The best expansion packs for most The Sims 4 players are Seasons, Growing Together, Get to Work and Cats and Dogs, because each one adds systems that show up in almost every household rather than in a single world. After those, the right buy depends on how you play: Discover University for career chasers, Life and Death or Royalty and Legacy for legacy families, and Cottage Living or Horse Ranch for animal lovers.
Below, we explain our top four, match a pack to each playstyle, list all 21 expansions with what EA says each one adds, and show how to pay less. Our picks are based on each pack’s official feature list as of September 2026, and every expansion is sold on PC, Mac, PlayStation and Xbox.
Our Top Four for Most Players
- Seasons. Per EA, every world is affected by weather in its own way, from crisp snowfalls to sweltering heat, and the pack adds holidays with traditions, gifts and special guests, plus a gardening career. Weather reaches every lot in every save, which is why we rank it first.
- Growing Together. EA describes it as changing how Sims relate to everyone around them, from family members to Sims they have just met, with planned events like sleepovers and milestones like a midlife crisis. If you play families across generations, it touches every Sim in the house.
- Get to Work. The original expansion adds active careers you can follow to the job (Doctor, Scientist and Detective), retail businesses, and aliens. It is also the pack that lets you go along for a hospital birth and, for the unlucky, an alien abduction.
- Cats and Dogs. Adds cats and dogs with a full Create A Pet tool, the chance to work as a veterinarian and run your own clinic, and the coastal world of Brindleton Bay. Our guide to adopting a child or pet covers bringing one home.
The Best Pack for Each Playstyle
- Legacy and family stories: Life and Death adds Bucket Lists, ghosts with Unfinished Business, wills, the Reaper career and Try for Baby with Grim himself (see our guide to romancing the Grim Reaper). Royalty and Legacy, the newest expansion, adds Dynasties, Nobility and Scandals; see how to start a Dynasty.
- Careers and money: Discover University adds degrees that can let a Sim skip the early levels of a matching career, explained in our guide to which degree you need for each career. Businesses and Hobbies adds Tattooing, Pottery and small businesses with employees; see how to start a business.
- Animals and country life: Cottage Living brings cows, chickens, llamas and garden-to-table cooking. Horse Ranch adds horses, mini sheep and mini goats, and homemade Nectar.
- Magic: Enchanted by Nature lets Sims become a fairy, and Island Living brings back mermaids. Vampires, werewolves and spellcasters come from Game Packs (Vampires, Werewolves and Realm of Magic), not expansions.
- City life and builders: City Living adds apartments, penthouses and festivals in San Myshuno, and For Rent lets Sims own and manage multi-family rental lots.
- Romance: Lovestruck adds the Cupid’s Corner dating app and Turn-Ons and Turn-Offs.
- Travel and adventure: Adventure Awaits adds Getaways you design and Custom Venues, while Snowy Escape brings snow sports and hot springs to Mt. Komorebi.
All 21 Expansion Packs at a Glance
Release years are from EA’s store pages, and features follow EA’s own descriptions.
| Expansion pack | Year | What it adds |
|---|---|---|
| Get to Work | 2015 | Active careers, retail businesses, aliens |
| Get Together | 2015 | Clubs, Windenburg |
| City Living | 2016 | Apartments, festivals, San Myshuno |
| Cats and Dogs | 2017 | Cats, dogs, Create A Pet, vet clinics |
| Seasons | 2018 | Weather, holidays, gardening career |
| Get Famous | 2018 | Fame, acting career |
| Island Living | 2019 | Mermaids, conservation, Sulani |
| Discover University | 2019 | Degrees, university life, robotics |
| Eco Lifestyle | 2020 | Eco footprint, Community Space Projects |
| Snowy Escape | 2020 | Snow sports, hot springs, lifestyles |
| Cottage Living | 2021 | Farm animals, garden-to-table meals |
| High School Years | 2022 | Active high school, prom |
| Growing Together | 2023 | Family dynamics, milestones |
| Horse Ranch | 2023 | Horses, mini goats and sheep, Nectar |
| For Rent | 2023 | Residential rentals, multi-family lots |
| Lovestruck | 2024 | Dating app, Turn-Ons and Turn-Offs |
| Life and Death | 2024 | Bucket Lists, ghosts, wills, Reaper career |
| Businesses and Hobbies | 2025 | Small businesses, Tattooing, Pottery |
| Enchanted by Nature | 2025 | Fairies, Elixirs, Ailments |
| Adventure Awaits | 2025 | Getaways, Custom Venues |
| Royalty and Legacy | 2026 | Dynasties, Nobility, Scandals |
How to Pay Less for Expansion Packs
Start with the base game, which EA has made free on every platform. Then, on PC and Mac, use Stack and Save in the EA app: add several eligible packs to your cart and the discount grows with the number of packs, per EA’s Stack and Save guide. Three things to know:
- It is only available to PC and Mac players using the EA app, not on Steam, Epic or console.
- Enchanted by Nature, Adventure Awaits and Royalty and Legacy are excluded, as are Kits and Creator Kits.
- Stack and Save discounts cannot be combined with sales or EA Play membership discounts, so compare both before you buy.
On PlayStation and Xbox, EA confirms every expansion is available, bought through the in-game Marketplace or the console stores. For the rest of our coverage, visit the Sims guides hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Sims 4 expansion pack should you buy first? Seasons is our first pick for most players, since its weather and holidays reach every world and household. If you mainly play families, start with Growing Together instead.
How many expansion packs does The Sims 4 have? There are 21 as of September 2026, from Get to Work in 2015 to Royalty and Legacy in 2026.
Are Sims 4 expansion packs available on PS5 and Xbox? Yes. EA says all Expansion, Game and Stuff Packs are available on PlayStation and Xbox.
Do you need the other packs to play a new expansion? No. Each expansion requires only The Sims 4 base game and its latest updates, per EA’s store pages.
Which expansion adds vampires or werewolves? None. Vampires and Werewolves are Game Packs, and spellcasters come from the Realm of Magic Game Pack.