Almost every Sims 4 fan runs into this major question at some point: What Sims 4 pack should I get next? I see the question pop up time and time again in every sims group and the hard part is, everyone has a different answer. Why? Because no player is the same. Instead of telling you my favorite must-have packs, I’ve created different bundle suggestions based on what kind of player you are.
Today, I’m going to delve into two bundles for players looking to expand the lives of their teenage sims.
Sims 4 Pack Bundle: Teen Life Essentials
- High School Years Expansion Pack
- Parenthood Game Pack
- Backyard Stuff Pack
High School Years Expansion Pack
For the longest time, it was hard to tell the difference between a young adult and a teenager in The Sims 4. They acted the same, experienced almost all of the same things, and the main difference was that teens went off to school. With Sims 4 High School Years, teens finally have their own experiences that are unique to them including having crushes, going to prom, and mingling daily with the student body (or getting into trouble with the principal). I’ve personally been able to play out all kinds of drama using this pack.
As with any Sims pack, it’s truly about how creative and free you’ll let your imagination be! This pack adds plenty of situations to build on. Two of my favorite chapters for my story, The Legacy of Hannah McCoy, happened because of this pack. If you want to see the level of drama a prom can bring check out Season 8’s “The Not So Nifty 50’s Prom” and “Every 50’s Dance Needs a Rumble”.
Parenthood Game Pack
Combine the pack with Sims 4 Parenthood to really bring your teen years to life! If your teenager is skipping class or sneaking out, their responsibility can take a hit and potentially affect their entire future. Parenthood offers a range of new earnable character value traits…for better or worse! I personally can’t live without this pack and you shouldn’t either. Check out an example of how this pack played out in Season 7’s “Heartthrobs and Buzzkills”.
Backyard Stuff Pack
There’s nothing that says teenager better than throwing a late night pool party! With Sims 4 Backyard Stuff, you can place an outdoor speaker on the wall to blast some music, set up a nice large outdoor table to share lemonade with your friends, and add a slip-and-slide to the backyard to bring even more water fun to the party.
The Sims 4 Pack Highlights
What is in the Sims 4 High School Years Expansion Pack?
Greatest Highlights
- Travel to High School with Your Teenager
- Teen Events including Prom, Career Day, and Graduation
- New Traits and Aspirations
- New Lot Types
- Entrepreneur Skill
- Graduation or Dropping Out: Perks and Consequences
Feature You’ve Most Likely Seen in a Sims 4 Group and Have No Idea It Comes From This Pack
- Shaving
Each day when you follow your teenage sim to high school, they go to different classes. At each of these classes, they learn specific skills! I personally love that this gives sims another option for skill building and makes going to school worthwhile. In between classes, your sim has the chance to mingle with classmates or do some other activities around campus.
While the pack comes with its own high school and auditorium, you are free to bulldoze both of them and build them however you’d like! I love changing up the auditorium for every school dance to give it a different theme and vibe. This also helps keep it interesting if you’re playing on long lifespan and sending your sim to their third or fourth prom.
One of my favorite features of this pack is how well it works with the University Expansion Pack, and how high school grades can now affect a sims future. If your sim graduates early, they can now go to University as a teenager, which gives them a massive head start on their future. On the flip side, if they are expelled or drop out, they will have less career options available to them as a young adult. If, however, you want your sim to gain access to these careers, they can always earn their diploma online!
The only disappointing factor to High School Years, in my opinion, is the after school clubs. While I love that my sims can participate in cheerleading, football, etc, I wish that I could follow them to these clubs rather than it being a rabbit hole event. However, there is a way to flesh these out if you have Get Together. Keep reading to find out.
For more deeper details about this pack, you can read the Game Rant Sims 4 High School Years Guide.
What is in the Sims 4 Parenthood Game Pack?
Greatest Highlights
- Five Character Values
- Parenting Skill
The first highlight of the Parenthood Game Pack is the Character Value System. Beginning with their toddler years, sims can start working towards earning five different character values that will affect how they handle situations as a young adult.
The five characters values include:
- Manners (Reward Trait: Good Manners or Bad Manners)
- Responsibility (Reward Trait: Responsible or Irresponsible)
- Emotional Control (Reward Trait: Emotional Control or Uncontrolled Emotions)
- Empathy (Reward Trait: Compassionate or Insensitive)
- Conflict Resolution (Reward Trait: Mediator or Argumentative)
Sim parents can help increase their child’s character values by setting curfews using the family board, praising their children when they’ve done things right, or discipling them (including grounding!) when they have acted out.
The second highlight of the pack is the Parenting Skill. Parenting can only be learned by young adults or older and can unlock a range of interactions. As your sim grows their skill, they will have more disciple (and encouragement) options for their kids. The other highlight though of this skill is that when your sim reaches the highest level, they can take care of all of their baby’s needs at once with efficient baby care. For more details about this pack, I suggest checking out Game Rant’s Sims 4 Parenthood Complete Guide.
What is in The Sims 4 Backyard Stuff Pack?
Greatest Highlights
- Waterslide
- Umbrella Table
- Summer Drink Tray
- Bird Feeder
- Wind Chimes
In the Backyard Stuff pack, the best perk is the waterslide. Whether your sim is hanging out with their friends or having a day with family, this makes a great addition to a sunny day! Set up the backyard with the waterslide, a pool, and a hot tub, while blasting some music, and your teen sim can throw quite a fun party with their friends! While your sims wait to have a turn, they can enjoy a glass of lemonade with the new Summer Drink Tray while relaxing (or getting extremely annoyed) to the sound of the wind chimes. The bird feeder also adds some outdoor fun as sims can feed them and enjoy some bird watching.
Sims 4 Pack Bundle: Social Butterfly Essentials
- Get Together Expansion Pack
- Dine Out Game Pack
- Bowling Night Stuff Pack
Get Together Expansion Pack
Personally, I think of Sims 4 Get Together as a gameplay essential. Not only are the clubs a great way for sims to build friendships and socialize, it also provides some great key mechanisms for expanding the universe. After all, with this pack, I was able to build a residential boarding school and set up clubs as “classes” for the kids to skill build together! For more suggestions on how to utilize this system to your advantage, check out my post on Creating the Best Clubs in The Sims 4 Get Together.
Dine Out Expansion Pack
While there are some definite glitches to Sims 4 Dine Out, it’s also one of my most used and favorite game packs. The biggest glitch is that a meal could take forever. However, I have figured out how to keep this from happening. In my experience, speeding up time will only make the dinner take longer. When I’ve played on fast speed, my sims have been known to spend the entire day waiting for their meal. However, when playing on normal speed, I’ve consistently had meals take around 3 sim hours, which is perfect for a date night.
Dine Out gives sims another great social option by getting them to go out, enjoy a meal together, and chat. I find it essential for date nights and love the ability to create any menu imaginable. If you combine the pack with Get Together, you could also create a club that’s all about dining out and trying different restaurants together!
I’ve filled up my neighborhoods with pizza parlors, fine dining, wineries, sushi, and more! The pack also allows Sims to open their own restaurant. As a former restaurant owner myself, I love this feature. I do wish they’d update the pack like they did with spa day to add the ability for sims to cook, serve, and host in their own restaurants. To me, that is the one thing that is missing. However, it is also extremely realistic that as the owner, they have to walk around and constantly chat up the customers. That was my life for years when I owned a restaurant.
To see how I’ve used Dine Out in my gameplay and story, check out Season 7’s chapter “Nothing is Perfection”.
Bowling Night Stuff Pack
The Sims 4 Bowling Night Stuff Pack adds a fun new activity for sims to go out and do together as a group! If you have Get Together, you can create a bowling club and send your sims out to perfect their game. Just like Dine Out, you don’t want to speed through the game as it will take forever to finish. If you keep the game on a normal speed, it won’t take nearly as long: plus you get to enjoy watching all of your sims reactions as they score!
My favorite part of this pack is that I can create a cool hangout lot for my teen sims. I prefer to use the bar lot (although you can use a lounge or nightclub too) and create an arcade style venue with game tables, arcade/gaming machines, karaoke, etc, depending on what objects you have!
Sims 4 Pack Highlights
What is in the Sims 4 Get Together Expansion Pack?
Greatest Highlights
- Creating Clubs
- Cafes and Nightclub Venues
- Enormous and Beautiful World
- Dancing and DJ Skills
The ability to create clubs in The Sims 4 Get Together is a mechanism I consider a Sims 4 essential. As an sim player knows, getting your sims to gather and do something together can sometimes be a challenge. However, with this pack, you can create clubs designed towards certain activities and even give your sims the ability to have dress codes, make the clubs exclusive, and control who’s allowed to join. As your club participates in the approved activities, it earns points which give you the ability to choose club rewards. These rewards can focus on building skills faster at the club, helping with their career, moods, and more.
Most fans will agree that the world of Windenburg is one of the most beautiful and biggest worlds the game has to offer. It’s inspired by German towns and offers unique neighborhoods including a city center, an island, and the countryside. For more details on what this pack has to offer, check out this game guide.
What is in the Sims 4 Dine Out Game Pack?
Greatest Highlights
- Restaurant Lot Type
- Ability to Own and Run Restaurant
- Fully Customizable Menus
It comes as no surprise the entire Sims 4 Dine Out game pack revolves around the entire concept of restaurants. From an “owners” perspective, you can hire employees and train them to help your restaurant rating grow. The higher the rating, the more sims will show up to dine. I suggest building restaurants on smaller lots too to give off the vibe of it being busy!
Besides being an owner, your sims can visit restaurants (whether another sim owns them or not). Unlike a retail store from Get to Work, you don’t have to have a sim own it first to set it up. Just build the restaurant, design the menu, and leave the lot. The game will take care of the rest and boom. You have an awesome date night location for your sims!
What is in the Sims 4 Bowling Night Stuff Pack?
Greatest Highlights
- Bowling Activity
- 60’s Style Furniture
As I mentioned earlier, the bowling lanes gives a fun new activity for sims to do, especially as a group (or a club)! While the pack doesn’t come with its own venue type, by adding a bowling lane to a nightclub, bar, or lounge venue, bowling teams will automatically start showing up.
Another highlight of this pack is all of the 60’s themed furniture. Even if you never use the bowling alley itself, the furniture is so fun and eclectic!
Synergy Match: Combining High School Years and Get Together
What High School Years lacks in after school activities and clubs, Get Together more than makes up for! While your sims can “join” clubs in High School Years, other than club events, they take place at rabbit holes. With Get Together, you can form your own clubs, even a cheerleading club if you have both packs! This a great way to really flesh out your sims teen years by giving them a chance to join clubs and mingle.
Teen Club Ideas
- Sports Club
- Cheerleading Club
- Homework Club
- Video Gaming Club
- Popular Kids Club
- Rebels Club
- Bowling Club (with Sims 4 Bowling Night)
- Debate Club (with Sims 4 University)
- Movie Club (with Sims 4 Movie Hangout)
- Eco Club (with Sims 4 Eco Lifestyle or Sims 4 Island Living)
I hope you enjoyed the guide! For more guides, gameplay tips, and challenges, be sure to follow Sim Life Chronicles on Facebook.
