Have you checked out the new expansion pack The Sims 4 Cottage Living? This new expansion pack just came out on July 22nd! and… this pack is super wonderful, animals, crafting, country life, errands, and more!
Henford-on-Bagley
This is probably one of my favorite worlds ever in all of The Sims, just the look of this world makes me so happy and want to play. Of course for this review, I brought out my Sim-fam, which includes; myself, my husband, son, and two fur-babies.
Embrace Village Life
There is a system where you can talk to the villagers and help with errands. This makes your Sim more a part of the community and you also find out more of the lore of the area. This errand system gives the neighborhood a bit more story fell to the overall gameplay. Of course, if you want nothing to do with this element you can totally just not do it. This is the main reason I love the sims so much, you can pick what you want to do, from what the game offers.
For doing the errands you learn the functions of the game and get rewards. During the interactions, your relationships will also be impacted so if you are nice you will build a friendship with the errand giving Sims.
Village Market
There are several little shops that have vendor booths in the town square; a grocery booth, and a floral booth. There is also a pub and an area for the fair. The buildings in the town square have some options of functionality but mostly, they are nice for photos and gameplay astehtics.
Finchwick Fair
There are different fairs on Saturdays that have different competitions, items, and prizes. For example, the Chicken fair has Chicken and Egg competitions. You can see which fair is next by looking at your calendar. Each festival will have items that can be purchased at the vendor booths.
Townies
There are seven main townies, er residents of Henford-on-Bagley who keep everything running. Each of these townies can give you tasks or errands. Agatha and Agnes Crumplebottom run the garden shop (yes she is back), Michael Bell is the Creature Keeper, Rahul Chopra is the Grocery Deliverer, Kim Goldbloom is the Grocery Shop Owner, Sara Scott the Pub Owner, and the Mayor of Finchwick Lavina Chopra. Of course, there are more townies but these are the ones that can give the errands.
For those that need to know Agnes still dislikes any form of public display of affection.
Activities
In the neighborhood of Henford-on-Bagley, there are loads of activities to do. Some of the activities are from previous packs and some are new. There are several activities that have been added to the game such as cross-stitching. Children can also learn basic kitchen skills by helping adults while cooking. Speaking of food there is also the ‘Go for Picnic’ option where you can get a picnic basket and head out to have a picnic!
Raise & Befriend Animals
One of the biggest draws to this pack for me is the animals there are cows, llamas. chickens, rabbits, foxes, and birds. You can talk to animals, name animals, and befriend the animals. Certain animals like cows and chickens produce things that you can make this with or sell. And apparently, there is no limit on how many sheds and coops you can ‘place.’ I will note that you can fit eight chickens into each coop.
New Trait – Animal Enthusiasts
“These Sims are obsessed with animals and will seek their company often. They will have an easier time caring for animals and getting closer to them.”
Excellent. I love this trait, I am this trait. I will definitely be changing one of my traits to this as I am a crazy animal (and plant) person!
New Trait – Lactose Intolerant
The Lactose intolerant trait is well…. Bad things happen when you eat dairy. Food will have a tag on it if it is lactose-free, as vegetarian food does
New Aspiration – Country Caretaker
The Animals
About the animal products, well there are eggs, milk, and wool. If the animal is happy and in good care, the animal will have a higher chance of producing rare products that have beneficial properties.
You can show your animals and products at the fair and get prizes. I noticed that the better care the animal was the better it did in completion. Also, the special kinds of animals and products seem to do really well.
Jezi and Sir Clucksalot at the Finchwick Fair. We got 1st place and got a ribbon and a cowplant berry!
You can get special animals that make special products, such as Golden chickens. Golden chickens lay golden eggs that are worth more Simeolons and well can hatch more golden chickens.
The important part of the animals to note is that you can socialize with your animals, name them, and dress them. Watching the little chicks hatch is quite possibly the most adorable thing EVER and you can see it in Paige’s early access review HERE
New Deaths & Ghosts
Well with raising animals there are always risks, and one of those risks is ticking off your chickens! There is a new death… death by angry chicken and death by rabbit. Just a friendly reminder to be kind to your chickens!
Live off the Land
With the Cottage Living Expansion Pack, there are several new berries you can forage and grow and several new recipes, including a new canning skill and activity. There are also mushrooms that change day to day… and they can be SPICY!
Challenge Living
There are now lot of challenges that are similar to lot traits, that can be completed one at a time to spice your game up a bit. The two lot challenges included in Cottage living are Simple Living & Wild Foxes. Simple Living requires cooking on this lot to actually have the ingredients. The upside is the food tastes better. Wild Foxes which causes Foxes to come and be nuisances in your garden or to your chickens and rabbits.
A lot of the errands that villagers will ask you to do revolve around collecting and growing things from the land. The entire pack feels as if you can live off the grid and self-sustain a little farm in the village countryside. Of course, it is a total lot of work. I find that more than one adult Sim on a farm is idea! Got to have help with all these chores!
CAS Items
The Sims 4 Cottage Living Expansion Pack comes with loads of new hairstyles and attire for all ages of Sims. With the pack theme, everything is Cottagecore or country-themed. I personally like the very strict theme-matching within the pack, as it gives the pack more of an authentic living in a country village feel.
Build & Buy Objects
Just like the CAS items the objects are all themed in the country/farmhouse and Cottagecore style. This ties the gameplay and decoration all in together very nicely in one little country village lifestyle. Out of all the objects I like the I really like the tea set and the clock. I like to decorate (even though I am really bad at it) but, my father-in-law has a wall clock like that and my mom always had a farmhouse theme to her home. The nostalgia vibes in the decor really get me, all good things. The objects in this pack, are lovely and give a cozy warm feel, perfect for the pack.
Cheat codes
There are some new cheat codes with the Sims 4 Cottage Living Expansion Pack. Before you do any cheats you need to enable cheats by pressing CTRL + C + Shift and type testingcheats on, once you do this you can then cheat! If you need more cheat codes please see our Blogs on Cheats HERE & HERE.
Of course, you can always enable cheats and then shift + click to create and unlock things on specific items, like coops, animal homes, recipes, patterns, and boost relationships.
stats.set_skill_level Skill_CrossStitch 5 maxes our yout Cross-stich skills
Summary
I personally did not run into any glitches while testing out this pack. The only weird oddity that I noticed was the first time I clicked the new CAS items the icon did not show right away. Once I clicked the icon the item then showed until reload. This could also be due to my very large amounts of CC hoarding, which I did enable while testing this pack! *cough 70GB of TSR CC.
We hope you enjoy this pack, it is super cute, fun, and there are so many options for gameplay, building, and makeovers with the Sims 4 Cottage Living Expansion Pack.
Ladies Night at the Pub and someone is giving Bella the sus look
My last-minute thoughts on The Sims 4 Cottage Living Expansion Pack… this pack makes even the fruitcake look good.
If you missed Paige’s early access video you can check it out HERE and remember to keep an eye out and follow us/like us as we will do our best to keep you updated on all things SIMS!
