The Sims 4 team revealed a new “Cottage Living” Expansion pack for the game today featuring chickens, rainbow cows, build items, and a taste of the simple life. The expansion pack is out on July 22.
In the “Cottage Living” reveal trailer, EA showed off a litany of build/buy items filled with cottagecore vibes. We didn’t get to see many interior items laid out so clearly, but bits of the video hint at news decorations and furniture. Still, the expansion promises a lot of for builders with roofing, siding, landscaping, and plenty of animal-related items.
Rabbits (even featuring cute sweaters!), chickens, foxes, cows, and llamas were all in the video teaser. It’s not clear how they’ll all function, but the trailer seems to imply that rabbits will at least function similarly to cats and dogs as pets. There are also a few stables for the llamas and cows.
On the gameplay front, new crops are naturally part of the deal when it comes to a country DLC. As a big in-game farmer, I’m curious as to how many new crops we’ll get. Vendor stalls were also shown off in a plaza, giving us a glimpse of the new world likely to come in “Cottage Living.” The recent world additions have been fairly lackluster, offering little to do and a tragically small amount of lots to build on, so I’m still holding out hope until I see the full map.
Picking up the pack before September 2 will also give you three additional items including a ridable bike with a basket, a chicken-riding gnome, and a tree decks out in garden lights.
And while I’m not a fan of dealing with toddlers in The Sims, they did show one of those rugrats working on a cross-stitch project, which seems dangerous but was also kind of cute and will hopefully keep them busy.
EA already teased the new DLC expansion by giving Simfluencers (yes I did just make that word up) from their EA Game Changers program a postcard from an English-inspired countryside.
“We are pleased you’re joining us in Henford-on-Bagley! I’m sure you will enjoy the quaint countryside life. Do come visit us at our Garden Stall when you arrive,” the postcard reads.
It’s also signed by “A. and A. Crumplebottom,” which sounded familiar to dedicated Simmers. Agnes Crumplebottom is a character from previous Sims games. She’s had multiple husbands, though none with a first name starting with A. We got to see Agnes in the trailer, but there’s still no info on who other mysterious A could be.
And, as many non-American players have pointed out, The Sims 4 is excessively U.S.-centric with only the “Snowy Escape” expansion pack offering some international living appeal in a Japanese-inspired world.
An even more exclusive group of Simmers got to see the reveal trailer early, which The Sims showed off on Twitter with a supercut of their excited (but spoiler-free) reactions.
EA did tease that this would be the “Summer of Sims,” with a load of content coming in hot. But fans probably didn’t expect quite so many announcements. The “Dream Home Decorator” Game Pack released June 1, and the “Courtyard Oasis Kit” dropped just a couple weeks before on May 18.
Still, fans have been clamoring for a countryside living experience for years, whether that be away from the suburban and urban landscapes common in The Sims 4 or a full farming DLC. Or at least a horse. People really liked the horses in The Sims 3: Pets. We didn’t get horses in the trailer, but there was plenty of llama action (The Sims is seriously obsessed with llamas).
Now we just have to see how the pack itself plays. There have been plenty of DLC offerings that seemed promising upon reveal only to be filled with bugs or too little gameplay once players got their hands on it. And with Simmers growing more and more tired of EA’s somewhat bungled attempts to bring more skin tones to the game, the lack of variety and features from previous installments, and DLC that no one asked for, The Sims 4 could use a win, especially since EA has said it’s not particularly interested in moving on to The Sims 5 any time soon.