There are so many different types of DLC available for The Sims 4 now, including Expansion Packs, Game Packs, Stuff Packs, and Kits. With so many to choose from, you’re probably going to want to narrow your options down to suit your exact gameplay style. It can be tough to do so, though, particularly if you haven’t had the chance to actually try the pack out yourself.
Legacy challenges are a self-imposed game mode where you stick with the same family through at least ten generations. Generally speaking, you’ll start this challenge with a single young adult Sim on a big empty lot with little to no money. From there, you’re going to have to figure out how to build a life and a family from scratch.
This gameplay style can especially benefit from a little extra DLC. Pick the right packs, and each generation of your household will be able to live their little lives to the fullest. We’ve rounded up a few that especially help to add depth and variety to the challenge, ranging from Expansions that improve parenting to new lot types that come in clutch in a legacy’s early days.
Growing Together
Growing Together is the kind of pack that feels like it was designed with legacy challenges in mind. Similarly to its predecessor, The Sims 3: Generation, Growing Together sets out to invigorate long-term family gameplay that spans across several, well, generations.
A few key features it added included more malleable personalities, family dynamics, and a fuller social compatibility system. Really, it’s one of the few packs that I would think of as being a total necessity for most saves.
One item that really stands out to me as being perfect for legacies is the Keepsake Box. With this, your Sims can easily pass items down through the generations with just a few clicks. Elder Sims can even ponder over their heirlooms throughout their golden years to help reshape family dynamics. It comes in three different designs – each with its own price point – meaning that regardless of your legacy family’s aesthetic choices (or budget), you can pick something that’s perfect for them.
Parenthood
Before we had Growing Together, Parenthood brought a whole raft of new gameplay features to families in The Sims 4. The Game Pack supplies you with a bunch of new ways to shape your little virtual kids’ childhoods by teaching them to mind their Ps and Qs, helping them to control their emotions (or not), and shaping their behaviour through encouragement or discipline.
The Parenting skill is also introduced here, meaning your Heirs can learn exactly how to give the next generation what they need before it’s their turn to take over. And, grandparents can share their parenting wisdom when helping out with the grandkids.
Legacy saves tend to focus at least a little on child-rearing, since you need to raise the next generation of your family to have someone to play with. This means that any pack that helps to add depth and quality-of-life updates to taking care of your family can go a really long way.
Life & Death
You might expect this morbid Expansion Pack to be all doom, gloom, and gothic glamour, but Life & Death surprisingly revolutionises a lot of things that come up a great deal with legacy play. For starters, it gave us Wills, allowing your Sims to easily delegate who gets dibs on Nana’s precious gnome statue. Secondly, the bucket list system adds so much to do when you start to run out of inspiration during longer saves.
Knifty Knitting
Okay, we’re going to get a little niche here. Knifty Knitting adds the all-important option of crafting ugly hats and bobbly socks to pass through the generations, making it a perfect pick for legacy challenges.
This Stuff Pack pairs particularly well with the heirloom box from Growing Together or the Will functionality introduced by Life & Death, as they make it easier than ever to pass ugly craftables down to the grandkids.
High School Years
Troubled teens and drama llamas abound – High School Years is a must-have to breathe life into your teenaged Sims.
If you haven’t played this pack before, it would be totally understandable for you to wonder why it’s on this list. After all, active careers, where you attend work or school alongside your Sim, take time away from other Sims in your household. However, this Expansion is so much more than just study sessions and exam crunch.
With High School Years, your teenage Sims get to be more than just little adults. The pack adds all kinds of features, including after-school activities like cheerleading, prom night, graduation, and, um, T-posing.
I might not be selling it well, but it’s worth picking up, especially if you plan on watching your Sims grow up. Plus, it’s actually surprisingly pretty fun to start your legacy off with a lone teen Sim to mix things up and get a little longer with your first heir.
Discover University
While we’re on a scholarly note, let’s give a good old campus cheer for Discover University. As the name might suggest, this Expansion lets your Sims spread their wings by leaving the nest for university. Or, in the case of a legacy challenge, most likely stay put in their nest and study furiously.
Similarly to what High School Years does for teens, Discover University helps to create more dimension and differentiation for young adults. But as well as that, it also helps your Sims to ascend the career ladder a little quicker by graduating with a Distinguished Degree. This guarantees your household will earn more, quicker. And, it does a lot for storytelling at the same time.
Lovestruck
In all likelihood, your heir is going to want to find a partner (or multiple) to help build their legacy with. If you struggle to decide who your Sim should settle down with, then Lovestruck’s detailed attraction system can help out massively. And, you get to subject your Sims to the horrors of dating apps to boot!
There are also a couple more aspects of Lovestruck that can help add some spice to your heir’s love life. Romantic satisfaction is a big one, as it turns your partnership into a more three-dimensional dynamic that changes over time. Which, if you’re spending a lot of time with a Sim, can go a long way gameplay-wise.
My Wedding Stories
Okay, so you’ve found your Sim’s ideal match and you’re ready for them to take the next step. How better to do that than by throwing them the perfect wedding?
Well, honestly, you might struggle with throwing the ‘perfect’ wedding with My Wedding Stories. The glitchy DLC is infamous among The Sims’ community for creating chaotic nuptials and dysfunctional dinner rehearsals. However, I live for The Sims at its most chaotic, and so I honestly kind of love this pack.
Seasons
Seasons is a banger Expansion Pack, and I will die on that hill. It was the first DLC I bought for the game, and I couldn’t go back to muddy-puddle-free gameplay.
Besides adding some beautiful sights, like snowfall over San Myshuno and chaotic thunderstorms in San Sequoia, it also adds an entire calendar of events and holidays. Want to spend a day honouring your Sims’ dearly departed ancestors? Or maybe you have some family traditions you want to pass on to your heir? You can do all of that super easily with Seasons, making it a solid choice for any legacy save.
Tiny Living
It might sound a little weirdly specific, but Tiny Living is an asset for any kind of gameplay challenge. This is thanks to all of the different benefits you reap from downsizing to a tiny property, like reduced bills, bolstered skills, and enhanced relationship gains.
All of these benefits are super helpful right at the start of your legacy. Your Sims won’t have anything at first, and you’ll need to build their houses from scratch on an empty lot. This means that houses will always start off as being pretty tiny anyway, so you may as well make the most of it.
