I love watching ranking videos and discovering other people’s favourite Sims packs, so I thought it was about time that I did my own. Today, we are starting with expansions! Expansion packs offer the most content for The Sims 4 and are the priciest DLC available, so it’s wise to carefully choose which pack to spend your money on. While you wait for the next sale (EA frequently has sales!), I hope this post helps you make your decision. 

In this post, I rank all of the expansion packs in The Sims 4 from worst (though I still love it) to best! These opinions are based on my personal gameplay as someone who loves family gameplay and prefers building over CAS. I hope you find it interesting and let me know in the comments below what your favourite expansion packs are. Let’s get into it…

Sims 4 get to work cover art

17. Get To Work 

2015, 1st Sims 4 Expansion Pack 

Main Features: 

  • Join your sims at work with 3 new active careers (scientist, doctor, and detective) 
  • Retail system, so you can run and visit shops 
  • Aliens, an alien world, and new collection of geodes 
  • New Skills: Baking and Photography 
  • New World: Magnolia Promenade 

In terms of sheer content, Get To Work is one of the largest expansion packs, which made it difficult for me to rank it last. I enjoy the active careers and frequently use the baking skill in my gameplay. However, it’s the most outdated expansion pack, the build items are very work-specific (so I rarely use them), and the world is tiny. For those reasons, I had to rank it last.

16. For Rent 

2023, 15th Sims 4 Expansion Pack 

Main Features: 

  • Residential Rentals lot type, so you can build custom apartments and townhouses 
  • Landlord and tenant gameplay 
  • Neighbourhood potluck and pool party social events 
  • New Collection: Colourful Marbles and Tassels 
  • New World: Tomarang, with a night market and tiger sanctuary 

I love the addition of new cultures and the rental system in this pack, but I felt there wasn’t as much content as I’d expect from an expansion pack in it. While the world is a significant improvement over Get To Work’s Magnolia Promenade, it could have been larger and more interactive. I can still have a lot of fun with this pack, but I think it’s not as strong as the other expansion packs.

15. Get Famous  

2018, 6th Sims 4 Expansion Pack 

Main Features: 

  • Fame system complete with quirks and a public image scale 
  • Reputation system 
  • New Careers: Acting (active) and Drama Club (children and teens) 
  • New Skills: Acting and Media Production 
  • New World: Del Sol Valley 

I really enjoy playing with this pack and use it a lot! You can get famous through many skills and can choose whether your sim is perceived positively or negatively by the public. The acting career is particularly fun and unique for The Sims 4. However, I would only recommend this pack to people who desperately want a celebrity system in their game, as the world and other features alone don’t justify the investment.

14. Island Living  

2019, 7th Sims 4 Expansion Pack 

Main Features: 

  • Sprawling breaches, turquoise waters and a volcano 
  • Build houses over the water 
  • Swimming and snorkelling in the ocean… oh and mermaids! 
  • New Career: Conservationist 
  • New Collections: Seashells and Buried Treasure 
  • New World: Sulani 

Island Living is probably the most aesthetically pleasing pack and introduces sustainability to the Sims 4 (more to come on that later in the list). A common complaint is that the mermaids aren’t as fleshed out of an occult type as they could have been, but this doesn’t bother me too much. I love taking my sims to Sulani for holiday. Recently, I have been playing with this pack more than ever before and it’s been really fun! 

13. Horse Ranch 

2023, 14th Sims 4 Expansion Pack 

Main Features: 

  • Horses!!! (as well as mini sheep and goats!) 
  • Horse competitions 
  • Lots of new wooden, rustic furniture and ranch-style build items 
  • New Skills: Horse Riding and Nectar Making 
  • New World: Chestnut Ridge 

This pack is really well done, as the world compliments the gameplay perfectly. While I can’t comment on the realism of the horses, as I don’t know much about them, I’ve had a lot of fun playing with this pack when I do. This expansion pack doesn’t impact all aspects of your gameplay, so you need to be intentional about utilising all of its features. The furniture is nice and surprisingly affordable, making it ideal for building starter homes.

12. Get Together 

2015, 2nd Sims 4 Expansion Pack 

Main Features: 

  • Get all your friends together with the new club system! 
  • European-style build items 
  • New Skill: Dancing 
  • New World: Windenburg (with 24 lots across small town, countryside, modern development and private island neighbourhoods!) 

Get Together is a highly stylised pack that includes one of the best worlds (check out my ranking of Sims 4 worlds here)! I use the club system ALL the time as it’s much easier to start a club gathering and have all your sim’s friends appear on your lot rather than calling them up individually to invite over or planning an event. This pack is one of the smallest expansion packs regarding the amount of content, but I ranked it in my top ten based on how regularly I use it! 

11. High School Years 

2022, 12th Sims 4 Expansion Pack 

Main Features: 

  • Active high school 
  • Thrifting, boba tea and social bunny (another social media platform for the Sims 4!) 
  • 4 new after-school activities and 2 new part-time jobs 
  • New Skill: Entrepreneur 
  • New World: Copperdale 

High School Years has super cute build and buy items that are perfect to decorate teen sims’ bedrooms! Additionally, I think the active high school and the new Boba and Thrift Store lot type both add realism to the game. Copperdale is also a great world, so if enhancing your teen sims’ lives is what you want, I would highly recommend this pack.

10. Discover University 

2019, 8th Sims 4 Expansion Pack 

Main Features: 

  • Two universities: University of Britechester and Foxbury Institute 
  • Roommate system 
  • New Careers: Lawyer, Engineer and Education 
  • New Skills: Robotics and Research & Debate 
  • New World: Britechester 

The three new careers in this expansion pack are underrated features that I regularly use, especially the education career. While I enjoy playing through university, it requires a significant commitment, making it difficult to send one sim there on a whim if you have a large household. To get the most out of this pack, I suggest immersing yourself in all the coursework and university activities.

9. City Living 

2016, 3rd Sims 4 Expansion Pack 

Main Features: 

  • Skyscrapers filled with apartments and penthouses 
  • Four festivals 
  • New Careers: Social Media, Critic and Politician (all semi-active) 
  • New Collections: City Posters and Snow Globes 
  • New Skill: Singing 
  • New World: San Myshuno 

City Living is a great expansion pack. I love the variety of apartments available and the distinct districts of the city. The new half-active careers were a fun addition to the game, especially when the pack first came out and introduced the hybrid work option. However, the build and buy items don’t stand out to me or fit into my preferred build style, which is why I ranked the pack seventh in my list.

8. Cats & Dogs 

2017, 4th Sims 4 Expansion Pack 

Main Features: 

  • Cats and dogs (unsurprisingly!) that are highly customisable  
  • Vet clinics that your sims can own and work in 
  • New Collection: Feathers
  • New Skills: Veterinarian and Pet Training 
  • New World: Brindleton Bay 

Who wouldn’t love a pack that added your furry loved ones to the game! I like the addition of the vet skill, but the world and pet customisability are where this pack really shines. The build and buy mode is filled with great items for your pets and New England house-inspired build features for your sims. Overall, it’s a fun pack to play with and easy to incorporate into all of your regular gameplay.

The Sims 4 Lovestruck cover art

7. Lovestruck 

2024, 16th Sims 4 Expansion Pack

Main Features: 

  • Attraction system with Turn On and Turn Offs 
  • Romantic Dynamics, Cupid’s Corner (online dating!!), and Romantic Satisfaction  
  • New date system with Get To Know You dates, Romantic dates and Relationship Repair dates 
  • New Aspirations: Paragon Partner and Romantic Explorer 
  • New Career: Romance Consultant  
  • New Collection: Axolotls 
  • New Skill: Romance 
  • New World: Ciudad Enamorada 

This pack truly elevates romantic relationships, adding depth and realism to your gameplay. The world itself is a new style for the Sims 4, offering fanatics lots perfect for building lively community lots like nightclubs, parks and gyms. It’s really fun to play and will shake up your game with dynamic and realistic changes. However, with all new systems, it can be a bit tricky to get the hang of it at first, and I wish this pack came with a new kitchen counter set in build mode. Still, for all the hopeless romantics out there, Lovestruck is amazing!

6. Snowy Escape 

2020, 10th Sims 4 Expansion Pack 

Main Features: 

  • A snowy mountain! 
  • Onsen Baths and Hiking trails are new activities 
  • Vending machines (new death anyone?!) 
  • Lifestyles, festivals, and proper behaviour 
  • New Collection: Simmie Capsules 
  • New Skills: Skiing, Snowboarding, and Rock Climbing 
  • New World: Mt. Komorebi 

This pack adds Japanese-inspired culture to the game, along with many skills, activities and events for your sims to enjoy. I love taking my sims on fun snow- filled and adventure-packed holidays! I appreciate the little touches like school uniforms for children, vending machines that are so useful on community lots, and the variety of festivals. I interact with Snowy Escape townies regularly in my gameplay, and Mt. Komorebi topped my ranking of all worlds in The Sims 4! So, it’s probably no surprise that I’ve ranked this pack so high.

5. Eco Lifestyle  

2020, 9th Sims 4 Expansion Pack 

Main Features: 

  • Ability to make your sim’s home and neighbourhood more or less eco-friendly 
  • Neighbourhood action plans and eco footprints 
  • New Career: Civil Designer 
  • New Lot Types: Community Garden, Community Space, and Maker Space 
  • New Skills: Fabrication and Juice Fizzing 
  • New World: Evergreen Harbour 

I love this pack, but have to admit my bias as I studied environmental science. Evergreen Harbour is a fantastic and unique addition to The Sims 4. There’s a strong sense of community in the voting process for environmental changes in individual sims’ neighbourhoods. This pack is especially great for builders, offering lots of modern furniture, new eco-friendly items and the ability to build container homes with it. Despite the occasional annoying townies (yes, you, Bess Sterling), I confidently kick off my top five expansion packs with Eco Lifestyle!

Sims 4 Life & Death Cover Art

4. Life & Death  

2024, 17th Sims 4 Expansion Pack 

Main Features: 

  • Soul’s journey, bucket lists, rebirth, grief ghost mastery  
  • New Aspirations: Ghost Historian 
  • New Careers: Undertaker and Reaper  
  • New Collection: Tarot Cards 
  • New Skill: Thanatology 
  • New World: Ravenwood 

When you think of the Sims 4 Life & Death I’d recommend focussing on the death part. This pack is about celebrating, mourning and living through the death of your beloved sims. I think a lot of depth is added to the game through this pack and there’s plenty to explore from a new fully fleshed out occult type, Ghosts, to festivals happening all around Ravenwood. I appreciate how the new clothing items are aimed at all age groups and I feel like this pack integrates well with lots of other packs such as Growing Together and Vampires.

3. Cottage Living 

2021, 11th Sims 4 Expansion Pack 

Main Features: 

  • Cows, llamas and chickens 
  • Birds, foxes and rabbits can be found around the environment 
  • Oversized crops for more extreme gardening 
  • Village fairs and competitions  
  • New Collection: Village Fair Ribbons 
  • New Skill: Cross-Stitching 
  • New World: Henford-On-Bagley 

Cottage Living is full of interactive gameplay and introduces fun features such as food delivery and country fairs. Agnes and Agatha Crumplebottom are added to The Sims 4 in this pack and are just as iconic as ever. This pack was executed really well and has features for sims of all ages. I enjoy the family farm-life gameplay that it introduces and think that anyone who wants anything from cosy furniture for their sim’s home to a chaotic, massive farm to run will enjoy playing with this pack! 

2. Seasons 

2018, 5th Sims 4 Expansion Pack 

Main Features: 

  • Spring, Summer, Autumn, and Winter across all worlds 
  • Beekeeping and updated gardening for the new weather 
  • Celebrate holidays!! 
  • Roller and ice skating rinks 
  • New Careers: Gardener and Scouts 
  • New Skill: Flower Arranging 

This expansion pack is a must-have as it impacts your entire game experience! It seamlessly combines the realism of weather and the occasionally chaotic nature of The Sims, introducing features like freezing to death and controlling the skies with a weather machine. I like the build items and enrol almost every child sim I play with in scouts. The only reason it’s ranked second is because it’s an older and more dated pack compared to number one, plus it didn’t come with a new world. 

1. Growing Together  

2023, 13th Sims 4 Expansion Pack 

Main Features: 

  • Milestones, family dynamics, stay-overs, additional self-discovery traits and a compatibility system 
  • Baby shower, slumber party, gender reveal, and family reunion social events 
  • Recreation Center lot type 
  • New world: San Sequoia 

Growing Together enriches your gameplay by adding detail to your sims’ personalities and interpersonal dynamics. I particularly enjoy the compatibility feature! San Sequoia is a wholesome world with charming craftsman-style homes. However, since the pack is entirely family-orientated, it might not be the best first expansion pack if that isn’t your preference.

Final Comments 

I hope this post was helpful and insightful! I highly recommend either waiting until there’s a sale or bundle packs together to get the most for your money. Share your thoughts in the comments below! 

Thanks for visiting my website 🙂 

Keep Simming! 

Buy Sims 4 Expansion Packs from the EA Website

All images of pack artwork shown above are owned by EA.

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3 Comments

  1. my rankings are almost completely different

    1: Life and Death (i just played it recently but i’m loving this pack already)
    2: Seasons
    3: island Living
    4: Growing Together
    5: Get Together
    6: City Living
    7: For Rent
    8: Snowy Escape
    9: Lovestruck
    10: Cats and Dogs
    11: Discover University
    12: High School Years
    13: Get Famous
    14: Horse Ranch
    15: Eco Lifestyle
    16: Get To Work
    17: Cottage Living

    i like to see the opposite rankings though haha 🙂

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