By Gillian Crist
Page Editor
“The Sims 4” released its eighteenth expansion pack on March 6, titled “Businesses and Hobbies.” The pack had a base price of $39.99, excluding tax. This is my eighth expansion pack and one of the only ones that wasn’t on sale when I bought it.
The “Business and Hobbies” pack gives players the opportunity to turn their sim skills into a job. Sims can lead classes and lectures for multiple skill sets, as well as provide mentoring. Sims can also run small businesses, like gyms or candy shops.
This expansion pack is similar to the business owner’s ability in the “Get To Work” expansion pack that was released in 2015, as you can own businesses, sell products, and manage employees.
I have this pack, but I hardly find myself using any of the expansion packs after I test them out, other than the “Create A Sim” (CAS) and Build Mode content. I often find “The Sims 4” add-ons to be very underwhelming, and I can’t justify buying them unless they are on sale. EA, the creator of “The Sims” franchise, is notorious for their ungodly pricing.
I use a MacBook Air, which isn’t the best at running games, so I was concerned about adding another expansion pack, considering my game frequently lags and has trouble loading as is. While it causes
a slight delay in my game, it hasn’t been too extreme.
I chose to test out having a tattoo parlor and a pottery/painting studio. I made a household with two sims and had them both manually gain their skill levels until they hit Level 5, as that is the required level to hold classes. For the tattoo parlor, I built a separate building on my residential lot and was able to separate private areas from public spaces. I bought a separate commercial lot for the pottery/painting studio.
While the tattooing gameplay allowed the opportunity to create custom tattoos, I didn’t enjoy many interactions with customers. It felt 50/50 on whether they would like the tattoo they requested, and the pricing was tricky to determine. I kept it at the 0% pricing for this specific business, but customers still complained about the quality.
I had a much easier time with the pottery/painting studio. I had more customers in general, but I also had more attendees for lectures and classes, which resulted in more income. I also had an easier time offering hourly mentoring, which resulted in additional revenue.
You can also choose your business ethics, such as if you are more scandalous or genuine.
Your actions will determine your alignment, therefore causing a bias from customers. You can also
earn business perks, which can change your alignment.
I really enjoyed this pack beyond just the CAS and build mode content, which I can’t say for some of the other expansion packs. I see myself using some of these features in the future as they align with
my typical gameplay. While I would recommend holding out to buy this until it goes on sale, I don’t regret my purchase.
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