The Parenthood game pack for The Sims 4 is considered by many to be a must-buy for anyone interested in family-oriented gameplay. It adds a huge amount of depth to the experience of raising a family, bringing new character traits, an aspiration, and a whole new way to influence your offspring.
Alongside a range of gameplay features, there are also staple furniture items suitable for family homes as well as a range of new clothing. Here we take a look at exactly what this game pack has to offer so you can see if it's a must-have for your gaming style.
10 You Can Gain Parenting Skills
Sims will gain parenting skills as they interact with their children in different ways. The skill has five levels which can be gained over time through regular interactions with a sim's family.
Any choice you make, punishment you set, advice you give, and even some conversations you have will give you parenting skill points. The higher your parenting skill the more opportunities you'll have to offer help and guidance to your children.
9 Parents Will Make Choices To Influence Children's Characters
One of the main ways you can help influence a child's personality is through the advice pop up system. This is when questions sporadically appear, offering parents the choice to advise a child.
At first, there may only be one option but this will change as skill increases. You'll also notice that the different choices let you know which characteristics of your child will be affected by the decision.
8 Children Can Learn Manners And Responsibility
Children have new sections for the character values of manners, responsibility, empathy, conflict resolution, and emotional control. These will change over time based on both a sim's behavior and their parent's response.
Positive and negative values in each category will affect the personality of a sim once they reach adulthood. For example, a child with poor conflict resolution is likely to be hot-headed.
7 You'll Need To Prepare For Tantrums And Phases
Sim toddlers have always been unpredictable but this pack adds a new edge with tantrums and phases. Not only are the little tykes still throwing flour or paint on the floor but now they can get very, very upset when you suggest cleaning it up.
The best phases are those when toddlers or children decide to engage in random behavior for a while. For example, you may find them suddenly refuse to wear anything except a costume. If you have teens they may also begin to curse at you.
6 There Are New Activities For Kids To Enjoy
Children do lack activities at times and this pack help with that. You'll notice there is a block play table as well as two new doctor playsets. Both of these can increase children's skills and the block table allows siblings to play together.
Blocks will need to be built for younger ones to play, which adds a nice realistic touch to the process and allows parents to be more involved in their children's play.
5 Schools Will Send Home Projects To Complete
For children and teens, schools will now send home projects to complete. These will appear in your sim's inventory and can be completed by the child but are made better with help.
Up to four sims can get involved in the project and the higher their skills are the better the end result will be. Return the completed item to school for a nice grade boost, which isn't diminished for projects created with help.
4 You Can Set Curfews For Your Household
The pack also includes a new family bulletin board. This allows parents to set curfews for different household members.
There are no automatic punishments for breaking curfew, which many players were disappointed by, but it being broken will give parents the chance to react. It will also bring responsibility traits down for anyone disobeying the rules.
3 Parents Can Discipline Their Children
While discipline isn't automatic, sims can dish out punishments. They can talk to kids about behavior, shout at them, or issue sanctions such as grounding them. Breaking punishments will affect behavior, just as breaking curfew does.
Basically, the more a sim disobeys any parental actions and sanctions the more their values will move into the negative, especially their responsibility trait.
2 There Are New Family Focused Clothing Items
The create-a-sim items in this pack are very family-themed. They include hairstyles for all ages as well as a selection of casual clothing for toddlers, children, and adults.
The vibe is very much casual and comfortable and includes t-shirts, pajamas, casual trousers and jeans as well as some overalls. It's versatile and wearable for all ages.
1 You Can Upgrade Your Family Home With New Furniture
The build and buy items comprise some well-matching household essentials. There's a kitchen with appliances and tiles we well as some kitchen clutter. You'll also find a bath shower combo and a new sink.
These are complemented by plain and simple curtains, sofas, chairs, and desks as well as some new lights, windows, and wallpapers. You'll also find a range of children's artwork as well as several more clutter items that will bring realism to any family home.