Expansion Packs and Game Packs have been an essential part of the Sims experience ever since Maxis released the very first one – The Sims: Vacation. Even Stuff Packs like the Nifty Knitting Stuff Pack add new gameplay mechanics to the Sims 4 universe. But Kits, with their limited functionality and microtransaction ickiness, have been controversial in the Sims community.
But two new The Sims 4 Kits – Pastel Pop and Everyday Clutter – may be about to change all that. These two Kits may be cute and functional enough to lure new free-to-play Simmers into the pro-Kit camp, turning over a new leaf for this kind of DLC.
The Sims 4 Kit Controversy
The Sims 4 Kits are bite-sized packs of official DLC from EA with an equally small price tag – $4.99 each. Each Kit adds new content to the game in Build/Buy Mode and/or Create-A-Sim, depending on the Kit. The first Sims 4 Kits were the Throwback Fit Kit, which added retro clothes to CAS, and the Country Kitchen Kit, which brought cozy country style to the kitchen.
Some Simmers loved the addition of Kits to the EA product line because it gave players with lower budgets the option of adding content to their libraries without spending $20 to $40 on an Expansion or Game Pack.
Others saw Kits as a money grab by EA, introducing microtransactions into The Sims 4 and charging players money for content they could get for free from custom content creators. I admit that I have been one of the Kit haters, but I think EA is about to turn the Kit tables in their favor with the new Pastel Pop and Everyday Clutter Kits.
How the Pastel Pop & Every Clutter Kits Are Different
The Sims 4 Pastel Pop Kit undercuts that last argument by bringing popular community Simmer Plumbella into the fold. At the Behind the Sims Summit last month, EA announced the You Make the Sims initiative, where they plan to involve the Sims community in developing new Sims features and content. EA and Maxis put their money where their mouth is by getting Plumbella involved.
Plumbella is a name that the Sims community trusts when it comes to custom content, so their input in the new Pastel Pop Kit is like a direct line of communication between EA and real-life Simmers. And it shows. The Kit is loaded with abstract, colorful furniture and decor that straddles the line between mid-century retro and ultra-modern. This Kit is CUTE. Cute enough that I want to spend $5 on it… except I’m cheap, and that fiver is definitely going to the other new Kit – Everyday Clutter.
Everyday Clutter – A Long Time Coming
If you’ve ever walked into a model home, you know that clutter is essential to making a space feel authentic and lived-in. The same goes for builds in the Sims 4 – without clutter, the homes and apartments look naked and sterile, which is a total mood killer for storyteller Simmers. Like most Sims shortcomings, players have gotten around this by downloading custom content, but the Everyday Clutter pack is finally adding real, official clutter to the EA library.
That may not sound like a big deal, but it really, really is. Early screenshots show shelves loaded with mundane items like cell phones, wallets, glasses, and mugs. Corners come alive with frequently used (or maybe unused) yoga mats and hand weights. Blank canvases lean up against apartment walls waiting to be splashed with paint.
These elements bring your Sims’ living quarters to life in a visual way that we’ve had to rely on custom content until now. But there may still be one small snag – the Sims 4 Build Catalog. There is a clutter section, but it’s impossible to navigate. Toilet paper, greeting cards, jewelry boxes, and other tchotchkes are all jumbled together in a headache-inducing mess.
If the Everyday Clutter Kit includes a better clutter organization scheme, I can’t wait to give EA my money. You can get the Sims 4 Pastel Pop and Everyday Clutter Kits starting Nov. 10. And before you go, be sure to check out our other Sims 4 content, including the most essential DLC for new free-to-play Simmers and how to use the move objects cheat.
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