The most recent Sims 4 expansion pack, Cottage Living, was announced earlier this week, and already fans are getting excited about the gameplay features it will introduce. One of the most talked about mechanics is farming, something that has been on many Sims players wishlists for years now. Why exactly did it take so long for farming to appear in the Sims franchise?
The Sims 4 initially released in 2014, and since then has seen the release of 10 expansion packs, with Cottage Living come in as the 11th pack of the game. Each one adds new items, worlds and features to The Sims 4, though some of these additions have been viewed more favorably than others. Cottage Living will be released on July 22, allowing players to explore the small countryside town of Henford-on-Bagley.
One of the features highlighted in Cottage Living is the opportunity for players to run a farm. New gardening plots will allow for oversized crops that can be entered into the local fair, and Sims characters can live entirely off of the land by farming ingredients to use in cooking recipes. Animals like cows and llamas will be added and can be used to gather resources like wool or milk, which is another first for the series. Although many Sims 4 players are excited for Cottage Living's updates, some are wondering why it took so long to be added to the game.
Cottage Living Gives Sims Fans What They've Always Wanted
Farming has been a highly requested Sims expansion since the early days of the series, and it seems like the Sim Gurus are well aware of it, as showcased in a Tweet from Sim Guru Frost:
However, the release of Cottage Living marks the first time that it's actually been implemented into the game. A previous expansion pack for The Sims 4, City Living, focused on providing players with the opportunity to play through an urban lifestyle. However, there wasn't a dedicated release that catered to players looking for rural experiences. Some Sims fans have argued that most other worlds in The Sims 4 - and previous Sims games - have been rural-adjacent, allowing players to live in small towns that are often full of open space to explore. Certain worlds even add animals like horses or chickens to the game, and players can look after animals in the Pets expansion pack.
Gardening has also been a regular feature of the series since around 2002, when it was added in a Sims expansion pack. Arguably, this mechanic functions similarly to farming, as players are able to grow and harvest plants that can be utilized in cooking. It's possible that this is a large reason why it took so long for a proper farming expansion to be introduced to the series. Customization items that allow players to make their house more rural have already existed in The Sims 4 for a while as well, and expansions like Eco Lifestyle took it even further. The Sims developers may have considered the game's farm-adjacent material to be sufficient in the past. Regardless, it's a welcome addition to the game and fans are excited to see their requests make an impact on The Sims 4's new content.