What is the Sims 4: StrangerVille?
The Sims 4 StrangerVille is a game pack for the Sims 4 Base Game. A popular life simulation game, The Sims franchise allows players to play the life of people known as the “Sims.” A Sims game pack is a half size expansion pack. It brings new content to the game, but not as much as a full expansion would. In this newest game pack, Sims get to explore a new town, StrangerVille. StrangerVille is a desert town that promises weird weather, odd townies, dangerous plants, and new collectibles. If that’s not enough, strange events can be investigated and monitored: unmarked government vans will even turn up as well as dark suited agents. The Military Career makes a return to the franchise, and a variety of new items and clothing also become available with this game pack.
What rating is The Sims 4 Strangerville?
The Sims 4 StrangerVille is rated T by ERSB for Crude Humor, Sexual Themes, and Violence. You can see the GeekDad break down of the reasons for this rating in this article about the base game. Teen Sims can “mess around,” adult Sims can “woohoo” or “try for baby,” but none of these acts are shown explicitly and occur behind other objects. When Sims are unclothed (such as in a shower) they are blurred. Some clothing items are more revealing than others. Sims can die in a variety of ways other than old age and can get into very cartoonish “fights” with other Sims. These types of actions carry over into this newest game pack as well. The rating is just about right, although pre-teen who simply want to explore StrangerVille and not romance other Sims can probably avoid a lot of the more T-rated aspects of the game. There is a part where your Sim must get an item from a military Sim and can choose to fight, bribe, or seduce them among other options. The seduction is simply a kiss.
Can I Watch the Trailer for The Sims 4 Get Famous?
Yes, you can watch it below:
Gameplay and Verdict
The first thing I did was check out the new households. One had three roommates, one of which was featured in the trailer. Another includes an adult couple by the name of Roswell. A third is a lone character in old-fashioned pilot gear. I choose the fourth option, the Sigworth family, which includes wife Jess (the military character from the trailer), husband Dylan, and their daughter Christie. I went into Create-A-Sim mode to check out some of the new clothing options for the game.
Investigating the strange happenings in StrangerVille is as Aspiration a Sim can take. I promptly selected the aspiration for the husband, Dylan, and signed him up for the Scientist Career. That first night, around 1 AM, things got weird. Jess woke up, had some sort of reaction and popped into a Possessed Mode. Sure enough, on quick inspection, one of her Traits is “Possessed’ and she proceeded to run around the house and town making weird jerky motions along with other Possessed Sims (many are scientists or military). You have a few actions you can make a Possessed Sim do once they go into Possessed Mode, but at the end of 3 hours they come home with their need bars filled.
I now have Dylan on a quest to discover what is going on. He has to talk to other residents and visit the Curio Shop which is manned by local colander wearing conspiracy theorists including Erwin, the guy seem in the trailer. Dylan is eventually sent to the Secret Laboratory where he has to poke around for clues to take him to the next step. The further Dylan gets, the weirder things become. The unmarked vans and secret agents from the trailer start turning up, vines appear in the plumbing, and the weather begins to shift. It all has a very Stranger Things feel to it. Dylan has to befriend locals for help and can even get information by planting bugs on other Sims.
The Military Career is one where you can send your Sim off to work or let them work from home (mostly doing physical activities as work). They do have an easier time getting a Key Card needed in the quest, and their leftover work time might make it easier to investigate the mystery than other careers, but it can be done. Sparing is brought in not as a new skill but as an addition to the Fitness skill. A Sim who levels up in the Military Career also receives a medal for each rank that can be placed in a display box.
Overall, this is probably my favorite game pack since Parenthood. I have not gotten to the mystery end yet (it takes about 1-2 in game weeks), but I think I will still have fun exploring the city and working Sims through the Military Career even after I have “solved the mystery.” It is trickier to play the mystery and manage a family, so you may wish to take it on with a household of one or at least turn off aging to give you enough time to do everything.
What Formats is The Sims 4 StrangerVille Available In?
Currently, The Sims 4 StrangerVille is available in PC/Mac, but often expansions release on Xbox One and Playstation 4 at a later date.
What System Specifications Will I Need to Play?
*The Sims 4 StrangerVille is a game pack, so players must have The Sims 4 Base Game to play.
The following system advice is recommended by Origin, The Electronic Arts online store.
PC Minimum Specs
- OS: 64 Bit Required. Windows 7 (SP1), Windows 8, Windows 8.1, or Windows 10
- CPU: 1.8 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, AMD Athlon 64 Dual-Core 4000+ or equivalent (For computers using built-in graphics chipsets, the game requires 2.0 GHz Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.0 GHz AMD Turion 64 X2 TL-62 or equivalent)
- RAM: At least 4 GB RAM
- Hard Drive: At least 3 GB of free space (15 GB if installing with The Sims™ 4) with at least 1 GB additional space for custom content and saved games
- Video: 128 MB of Video RAM and support for Pixel Shader 3.0. Supported Video Cards: NVIDIA GeForce 6600 or better, ATI Radeon X1300 or better, Intel GMA X4500 or better.
- DirectX: DirectX 9.0c compatible
- Sound Card: DirectX 9.0c Compatible
- Input: Keyboard and Mouse
- Online Requirements: Internet connection required for product activation
PC Recommended Specs
- OS: 64 Bit Windows 7, 8, 8.1, or 10
- Processor: Intel core i5 or faster, AMD Athlon X4
- Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 650 or better
- Memory: 4 GB RAM
- Hard Drive: 18 GB of Hard Drive space
MAC Minimum Specs
- OS: Mac OS® X 10.7.5 (Lion)
- CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHz Processor or better
- RAM: At least 4 GB RAM
- Hard Drive: At least 3 GB of free space (15 GB if installing with The Sims™ 4) with at least 1 GB additional space for custom content and saved games
- Video: NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT, ATI Radeon HD 2600 Pro or better. Video RAM of 256MB or better.
- Input: Keyboard and Mouse
- Online Requirements: Internet connection required for product activation
MAC Recommended Specs:
- OS: Mac OS® X 10.9 or later
- Processor: Intel Core i5 or better
- Video Card: NVIDIA GTX 650 or better
- Memory: 8 GB RAM
- Hard Drive: 18 GB of Hard Drive space
Are you a Sims player? Is this a game pack you’ve played or are interested in? Let us know in the comments.
