by Maia Jern
Outdoor Retreat is the first official game pack for The Sims 4, and introduces holidays to the game. You can now send your Sims on camping or cabin trips to the beautiful new holiday destination of Granite Falls. When you arrive, you can rent a cabin (from the simple to the extravagant, with matching prices), or just head to the campsite (which is the cheapest option). I revisited my very first family, the Rowe-Newsomes, to try this out. Their little girl Clara is all grown up and in high school now. She even has a boyfriend. Her mothers were a bit sceptical in the beginning, but as long as she’s happy, they’re happy.
Outdoor Retreat is the first official game pack for The Sims 4, and introduces holidays to the game. You can now send your Sims on camping or cabin trips to the beautiful new holiday destination of Granite Falls. When you arrive, you can rent a cabin (from the simple to the extravagant, with matching prices), or just head to the campsite (which is the cheapest option). I revisited my very first family, the Rowe-Newsomes, to try this out. Their little girl Clara is all grown up and in high school now. She even has a boyfriend. Her mothers were a bit sceptical in the beginning, but as long as she’s happy, they’re happy.
Sims now work up paid vacation days that they can spend on trips to Granite Falls, with no risk of losing job performance. School kids get them too. Thankfully, all Sims are given three vacation days each straight away, so the Rowe-Newsomes were good to go and didn’t have to wait for the weekend.
Clara would have much preferred a luxury cabin, but her parents decided that a camping trip in the wild was just what their family needed, so they bought a tent, camping chairs, a cooler and electric lanterns, and off they went into the wilderness, or at least to the Granite Falls campsite. Three days followed of hiking, fishing, and grilling food on an open fire. Jennifer brought her guitar, and Lynne discovered the all new herbalism skill and began to gather herbs and berries to make insect spray and other neat things. And, of course, no camping trip is complete without toasting marshmallows around the fire or attempting to pee and shower in the bug-infested campsite outhouse. On their last night, the Rowe-Newsomes invited some friends who were also holidaying in the area, as well as the campsite ranger Cadence, to a bit of a weenie roast. Campfire songs and ghost stories ensued, and it was all fun and games until the tale attracted a real ghost that scared away most of the guests.
And, while Clara was busy in the bug-infested outhouse, Lynne and Jennifer found the time for a little tent fun. Outdoor Retreat includes one new destination, one new skill (Herbalism), one new nature aspiration, lots of new furniture, new hiking and outdoor clothes, new wild plants to collect and plant in your garden, new fish, the ability to catch and collect insects, campfire activities (Sims cannot sing, by the way, even if they have mastered all instrument skills), cloud/stargazing on the ground, and I’m sure there’s an Easter egg or two floating about that I haven’t yet discovered. Honestly, it’s not a bad amount of content for roughly the price of the old Sims 2 and 3 Stuff Packs. This combined with the three free content patches we were given over the course of the autumn (ghosts, swimming pools and new careers) is making EA and The Sims Studio look a lot less like the money-grabbing game villains we all know and love.
Clara would have much preferred a luxury cabin, but her parents decided that a camping trip in the wild was just what their family needed, so they bought a tent, camping chairs, a cooler and electric lanterns, and off they went into the wilderness, or at least to the Granite Falls campsite. Three days followed of hiking, fishing, and grilling food on an open fire. Jennifer brought her guitar, and Lynne discovered the all new herbalism skill and began to gather herbs and berries to make insect spray and other neat things. And, of course, no camping trip is complete without toasting marshmallows around the fire or attempting to pee and shower in the bug-infested campsite outhouse. On their last night, the Rowe-Newsomes invited some friends who were also holidaying in the area, as well as the campsite ranger Cadence, to a bit of a weenie roast. Campfire songs and ghost stories ensued, and it was all fun and games until the tale attracted a real ghost that scared away most of the guests.
And, while Clara was busy in the bug-infested outhouse, Lynne and Jennifer found the time for a little tent fun. Outdoor Retreat includes one new destination, one new skill (Herbalism), one new nature aspiration, lots of new furniture, new hiking and outdoor clothes, new wild plants to collect and plant in your garden, new fish, the ability to catch and collect insects, campfire activities (Sims cannot sing, by the way, even if they have mastered all instrument skills), cloud/stargazing on the ground, and I’m sure there’s an Easter egg or two floating about that I haven’t yet discovered. Honestly, it’s not a bad amount of content for roughly the price of the old Sims 2 and 3 Stuff Packs. This combined with the three free content patches we were given over the course of the autumn (ghosts, swimming pools and new careers) is making EA and The Sims Studio look a lot less like the money-grabbing game villains we all know and love.
What did you think of the expansion?
What did you think of Outdoor Retreat? And what do you hope to see in future expansions?
Let us know in the comments below, or come find us on Facebook and Twitter!
Let us know in the comments below, or come find us on Facebook and Twitter!
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