Summary
- The Sims 4: For Rent is an upcoming expansion pack that allows players to be landlords and build customized apartments for multiple families.
- The new expansion pack focuses on the social dynamics of Sims living in close quarters, with features like snooping, evictions, and potlucks.
- The trailer also teases a strange fungal illness that can make apartments messy and moldy, potentially making Sims deathly ill.
The Sims franchise has notoriously been pumping out new downloadable content for each mainline game. With seventy total DLCs including twenty-five kits, nineteen stuff packs, twelve game packs, and fourteen expansion packs, The Sims 4 is no exception to the tradition, especially now that The Sims 4 is free to download. Out of all of these packs, the expansion packs are by far the most anticipated, but The Sims 4: For Rent is shaping up to be one of the most promising packs of the year.
The new and upcoming Sims 4 expansion pack was initially leaked by Twitter user anadius, who is well-known in the community for uncovering pre-released codes for additional The Sims expansion features. The leak provided an official pack name, a description with key features, and a full render displaying an apartment lifestyle, which paralleled the official expansion pack trailer released by EA only days later. The launch date set for The Sims 4: For Rent is set for December 7 of this year.
The Sims 4: For Rent Is Bringing Sims Closer Than Ever
The Sims 4: For Rent expansion pack introduces a new career path for Sims: the ability to be a landlord by housing multiple families on one lot. Players can now own or manage residential lots by renting out and personally building customized apartments. Initially, the feature resembled a previous expansion pack titled The Sims 4: City Living, in which Sims could rent one of twenty-one apartments. In that expansion pack, the landlord was an NPC who primarily acted as a repairman; they fixed broken appliances and got rid of pests in the apartment if needed.
What separates The Sims 4: For Rent from The Sims 4: City Living is the emphasis on the exploration of Sims' social dynamics within these close living spaces. Snooping, evictions, and potlucks are all possible within this new world titled Tomarang. Like most expansion packs, The Sims 4: City Living presents Tomarang, which comes with an animal sanctuary, a night market, and a botanical garden. Pre-order incentives include The Sims 4: Street Eats Digital Content, complete with a grill cart, a street umbrella, and a fruit basket.
While the trailer showcases a daring tenant using a crowbar to break into another tenant's apartment, this act is reminiscent of the familiar The Sims NPC that was present in all the previous The Sims games (save The Sims 4): the burglar. Based on the official description, the close quarters of The Sims 4: For Rent allows for breaking and entering, snooping, and eavesdropping. Whereas burglars often had the police called on them if caught, it's not quite clear what the reprimands are for if these snoopers are caught.
One aspect that went completely undetected in any leak of the expansion pack was a strange fungal illness seen in the trailer. It appears apartments can get messy and moldy if not tended to, and there seems to be the possibility for Sims to grow deathly ill if exposed to mold. The sickness presents itself in green, glowing mushrooms that appear on Sims – similar to the Cordyceps zombies in The Last of Us – and eventually converts its host into a green ghost who can feasibly still pass the virus onto other healthy Sims, as seen in how a ghost blows green germs on a healthy elderly Sim. There is nothing in the official description detailing the specificities of this new virus, but anticipation is high to uncover the properties.
With only the reveal trailer out now for the upcoming expansion pack for The Sims 4, players must wait until December 8th to fully engage in the newest addition to The Sims 4. For now, expectations are high to uncover the capabilities of Tomarang, explore a new career path, discover how customizable apartments operate in The Sims 4, and so much more.
The Sims 4
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OpenCritic Reviews
- Top Critic Avg: 70 /100 Critics Rec: 26%
- Released
- September 2, 2014
- ESRB
- T for Teen: Crude Humor, Sexual Themes, Violence
- Developer(s)
- Maxis
- Publisher(s)
- Electronic Arts
- Engine
- Proprietary Engine
- Cross-Platform Play
- Xbox, PlayStation, and computer versions of Sims 4 are all separate games incompatible with each other
- Cross Save
- no
WHERE TO PLAY
Unleash your imagination and create a unique world of Sims that’s an expression of you. Download for free, and customize every detail from Sims to homes and much more. Choose how Sims look, act, and dress, then decide how they’ll live out each day. Design and build incredible homes for every family, then decorate with your favorite furnishings and décor. Travel to different neighborhoods where you can meet other Sims and learn about their lives. Discover beautiful locations with distinctive environments and go on spontaneous adventures. Manage the ups and downs of Sims’ everyday lives, and see what happens when you play out scenarios from your own real life. Tell your stories your way while developing relationships, pursuing careers and life aspirations, and immersing yourself in this extraordinary game, where the possibilities are endless
