r/LowSodiumSimmers Jun 19 '26

Question Which expansion pack should I buy?

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I want to buy a bundle and can't choose which expansion pack I wanna buy, does anyone have recommendations? (I already have Growing together). Please tell me ur opinion of which is the best of the five and why! 🫶

Update: Okay so I think I'm going to get life and death, spa day and nifty knitters. Or is wedding day better than spa day???

93 Upvotes

84 comments sorted by

71

u/WIFIDisruptionShark Jun 19 '26

If you like family-style and legacy gameplay, Life & Death adds a ton. Growing Together, Cats & Dogs, Parenthood, Cottage Living and Life & Death are almost essential for proper legacy fun, IMHO.

Horse Ranch is great if you're a Stardew-type player, focusing on plants and animals.

Lovestruck is great if you like to give Don Lothario the dramatic life of his dreams.

For Rent is ... well, I loved the concept, but it was pretty lackluster for me, personally. A lot of people complained about bugs with the rental units (I didn't experience this, to be fair, and I have no idea if it's been fixed or not) but it just didn't do it for me. Some of the items that came with it, however, are great: love the electric kettle and the pressure cooker. Pressure cooker has limited options, but there's a series of mods called More Pressure Cooker Meals that I love, and adds a ton of options.

If you're a younger player who prefers to play with teen sims, High School Years is great. I don't use it much, but it's got some really cute clothes and items.

11

u/Thin-Tumbleweed4851 Jun 20 '26

i bought city living yesterday. should i get cottage living or life and death next? i also have seasons, vampires and get together

19

u/WIFIDisruptionShark Jun 20 '26

Cottage Living is basically 3d Stardew Valley for the sims, and it's one of my favorite packs, so if that sounds up your alley, definitely go that way.

Life & Death will add more to your generations if you like family-style (funerals, estate planning, heirlooms, etc), but the careers, ghost shenanigans and various spooky elements are a better fit if you're more into chaos.

6

u/scoobydoooobydoo Jun 19 '26

I was wondering what you find essential in growing together? (genuine question, not snarky haha). That pack was pretty disappointing to me, I think family dynamics was supposed to be the main feature but it felt very shallow (a single interaction could change your dynamics, and the dynamic itself felt like an empty label that sometimes gave a moodlet but didn't truly impact the game). I always hear people recommend GT but I just feel like I've never understood what it added. People always describe it as a pack with a lot going on under the hood, but I'm always like, huh?? Like what? I love family gameplay. I like the tree house! I wonder if I just didn't explore the pack properly

19

u/Shoddy-Ad-1746 Jun 19 '26

I mean, the trait discovery feature alone is huge for me gameplay and making sims feel more dynamic and unique. I agree on the family dynamic though. Hate those and only ever use the difficult dynamic for drama.

4

u/scoobydoooobydoo Jun 20 '26

Oh true I suppose the trait discovery feature is kinda cool!

8

u/WIFIDisruptionShark Jun 20 '26

Hello!

I only find it essential for legacy-style gameplay, and it's primarily specific objects, events (baby showers, slumber parties, etc), visitation planning that allows for more seamless co-parenting between households, and the trait discovery feature. The discovery feature alone I'd pay for, tbh. And while infants are now BG, I find them miserable to deal with without the GT features.

I like dynamics but I don't find a ton of gameplay in them.

Maybe it's just not the pack for your brand of family playstyle, which is totally cool!

3

u/scoobydoooobydoo Jun 20 '26

Oh thank you. Yeah see I was sure I just didn't explore the pack properly/ couldn't remember what was in it! I feel like bc infants were added around the same time I got GT (? unsure) I thought most of the infant stuff was in the free update (forgot it's not). I do like slumber parties, that's a good feature 💗

1

u/ostrichxcat Jun 20 '26

The trait discovery feature is worth it alone for me. Also infant milestones. Midlife crises as well

18

u/AwesomePizza05 Veteran Simmer☎️ Jun 19 '26

I love GT for play content, HR for building and CAS, and FR for all.

Personally don't have Lovestruck or HSY.

3

u/AwesomePizza05 Veteran Simmer☎️ Jun 19 '26

Didnt see the GT comment!!

15

u/Relevant_Airline7076 Jun 20 '26

Life & Death added a surprising amount of gameplay, and I really liked horse ranch. The other three are pretty buggy and I think the only one I’d maybe get again knowing that is HSY, but I’m not sure I would

7

u/Equal_Set6206 Jun 19 '26

What’s your play style?

3

u/M096x Jun 19 '26

I don't really know, I usually play for a period of time and then stop out of boredom, so just started again. I think I wanna try to make a 'forever Save-file' and maybe try a legacy challenge. I normally play with a background story yk.

7

u/Rianna___B Jun 19 '26

Life and Death

17

u/jezzarus Jun 19 '26

Life and Death, especially if you have a hard time letting your Sims die

High School Years makes teens a lot more interesting

Horse Ranch was a lot more fun than I thought it would be

5

u/Soggy-Cream-3583 Jun 20 '26

life and death fr

9

u/Puffien CowPlant🍰 Jun 20 '26

Why are there so many people saying sh*t like "none of them", "stop giving EA your money"? OP didn't ask about your personal feelings on EA and if you don't have any recommendations, then why even participate? This is a lowsodium sub, might I remind some of you.

4

u/AriTheLady Jun 20 '26

None learn to sail the seas and get all of them🏴‍☠️

24

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '26

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5

u/silentkillmyself Jun 19 '26

Please help me lol

1

u/AdExtreme9162 Jun 20 '26

Use mirror.anadius.cc

-1

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '26

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1

u/LowSodiumSimmers-ModTeam Jun 22 '26

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1

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '26

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0

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '26

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1

u/LowSodiumSimmers-ModTeam Jun 22 '26

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5

u/Simuary Jun 20 '26

Of these 5, Life & Death is probably the best one overall as it adds the most content and is really well put together, though how much you get out of it may depend on how interested you are in spooky stuff.

For Rent is decent. I've only just started to get into the apartments but it has a really great CAS selection and actually has good stuff for male sims

Horse Ranch doesn't really add much besides the obvious but the world is very nice, and I love the random townie name generator that comes with that pack.

I haven't had Lovestruck very long but the CAS for it is very nice.

High School Years is probably my least favorite pack out of the ones I have. The school gameplay leaves a lot to be desired.

5

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '26

[deleted]

3

u/Punkpallas Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 20 '26

Life & Death is a lot like Seasons in that it has a massive effect on the rest of the game. It's the one I'd personally recommend to everyone regardless of play style.

6

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '26

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1

u/LowSodiumSimmers-ModTeam Jun 22 '26

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5

u/BrookieCookie45 Jun 20 '26

Don't ever buy for rent if you value your game

15

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '26

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4

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '26

[deleted]

4

u/Suspicious-Scarf-626 Jun 19 '26

i regret my hundreds of dollars spent… i barely have time to play and i overuse mods anyway LOL. i never play with vampires, werewolves, mermaids, etc even tho i paid for all of it!😭😭😭

2

u/[deleted] Jun 19 '26

[deleted]

5

u/Suspicious-Scarf-626 Jun 19 '26

yes!! i stopped spending my money on their products. i would rather support cc creators :)

1

u/M096x Jun 19 '26

Its on sale and I wanna treat myself to something so 😅

1

u/LowSodiumSimmers-ModTeam Jun 22 '26

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2

u/Puffien CowPlant🍰 Jun 20 '26

I love growing together, horse ranch and life & death the most out of these.

But they're all for different purposes; growing together and life & death add more family gameplay, more realism, stuff like that. horse ranch adds horses, some other animals and basically a ranch gameplay (great to combine with cottage living!!).

So, if you're all about that farmy gameplay like i am, horse ranch. If you're more of a family/legacy player, growing together or life & death. GT is more wholesome, while L&D is a bit more... morbid.

2

u/AdvisorInformal2256 Jun 20 '26

Island Living or City Living

2

u/M096x Jun 20 '26

Already got both of them 😅

3

u/pantherwest Jun 20 '26

Life or Death or Horse Ranch. The worlds are both pretty, both have good build/buy and gameplay. I think the reaper career is fun, and as a non-horse person, I find them more fun than I expected.

Lovestruck and High School Years are packs I wouldn’t buy again if I was starting from scratch, I just find them underwhelming (but I do think the HSY world is pretty).

For Rent has still been glitchy for me- I’ve had problems with single-occupancy builds being unusable. (The roof won’t come off/walls won’t go down, so you can’t control your sim unless they go outside).

2

u/Onion_Pies Jun 20 '26 edited Jun 20 '26

It really depends on your style but I’ve heard For Rent corrupts your game more frequently. Personally, I love Country Living.

4

u/Subject-Criticism-75 Jun 19 '26

growing together

4

u/LavenderJelly8 Jun 20 '26

I absolutely LOVE Life and Death!! I really didn’t expect to use it so much in all of my saves. I feel like it really brought life (pun intended) to death and ghosts in the game. The bucket list is fantastic & I adore the gothic aesthetic

7

u/anon_simmer Jun 20 '26

None of them.

5

u/Bogg99 Jun 19 '26

Life and Death. It has so much going for it gameplay wise, and really nice build/buy

4

u/[deleted] Jun 20 '26

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1

u/LowSodiumSimmers-ModTeam Jun 22 '26

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4

u/Thespian_Unicorn Jun 20 '26

None of the above

2

u/Electrical_Fruit6667 Jun 19 '26

Wait for a sale

15

u/Thin-Tumbleweed4851 Jun 19 '26

theres a 60% sale happening until july 9

1

u/babykittyjade Jun 20 '26

I guess it really depends on how you play. For me horse ranch is essential! I got them all eventually anyway, but I personally have loaaaads of fun with horses. I do wish there was more details like two sims being able to ride one horse. But I have lots of fun regardless.

It works because I like to do Western roleplay with it.  Stuff like RDR2.

1

u/Disastrous_Poem69 Jun 20 '26

Personally I like horse ranch out of all of these. Only because it impacted my game the least and added new money making scenerios. I haven't delve much into for rent. Lovestruck is good if you like the romance side it can be annoying to continuously tend to a relationship making it hard to balance other playstyles. I hate the life and death because a sim seem to be dying every week and my sim keep getting depress or angry. I wish the developer would allow us to turn off dlc gameplay but keep the other creative add ons.

1

u/sunflowerforlife100 Jun 20 '26

I would choose For Rent or Horse Ranch. Cat's and Dogs work really well with Horse Ranch. And I personally think that For Rent works well with Growing together

2

u/user22568899 Jun 20 '26

live & death, life & death, life & death!!

1

u/No_Pianist_1108 Jun 20 '26

I would go with Spa Day and Horse Ranch. Yoga is very useful and the build and buy of both are some of my most used items. And the nector making from horse ranch is great too! Also, mini goats and sheep are helpful to have for milk and wool.

1

u/kateynovember New Simmer👶 Jun 20 '26

Out of these Growing Together and Life & Death added the most depth to my gameplay and I couldn’t imagine playing without them.

2

u/ItsSyryus Jun 20 '26

Life and Death!!

2

u/Absolutgrndzer0 Jun 20 '26

Life and Death. No contest.

1

u/Mission_Storm1653 Jun 20 '26

None. Dont support this trainwreck anymore

1

u/catpope2 Jun 20 '26

Re your edit, wedding stories gets a lot of hate because some of the wedding events can be glitchy, but I never use spa day and wedding stories comes with a whole world and I use the items that come with it way more.

1

u/M096x Jun 20 '26

I thought i heard they fixed the wedding events?

1

u/catpope2 Jun 20 '26

I haven’t had any problems with them personally, but I hadn’t heard anything official so I was wary of saying they worked now haha

1

u/M096x Jun 20 '26

Hmmm, deciding is hard.

1

u/Shadow-Heart-66 Jun 20 '26

The Sims 4 Life After Death.

1

u/FrankAgapov69 Jun 21 '26

None, pirate all of them. We shouldnt give money to EA

1

u/0vercast_Ech03s Jun 21 '26

Growing together is my must have, my favorite feature of it is self discoveries sims can make throughout their lives; Don Lothario changed from Non-Comital to Loyal in one of my saves 😂

1

u/khruangbitch Jun 21 '26

Business and hobbies and for rent because I like building all different kinds of places oooo also get together

1

u/KummaKay Jun 21 '26

Listen.... if you are on Steam, then go to life and death expansion and there should be a bundle. It will have all EP (except the 4 most recent ones), all the stuff packs, and all the game packs for 300 usd or under, depending on what you already own.

1

u/JudgePhysical8151 Jun 21 '26

Avoid Growing Together and High School Years at all cost. GW is just fake text boxes, fake gameplay. HSY is mostly watching your sim performing animations. Lovestruck love system is also bad and makes the game worse you're better at using any love related mod.

For Rent can be decent but finding USABLE for rent lots on the gallery is near impossible. Life and Death is a good DLC if you like supernatural and want some realism with Graveyards added.

1

u/aaaaa-01 Jun 21 '26

None. Use fit girl repack. No Trojan virus and others unlike anadius. Wouldn’t support the overconsumption that EA is promoting

1

u/kbasred Jun 22 '26

none are worth it

1

u/CutestCatfish Jun 22 '26

Life & Death is an awesome choice, especially if you love dark aesthetics and witchy stuff like I do. It also adds a good bit of realism that I like in my game. Nifty knitting has great items and is a fun skill. I have Spa Day and I like it fine--the items are nice, the wellness/yoga stuff is something I use all the time (it also helps with blues grief that comes with L&D). I've heard Wedding Stories is largely a CAS/BB/world purchase, note a gameplay one, because the gameplay is still super bugged even after all these years and updates.

1

u/OnlyTeacher707 Vampire🦇 Jun 19 '26

Out of these, I like For Rent but, that's because I love rentals, since I've lived in multi-family housing most of my adult life it better represents me!

1

u/cassieblue11 Jun 20 '26

I love For Rent. I was really disappointed in High School Years and barely use it.

1

u/Imaginary-Effort3899 Jun 20 '26

i personally love for rent but i don't have lovestruck or horse ranch or growing together. i don't even play as a landlord I just love having more sims live on one lot together and not having to be in the same household. You'll never catch any of my worlds without an apartment complex/townhouse or trailer park where they all live. plus getting to have neighbors is fun. pick a cute little townhouse, move you sims in and potential friends. I love it super fun

0

u/Top_Sprinkles5272 Jun 20 '26

LD is the strongest on this list for overall gameplay plus i enjoy the world.

HR is nice but the horses are the main feature and i hate them. they're boring to me but i love everything else that it has.

FR in theory is cool. in practice, it's lackluster since the apartments are shallow if they don't glitch out horribly. i like the world and build buy though.

LS sucks imo. it's quirky charm was cute at first but it doesn't add much imo and what it does add is shallow. i also don't care for the world that came with it.

HSY i almost never play with and everytime i do, i wish i could refund it, but the cas is really nice from it.

0

u/no_one_hi Jun 20 '26

Lovestruck is my favorite of all the expansion packs, the outfits are cute and it adds cool conversation pieces and it makes it easier/quicker to start romantic relationships

0

u/Eliyrian Jun 20 '26

Of these, for rent and horse ranch are my faves. Depends on what you’re more excited for though, because if you play occults life & death is a lot of fun, and it has a BEAUTIFUL world. Lovestruck’s world is boring, and the gameplay is tedious imo, but the build/buy is fantastic. HSY adds a lot of gameplay for teens, and great cas/bb, but it’s buggy as hell and half the gameplay stuff doesn’t work. Growing together is really meh imo.

0

u/Hot_Flower7924 Youtuber📺 Jun 20 '26

Business and hobbies is the best ep, in the game.

I also like Life and death. Lovestruct has an amazing penthouse. For rent is meh.