The Sims 4: Businesses & Hobbies: A DLC With Satisfaction Guaranteed

Despite The Sims 4 being free-to-play since 2022, there’s a lot of additional, paid content players might want to pick up to round out their experience. The problem is that this quickly gets expensive, and not all expansions are made equal. The latest expansion, Businesses & Hobbies, marks the 18th expansion pack to be released for The Sims 4. And while I haven’t played every expansion, I have committed my time to a healthy portion of them. So I say this quite earnestly; The Sims 4: Businesses & Hobbies is a worthwhile DLC.

What it offers players is an additional level of freedom for creativity. Where your Sims’ careers, finances, and progression were previously rigid and linear, you now have the chance to shape that into a more interesting venture. It’s a bolder expansion on the Freelancer career, in a way. Now, your Sims can run their own business either from their own home or a dedicated retail lot, create and sell their crafts or collections, or even just run amenities. Create a gym, a museum, a coffee shop. Give the neighbours a tattoo while they purchase a wonky pot your Sim made in their garage, then charge them for the honor. It really is a playground.

A One-Stop Sim Shop

Typically, when your Sims go to work, you’re left with a period of downtime while they exist offscreen for 8 hours of the day. This is partially alleviated with the Get to Work DLC which allows you to follow, and help, your Sim as they complete their professional tasks. But that still takes you off-screen, to a separate location, where you’re limited by the parameters of the job. Your Sim works set hours, must complete set tasks and meet rigid requirements in order to progress. Where the Businesses & Hobbies DLC improves on this is by giving players the chance to set these parameters themselves. 

For my budding start-up, I chose to explore some of the new hobby additions and see if my Sim could turn it into a profitable business in the new region of Nordhaven. We cleared out the garage, stuck a Pottery Wheel in the corner, slapped down some clay and got to work. The DLC lets you turn your Sim’s own home into a working business, even with limited space. By buying some special shelving and retail stands and placing items on them, other Sims can come and buy whatever you’re selling, as long as your store is open and you have items to sell. This doesn’t have to be Pottery, but activities that produce crafts are the easiest to maintain as a business. 

As your Sim levels up their Pottery skill, they’ll have more items available to craft that can be sold for higher prices. Your Sim will also produce these crafts at various qualities, the higher end of which can be sold for more cash. It’s quite a compelling gameplay loop that gets introduced, turning The Sims 4 into an optional business management game. As you earn more money, you can improve your store space, hire employees, and offer more services. You can also improve how your store looks, effectively designing it however you like using everything available to you across all expansion packs. 

Shop Around and Find Out

I have a personal soft spot for casual management-type games, ones that aren’t too granular and don’t weigh you down with too many particulars. The Businesses & Hobbies pack scratches that particular itch while having it feel meaningful. On an immediate level, the more successful your business the more progress it earns towards leveling up your Small Business as a whole, unlocking various Business Perks such as running a Customer Appreciation Day to drum up good vibes and community love. Or, go down a shadier route by unlocking the ability to start fires on your Small Business Lot and claim that sweet, sweet insurance money. 

For your Sims and their stories in the long term, a business can be passed down from Sim to Sim. Say your Sim starts a family alongside their business, your Sim’s grown children could be hired as employees in the family business (time to pay your way, kids!), and eventually end up running the business completely when your original Sim passes away. It’s a legacy that can be carried through with each generation, lending itself very easily to more storytelling opportunities that you actually want to carry out in full. 

Should your business start booming, you may want to think about expanding your store more significantly, moving it out of your Sim’s house and into its own retail space. There’s a number of dedicated plots in the new region of Nordhaven, of varying sizes, including one massive half-finished plot for you to leave your mark on. Your Sim can’t live on these special retail lots, however, but it will be a space to do with what you will. 

Much like past expansions, Businesses & Hobbies blends nicely into some of the packs you might already own. Perhaps you have the City Living Pack, meaning you can open up your own karaoke bar in town. Or maybe with the Cats & Dogs pack it’s time to introduce a pet cafe into the world. It really does start to feel like its own separate game within The Sims universe, making it well-worth the price of entry. If you’re just starting your Sims journey, or are thinking of diving into DLCs, The Sims 4: Businesses & Hobbies expansion is an excellent addition that will enhance the base experience, just as a DLC should.