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I've spent the past few days binging the latest expansion pack for The Sims 4 (yes, there's yet another new piece of paid DLC – but hear me out here), and it's safe to say my time with it has been wild. Dubbed Adventure Awaits, a title I feel doesn't fully encapsulate the sheer amount of content at hand, this expansion contains a little bit of everything for everyone. From emphasis on Sims' childhoods to customizable Getaways, there's a lot to get into.
Admittedly, I was a bit sceptical when I first heard about Adventure Awaits. To me, its name implied an expansion that I'd just add to my ever-growing list of "vacation" packs. Simmers, you know what I'm talking about… Jungle Adventure, Island Living, Snowy Escape, you name it. While I genuinely enjoy these and the expansive worlds they bring to The Sims 4, nothing has quite scratched that World Adventures itch – but it turns out that's not what I wanted, anyway.
I didn't actually want a plethora of exotic locations for my Sims to travel to. What I wanted was more gameplay – the innovation old packs from series classics like The Sims 3 brought – and features to make the world or components an expansion adds more immersive. Adventure Awaits might not pack a punch of distant lands to visit, but it doesn't need to. Instead, it entirely overhauls gameplay for one of the game's most forgotten age groups and boasts good ol' fashioned fun – the kind I had as an eight-year-old with The Sims 2.
A whole new world
That's right, I didn't even feel like I had to keep my game speed on the max setting – I hardly touched it! I was having fun, and said fun started with the world Adventure Awaits adds. Gibbi Point, as it's called, is reminiscent of the most interesting national parks out there. With soaring trees, glittery waters, cloudy geysers, and more, the new area became one of my Sims 4 faves as soon as I loaded my Sim in (I had to pick fall as my starting season, of course).
I went from being a tad disappointed with the Create-A-Sim additions – although I did love a few of the new hairstyles – to feeling excited about Gibbi Point. A prompt popped up telling me I could run my own Getaway experience, but I wasn't ready to do so just yet. I wanted to see what Wanderwood Wilds, Crystal Valley, and Jellyfish Junction had to offer after moving my Sim into Fletcher's Cottage: a cute little starter home built by KiwiSimsKate.
Walking my Sim around Gibbi Point before cracking into gameplay properly definitely didn't disappoint, with the adorable Plumbird Park in view as I explored, the nostalgia-inducing Camp Gibbi Gibbi sitting in Wanderwood Wilds, and more. I couldn't just remain on the outskirts of each community lot, though. I needed to dig in and set my Sim off on an actual adventure or two – so what do I do? Start her story off at the peak of her childhood.
Childhood dream come true
This is when things start getting a little bit wacky – in the best way possible – starting with all the new hobbies to explore. From archery to papercraft, they're all a lot of fun. I always feel like The Sims 4 is lacking in its selection of hobbies and skills to upgrade, but it's something I see EA working to update with pretty much every expansion. Adventure Awaits is certainly no exception, with one personal highlight being entomology.
Breeding, catching, releasing, and watching bugs – it all feels a bit Animal Crossing: New Horizons, which I love. Caring for a small caterpillar and watching it evolve into a beautiful butterfly (keep an eye out for varieties here – there are so many I didn't expect to see, like the stunning prismatic glass-winged ones and more) isn't just nostalgic to my own childhood, but another wonderfully whimsical way of keeping me locked into what my Sim is doing.
Then there are the new modular playgrounds, which send me right back to 2006 – friends to make, big bubble-y glass windows to look through, and slides to cruise down. The real star of the show, however, simply has to be the imaginary friends… the very same our Sims made in The Sims 3. There's the *checks notes* Pretty Pegacorn (which totally doesn't look exactly like Rainbow Dash from My Little Pony), Lil Monster, Krafty Kid, and Wild Child – and they're completely interactable with.
Love Isla – er, Highland?
Adventure Awaits truly doesn't play like a quick DLC cash grab
The storytelling opportunities don't end with the imaginary dolls, though, or even when a child Sim ages up in Adventure Awaits. I never forgot about the ability to schedule Getaways and make use of the game's new custom venue options as my Sim grew, so of course, the first thing I do when she ages up to adulthood is retreat to Camp Gibbi for a while – and soon after, sneak off to Love Highland, the romantic gameshow that definitely doesn't draw from Love Island).
With Love Highland, Sims that lack romantic connections are eliminated on a day-by-day basis until that Tinder-perfect magic match happens. I like the Survivor-esque Elimination Challenges in Adventure Awaits as well, but Love Highland strikes me as the silly ode to crappy reality TV most of us probably watched (and, ahem, still might watch) that's fitting for a notoriously ridiculous life sim series like The Sims – and it is.
Paired with some Lovetsruck features, Love Highland makes for good fun. Players can adjust the rules of their Getaways as they'd like, too, making everything all the more customizable. The expansion's features, from its more childish moments to its refreshing (and often just as humorous Getaways (I'm looking at you, Love Highland), speak to the fact that Adventure Awaits truly doesn't play like a quick DLC cash grab.
It's an expansion deserving of the title, pulling me in and hooking with its pop culture-y Y2K charm and whimsy. I'd recommend giving this pack a go – it spices Sims' childhoods up even more than predecessors like Growing Together, expands on "vacations" tenfold, and above all, it finally gives us a reason to enjoy the game as it's meant to be at its base speed. No need for any Sims 4 mods with this one, either.
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