Unleash Your Inner Entrepreneur: The Sims 4 Businesses & Hobbies Pack Reviewed!

Exploring the fresh addition to The Sims 4, known as the Businesses & Hobbies pack, is an exhilarating moment for fans eager to experience new game content. This expansion introduces a more immersive small business ownership experience within The Sims 4, along with a variety of engaging new hobbies for your Sims. Notably, the expansion features a Scandinavian-inspired neighborhood, Nordhaven, which boasts a clean and minimalist design. This latest installment in The Sims 4 offers several eagerly anticipated features such as customizable tattoos and mixed-use lots that can serve both commercial and residential purposes. Although the Businesses & Hobbies pack may seem somewhat compact compared to other recent expansions, it delivers a well-executed set of content.

As someone who struggles with interior and exterior design, I found that my Sim’s new home in Nordhaven was limited to just one pre-constructed residential lot. Consequently, my newly-created Sim settled there, and I must admit, the available house in this neighborhood is quite exquisite, featuring items from the latest pack. For those enthusiastic builders among us, the four vacant, empty lots in Nordhaven will undoubtedly provide an excellent opportunity to design your dream business establishments. However, for Simmers like myself who just desire a visually appealing space for my characters, the scarcity of pre-built lots in this expansion pack may be somewhat disappointing.

Additionally, there is one vacant Small Business lot available for purchase, allowing Sims to set up shop close to the local park. This added touch caters to those who prefer not to operate their businesses from the small pre-constructed residential lot provided.

After my Sim had comfortably moved into her new residence, it was only natural that she’d consider starting a Small Business. The variety of choices provided for selecting the business type is quite impressive, ranging from a Cat Cafe to a Tattoo Parlor and many more. Once you pick an option, you can further tailor the business by deciding on the activities customers will participate in during their visit. For example, I opted for socializing with pets and sipping coffee and pastries at my Cat Cafe. This feature allows Simmers to refine their businesses to better align with their objectives. Frankly, I was quite amazed by how comprehensive the Small Business menu is. Previously, attempting to run bakeries using old retail lot models hadn’t been very successful for me, but this new system represents a significant improvement for entrepreneurial Sims. The freedom to decide what customers can expect from the business gives it a more interactive feel. Instead of solely selling items, customers now pay a fee to enjoy services, which expands the potential experiences on offer.

With the help of the Businesses & Hobbies pack, the usual workings of my business have improved significantly. The customers behave appropriately inside the shop, participating in their chosen activities and making purchases. This is a significant improvement compared to managing retail stores prior to this pack, which seldom functioned as planned. In the first few days of opening my Cat Cafe, I haven’t encountered any major issues or problems that disrupted operations. This has allowed me to finally relax and savor the experience of being the tattooed Cat Cafe owner I’ve long fantasized about.

At the close of each working day, you receive feedback on aspects your business excels and falters in, regarding customer preferences. However, I encountered an issue because the customers weren’t fond of the atmosphere. Admittedly, I shared their sentiments as well. Despite my attempts to brighten up the main areas of my property by adjusting auto-lights, installing additional light fixtures, or possibly even some issues with Nordhaven or new pack items, these efforts didn’t seem to improve the lighting condition significantly. This predicament was particularly vexing for me as a player, especially when customers kept voicing their dissatisfaction about it.

Speaking of the pastime features introduced in “The Sims 4: Businesses & Hobbies,” some players might find the enhancements underwhelming compared to the substantial revamping of businesses. The new options include pottery and tattooing, which can also serve as fresh entrepreneurial opportunities. Pottery is meticulously crafted, featuring a potter’s wheel and the ability to glaze pottery upon completion. There’s a variety of designs and glazes to keep things engaging, and it’s delightful that Sims now have an additional creative skill to master. However, Candy Making seems more like another tool than a pastime. Using it results in vibrant sweets your Sim can either consume or sell. Yet, it primarily expands upon the existing Cooking skill rather than introducing a new one. Given the abundance of cooking-related skills already available, this choice is understandable, but it does push “hobbies” towards a singular focus.

In summary, the “Businesses & Hobbies” pack has been a long-awaited delight for many Sims players, as it includes the option to introduce tattooing into the game. Your Sim characters can learn this skill and even tattoo their friends or clients, with higher levels unlocking unique designs in the Create-a-Sim feature. The tattoo expansion doesn’t just affect those who choose to partake in this new hobby; it also offers additional customization options for Create-a-Sim. This addition is quite impressive, featuring a wide variety of new tattoo designs and placement options. For those like me who aren’t artistically gifted, the stencil feature comes in handy, adding a touch of creativity to your Sim’s tattoos without requiring any freehand drawing. Furthermore, this pack also enhances the Small Business gameplay with more depth, making it a significant achievement of “Businesses & Hobbies.

In discussing The Sims 4: Businesses & Hobbies expansion, it’s important to mention the additions to Create-a-Sim and Build Mode. While the new items in Build Mode have a sleek, minimalist design, there isn’t an abundance of them. The emphasis is on Small Business-related elements such as open signs, kiosks, and display cases. There are also some new furniture and decor items, but the selection is rather limited. Create-a-Sim sees a more streamlined approach this time, with the addition of tattoo options being the most significant change. Alongside this, there are new outfits and hairstyles, but the main highlight of this pack lies in its innovative mechanics. Fortunately, these mechanics are well-designed, and I anticipate spending numerous hours unlocking all Small Business Perks for my cat cafe, even though I might need to draw from earlier packs to decorate it.

In summary, “The Sims 4 Businesses & Hobbies” is an effective Expansion Pack that enhances the gameplay experience by introducing innovative mechanics for managing small businesses. It successfully achieves its goal and provides an additional layer of depth for players who prefer this type of gameplay. However, for those expecting a vast new world with numerous pre-built lots and items, they might find it slightly disappointing relative to its price. Nevertheless, for aspiring Sim Tycoons, this pack is sure to be a delightful realization of their dreams.

Rating: 3 out of 5

In this article, we’ll be discussing our thoughts on “The Sims 4: Businesses and Hobbies” after playing it on a PC through the EA application. We were fortunate enough to receive an early access copy from the game’s publisher for the sole purpose of writing this review.

2025-03-07 00:20

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