It’s been a few weeks since The Sims 4: Enchanted By Nature launched, giving us plenty of time to settle into leafy Innisgreen. The Ireland-inspired world has a lot to offer, including a wild easter egg.
Across from the Cork-esque Coast of Adhmor are the fae Everdew woodlands, at the base of the mountains. Tucked away in the forest is Puckitt Hall, a château and estate belonging to the Summerdream family.
If you’ve played many previous generations of The Sims before – or if you studied Shakespeare in school – then you might already recognise the aptly-named Puckitt Hall’s residents. Enter the Summerdream household: a Shakespearean family of three based on a Midsummer Night’s Dream. In this version of events, they’re a pair of dysfunctional spouses, Titania and Oberon, with their daughter, Mara.
Even besides the Summerdreams’ (somewhat heavy-handed) nod to The Bard’s comedy, they’re also actually a part of the fabric of The Sims’ lore, going all the way back to 2003.
A potted history of the Summerdreams
Although Titania, Oberon, and Mara aren’t new to the series by any stretch of the imagination, the Summerdreams haven’t always taken on the same form. Each time they appear in the franchise they have a slightly different backstory, relatives, and even relationships.
As a result of their familial shapeshifting, the Summerdream’s history is long and fairly convoluted. Mara was the first to appear, with Titania and Oberon being added to the game much later. The pair had been included in both The Sims 2 and 3, making it a surprise that they took so long to be reintroduced.
This fairytale starts in the early 2000s
To dig up the roots of the Summerdream family tree, you’re going to need to turn your clocks back to the turn of the millennium. The very last Expansion Pack for the first generation of The Sims, Makin’ Magic, had just launched. With it came a boatload of mysticism and, well, magic. It also introduced the series’ very first fairy: Faerie Queen Mara.
I wonder if the devs realised the impact they would have – and the hundreds of forum posts begging for fairies to be reintroduced – when they first added her?
Faerie Queen Mara is a vendor in Magic Town, a quirky through-the-looking-glass suburb on the edge of SimCity. You could find her selling her wares from a floral cart on a bunch of different lots around town, or toadstool racing for spell ingredients.
Of course, the original Mara was pretty different from the high fae princess we know from Enchanted By Nature. Where she was once an adult NPC (and girlboss business owner, no less), she’s now a playable child. It doesn’t seem like a total coincidence, though, that these two fairies might be different versions of the same Sim. Or, alternatively, that young Mara might be a reference to the Faerie Queen.
Given that Mara is also widely considered to be The Sims’ first fairy, it seems perfectly reasonable that she would be name-dropped in Enchanted By Nature. After all, The Sims is packed with meta references if you know where to look. Just look at the Landgraab monopoly and the endless llama references that have somehow still stuck around since the mid-2000s.
A venturous fairy queen
The Summerdream matriarch and patriarch, Titania and Oberon, were first introduced as inhabitants of The Sims 2’s Shakespeare-inspired Veronaville neighbourhood. Most of the map was based on Romeo and Juliet – hence Verona – with the other two families being references to the Montagues and Capulets. Despite that, the fae folk of A Midsummer Night’s Dream still got a look in, with a massive family tree to boot.
In The Sims 2, Titania and Oberon lived together in unwedded bliss with their two adopted children, Puck and Bottom. Or, maybe not as blissful as they might seem, considering that Titania actually has feelings for Kent Capp. Shakespeare crossover fic, anyone?
In addition to their immediate family, the Summerdreams have two generations of predecessors, meaning they actually span across four generations. Their genealogy goes back to Brilliante and Pistol Summerdream, Titania’s grandparents. Maybe baby name trends were different back then.
Alongside the original Summerdreams, there’s also an assortment of other interesting family names, including the Featherlights, Gossamer, and Bramble. Interestingly, the tree suggests that the Summerdream name is passed down matrilineally. Elvin – Titania’s father – appeared to take on the surname from her mother, Fae.
Even though the tree is packed with relatives, Mara is nowhere to be seen – and in fact, won’t reappear until her eventual comeback in The Sims 4. It’s not totally clear why she replaced Puck and Bottom. However, the change makes perfect sense considering that Bottom is actually briefly Titania’s lover in the play.
I mean, that, and I just don’t think anyone’s naming their kid Bottom.
When did the Summerdreams become fairies?
So, we’ve addressed that the Summerdreams are a staple of The Sims. We also know that Mara has always been a fairy, even though she’s been missing from the franchise for almost 25 years. But Titania and Oberon – despite being based on the queen and king of the fairies, respectively – were actually just regular old non-occult Sims in The Sims 2. They kind of just whacked some quirky facepaint on and called it a day.
Technically, The Sims 2 didn’t even have fairies at all. It wasn’t until almost a decade later that fairies were properly introduced into The Sims ecosystem as a playable occult. At this point, Titania and Oberon started to raise their heads above the weeds again.
The Sims 3: Supernatural brought playable fairies to Moonlight Falls
Supernatural is one of the more famous packs among The Sims community, thanks to the sheer amount of content and new occults it added. The Expansion followed in the steps of Makin’ Magic in more than a few ways, including bringing back the fan favourite skeleton Bonehilda, while laying a lot of groundwork for what would later become DLC for The Sims 4.
Titania and Oberon – now properly fairies for the first time – were one of the premade families roaming around the very Twin-Peaks-meets-Twilight-coded world of Moonlight Falls. This time, the couple were married, but they didn’t have any kids.
Another key change between the couple’s Sims 2 and Sims 3 eras was their personalities. The two of them had basically had complete trait transplants; Oberon was transformed from being lazy to athletic, while Titania went from being fairly outgoing and playful to being a grumpy loner. What happened in those eight years?!
Despite their significant personality shifts, one thing about them stayed pretty much the same: their commitment issues. So much so that this time, they were actually made an integral part of them in the form of a personality trait.
It’s what Shakespeare would’ve wanted, I’m sure.
So, what are the Summerdreams like now?
After 13 long years, this chaotic (if very literary) family is back in our dollhouses. But what are they like now? Have they changed as much as they did between the other Sims generations?
Surprisingly, their personalities have become a bit more stable. Oberon is still active, and Titania is a non-committal slob. I guess some habits die hard.
Mara, meanwhile, is a little tougher to compare to her predecessor – she was an NPC, after all, and we don’t know much about her besides the fact that she’s fae royalty and that she can smash a toadstool race in seconds.
As for her current version, she’s a creative child with the high fae lineage, courtesy of her parents. Relatedly, she’s got decent family dynamics: a permissive relationship with Oberon and a supportive connection with Titania.
Maybe she’ll even complete the circle when she gets older by starting a small business to sell spell ingredients, or by taking on her mother’s crown and becoming Faerie Queen Mara once more.
