the Graduation event.

At the event, the valedictorian gave a speech then graduates go up on stage and get their diplomas. I had 2 sims in my household attending graduation, but only 1 sim got their diploma before the time for the event ran out. The graduation event does work, but there are still some issues like not being notified when the event is starting so unless you are counting down when the event is, you can easily miss it, and also the time is short so if you have multiple sims graduating, you need to act quickly for them to get their diploma if you want screenshots.

After School Activities

After-school activities are a bit of a letdown because all the meetings are rabbit holes and your sim will be gone for several hours after school a few days a week. Also, your sim will have the same daily task every day regardless if they are level 1 or level 3 in their after-school activity.

Football Team Member

Football focuses on the fitness skill and practicing football, and meetings after school 3 days a week. You need another a sim to do the daily task of a regular or difficult football practice, but I found it can be buggy because when I would click on another sim in my household to practice with, the other sim will do everything but play football (go on the computer, play guitar, etc.) even though football is in their tasks queue.

Cheer Team Member

Cheerleading focuses on the fitness skill and practicing on the cheerleading mat, and meetings are after school 3 days a week. I found cheerleading a bit boring because the only daily task is to perform a routine on the cheer mat.