The Sims 4 Tiny Living Stuff pack is out and this time, it focuses on all things small. Well, maybe not all things. This pack appears to be making the best of the current trend of tiny houses that you’ve probably seen on social media. Things like converted shipping containers or multi-story narrow living spaces. Essentially, people with little space making the most out of it.
I’m not sure if we should be romanticising this as it’s usually about overcrowding, high rent, and poor folks, but some of the challenges it provides are pretty cool and the results, if done well, are intensely aesthetically pleasing.
The whole pack has a cozy Kmart vibe to it. Everything has those teal and other muted colours combined with wood or white palettes. There are even succulents and candles, so you can be sure no matter how hip your sims are, this pack can accommodate them.
The Sims 4 Tiny Living Stuff Review
When it comes to customising your sims, knit sweaters and short thick hairdos are amongst the items on offer. It gives a sense of high practicality and comfort which the pack is generally trying to exude. I don’t know if any of these items on their own would be enough to entice me, but coming in the pack they help match your sims to the vibe of the tiny houses which I did enjoy.
The main feature in the Tiny Living Stuff pack is the tiny living itself. You can now choose to live on very small lots of 100 squares or less. Doing so will meet certain requirements and give your Sims buffs like lower bills, faster skill growth, or longer good moods. The lower rent makes sense but the others I’m not too sure about.
Essentially, according to The Sims 4 living in a tiny room just makes you better at stuff and more fulfilled. Are they trying to get me to rent a room in San Francisco?
Itty Bitty Living Space
That being said, creating small living spaces isn’t a new thing in the Sims and being rewarded for living up to the previously self-set challenge is kinda cool. The pack also comes with a bunch of items to help make this easier.
Among the most useful are the new TV cabinet options which allow you to use a small area for multiple purposes instead of just a TV. This means you don’t have to dedicate separate space to things like a TV, bookshelf, or radio. Instead, it’s all there and it’s an elegant solution.
There are single space desks, small tables and chairs, and the option to put things like televisions down on smaller surfaces. It all helps to make the space as tiny as possible while still functional and for some of the items it really works. The table with high chairs, for example, absolutely allows you to cram a sitting situation for four Sims into previously impossible spaces. There’s just one thing that truly baffles me.
These God Damned Beds
The beds.
The Sims 4 Tiny Living Stuff’s feature that excited me the most was actually kind of a letdown. It has these beds that fold out from the walls to save space. One of them will even act as a couch while you’re not using it and have bookshelves around them to once again maximise on the use of a single piece of furniture.
Unfortunately, there are some really weird oversights with them that make it almost redundant.
Firstly, you can’t put anything in front of the beds for three solid squares which means it essentially still takes up the same amount of space in a room. Secondly, these things are an absolute death trap. I don’t know who invented these things but Sims clearly don’t know how to use them as there’s a chance your Sim will die pulling the bed down to sleep on it. They are also electronic and break constantly.
In the end, it doesn’t really save any space at all, especially as you still need the space either side of the bed to use effectively, and it’s a pretty high-risk item if you want your Sims to stay alive. This is such a shame because I really like the idea behind them and think they look really nice. It seems like bunk beds, or those beds with the desks underneath them would have been a more space-saving solution than these and it’s just truly bizarre.
Little Bitssss
It got me thinking about other things that could make more sense in a Tiny Living Stuff pack. Things like spiral staircases or even ladders so your precious squares aren’t taken up so heavily by adding a regular one. If you do have to use normal stairs, why not give them storage underneath or maybe even Harry Potter style bedroom potential?
Or more kitchen options like desktop stoves or bar fridges. These little touches seem oddly missed for such a focused pack but there’s only so much that can be added, which is understandable.
That isn’t to say this is a bad item pack, though. Most of what’s included works for the theme and almost everything has a really nice aesthetically pleasing component to it. I enjoy the way it forces you to think differently if you want to earn those bonuses and you can absolutely use these pieces of furniture to construct very tiny and beautiful homes.
There is real challenge in this if you want it as even when you’ve got things perfectly laid out, all it takes is one dropped item from your Sims to ruin everything. However, for the cheats among us, anything you place outdoors doesn’t count, so you can still go extravagant just in different ways.
The Sims 4 Tiny Living Stuff Pack was reviewed on PC using a digital copy provided by EA.
