Every expansion to the swimmers, ranked

The Sims is the 2000 PC game that started everything for this massively beloved series and celebrates its 25th birthday by releasing Sims Legacy edition to get the original title back to modern computers again. When we arrive with every expansion package released for the game, it's a real treasure chest!

But with so many different things you can play with first, where is the best place to start? Which expansion package added to the most new content to SIMS? Bonus points go to all packages whose extra content is still in the game for so long in its life as well!

Updated February 8th 2025: With the publication of Legacy Edition for the original Sims, we are back to brush up our ranking of the best expansions for the original game. We have links to new content that we have published to help you get the most out of each package, as well as much more info and photos on each expansion.

7

Featured

The furry friend of your dreams

The fifth enlargement was released, Unleashed was the first time in the series that we got to play with pets. Cats, dogs, birds, fish, turtles and iguanas debuted in this package, and although it was not possible with each Animals, Maxis left control of cats and dogs to us. Pets took up the place of a family member in the game's eight-SIM limit, but the balancing was that you could control them in the same way as actual swimmers.

This package not only provided animals (and all their specialized care and inventory), but the introduced gardening in the series as well. In addition, the Standard area of ​​ten parties expanded all the way to 40, to give our families plenty of choices for places to settle with their new fluffy friends.

6

House party

Tear it up with your friends

House Party was the game's second expansion, and it delivered exactly what the title promises – all goods, services and accessories you may need to have thrown a rager. Are you trying to feed all your friends? Check out the catering table and drink fountain, or even hire a restaurant if you just want to focus on having fun. Are you trying to get your guests on your feet? Stick a DJ stand in front of the lightly lit rainbow dance floor. Don't you feel worth hosting? Go out to one of the several new bars and clubs to party instead.

This package was about releasing the hair, and we had a great time to do just that. Besides, does anyone remember that Drew Carey just pops out of the blue in your Sim's house when they threw a really good party, while a mime would show up if it sucked? Because it definitely feels like a fever dream for us …

5

Makin 'Magic

Charmed, I'm sure

Although it was the last expansion for the original swimmers, Makin 'Magic is definitely not overlooked, as it was our first real time playing with Supernatural, a trend that continues in every main series game. Jump into the Magic Town portal and get ready for your world to turn upside down.

This package started with a visit to your home party from a mystery man, which would give all the things you needed to get started on your magical journey. Going to the specialized magical world would allow you to meet other magical users, buy ingredients to practice sorcery with at home and even designate a dragon as an acquaintance.

Learning magic formulas and charm would allow your spellbaster to do things like getting others swimming to fall in love with you, turn a pet into a human if you also had the released package, or even clone yourself and send one to work for you while staying home. And if the temporary taste of magic was not enough, your swims could also move to residential areas in Magic Town to be closer to the action as well.

4

Superstar

Hey look, ma, i did it

Light, camera, action! Get ready for your sim to ride on the Fame train all the way to Studio Town on its trip to become a Bonafide celebrity. And not only that, but the famous careers that the game had were also active, which did this the first time we could actually follow our sims to work and control them at work.

You had to have almost perfect skills in charisma, creativity and body to work celebrity careers successfully, and they were a little difficult to maintain once achieved. But with a network of famous friends (with a handful of actual celebrities – all from Avril Lavigne to Andy Warhol) and a little luck on your side, Superstar was your Sim's first real shot to make it big and live a luxury life.

3

Holiday

Take a break from everything

Do you feel burned out from the tensions in Everyday Sim Life (because the first Sims game was incredibly more chaotic)? Do you need a moment away from everything? Call the holiday car and go to Vacation Island, where you choose between three different travel packages that offer fun for the whole family. The package contained a variety of trips: a beach that offered swimming and sand castle construction, a campsite for fishing and archery or a snow -covered mountain for wintry activities such as snowboarding and going down ice glass.

Each place had a theme mask that went around to start. Choosing to go to any of these parties booked you the space up to 11:00 the following morning (with the possibility not just leave and be charged again if you want to stay longer), mark the first time in the series that your swimmers may actively actively actively actively actively May actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively actively spend the night from home.

2

Hot date

Season your love life

Burning wish and branch were the two themes for the hot date extension, and Maxis captured them both really well. For the first time in the series, your swimmers were able to leave their home to go to the center and experience the breadth of new public places, such as shops, recreation centers, restaurants and clubs. You can go for a special night out with your significant others, if you have already spoken for, or beat the city as a single ready to mingle and see who you can encounter.

With how much more difficult the game was to effectively control then, thankfully enough, the time in the home world completely froze when your swimmers went to the center. Their needs would still fall as normal and need to tend to while the center, but time will have paused, which means that you somehow come home exactly when you went. With Livin 'Large and House Party, which is seen as simple (but welcome) additions to the base game, is hot date, even if the third expansion package, is considered the first to have actually Extended the game.

1

Livin 'Large

Double content, double fun

At first, anything but the worst when it came to Sim's expansions was, as Livin 'Large only released shy for seven months after the base game and added a real wealth of new things. And although it did not have a theme that the other packages did, it still has a strong place in our hearts to practically double the size of the game.

Bored of bass play careers? Become a journalist, paranormal investigator, hacker or musician. In your spare time, brew up drinks at a science table while you get logic, look at the sky with the telescope or even make a genius in a lamp. The servo robot can take over the work with maid, butlers and gardeners, while the tragic clown tends to your sims emotional needs if they felt down.

Barter for Sim's life when they end with the gloomy reaper, who might just turn the dear going to a controllable zombie -Sim. And at the end of the day, you can rest your head on the pillows on the notorious and very loved vibromatic heartbed. This package gave us more than anyone who negotiated for, and we loved it to do just that.