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Sims 4: Tiny Living Overview – Big Fun Until Your Sim Wants A Valentine!

Man, I am kicking myself! We had the pleasure of being able to jump into Tiny Living, Maxis EA’s latest “Stuff Pack” DLC for Sims 4 at launch on January 21st, 2020. However, real-life got in the way throwing my gaming and writing mojo under a moving bus which is still rolling along but part of the healing process is to come up for air to breathe in some normalcy. So here I am “keen as mustard,” to share whether or not I have or have not been enjoying this latest content The Sims 4: Tiny Living.

That’s the beauty of The Sims 4, or all Sims titles. It’s there when you need to wrap yourself in a comfy, familiar pixel blanket. Vent like only Sims can allow you to vent as you play or just slip away into imagination land for the moment or even longer. Sims has something for every occasion and today’s event is all about downsizing. Now before we go any further, let’s not mistake downsizing for downgrading. We aren’t about that life! So what mayhem could someone get up to with this pack if they aren’t into designing shacks you cram every cat and its pot plant into?

Read ahead and find out!

32 Tiny Lot – Lemurian Tower

THREE TIERED CHALLENGE

For those who have played the Sims 4, we already know that folks LOVE to build tiny homes so there was some curiosity around why Maxis chose to make it a pack this late in the series. Simply put, this pack feels like it is to support challenges that simmers often stage as contests among fellow builders.

The Sims 4 Tiny Living comes with a new drop menu available in lot traits, giving you the ability to choose “Tiny Home Residential” (see the picture above) which will then give you a blue-bar prompt in the middle of your screen tallying your tile count so you know whether you are making sure to stay within the bounds of tiny home building at 32, 64 or 100 tiles which is the three tiers of being able to official classify your home as a Tiny Home.

Spring Oasis Tiny Living Takeover…

I built a home for each tier to see if I had the building prowess required to meet each challenge and although I can say I’ve got what it takes. I can also say that none of these builds happened without needing to rethink the walls where the tile count matters, as well as the interior design to ensure I had a fully functional home for each sim I also placed on each lot to suit the house.

RETHINKING SMALL SPACES

As predicted the tiniest of houses (32) needed the most reconfiguring and tweaking. I take my hat off to those who have designed a fully functional home using only one story but I took the easier route designing a two-story apartment for a bachelor merman prince so I could fit a bathroom, fridge, and laundry. This means outdoor living is the key to all three lots, building them all on the sunny map of Oasis Springs so Sulani and even Strangerville would make meeting each tier challenge easier.

In the 32 lot stairs were the issue along with the bathroom. I changed where everything was laid out on the first floor numerous times knowing my merman would want to sleep under the pyramid of stars on top of his “Lemurian Tower.” The main issue was making the most of the space under the stairs and having a door placed that allowed you to enter the bathroom to use the amenities.

The 64 lot came with a different set of challenges especially because I decided to design this home for a one-child family and their pup. Fitting in everything for a child and two adults, then deciding the lot itself would be an organic farm. “The Old Milk Bar” took on a life of its own that makes me feel guilty that I don’t have a bath in it for Kai, the German Shepherd – though I’ve realized also that he’s not needed one yet as far as moodlets go!

64 Tiny Lot – The Old Milk Bar

Finally the 100 lot! This was actually the first lot built and designed for two young adults that aren’t a couple (yet?) It is the ” Cozy Millennial,” a modern sophisticated take on a container home. It’s in this build I killed a sim with the murphy beds, loved the heck out of the new lighting and furniture then also used wardrobe updates to compliment that youthful, independent vibe.

GETTING UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL IS NO SMALL THING

Death by murphy bed should have been an indication of things to come where beds are concerned. It’s our merman that made me realize he has no option to get under the covers with whomever he chooses because the second person cannot hop in his bed, nor the shower making him a sad boy. All that pool and outdoor living space going to woohoo waste!

Death By Murphy Bed

Navigating around a small home takes a short time to master but something I would love to see change is having another layer to being able to remove outside walls from the UI but keep inside walls up so we can pan the camera more efficiently for those extra cool screenshots or video recordings.

DO GOOD SIM THINGS ALSO COME IN SMALL PACKAGES?

Tiny living is every simmer who loves building with restrictions dream come true! Now that I own every Sims 4 pack though I find myself wanting to see something different. I’m not talking, completely different from what we already have but using what we have differently and The Sims 4 Tiny Living makes this even more pronounced because it really is a clever addition for those who like to be challenged, however, there is this fashion sense that has been showing up that is appealing if you enjoy old fashioned, often scruffy looks. If I had a choice of choosing a small living culture I would choose Tokyo – minimalist vibes that are modern yet sleek and natural at the same time form roof top to tippidity-toe.

It is just getting harder to appreciate the “new” hairstyles and fashion cuts for this pack – that also seem similar in Discover University, Strangerville, and the incoming knitting pack – when they simply don’t look new. They all have the same “homemade” appeal which isn’t good when used so frequently. The new wall decor items are adorable and masculine at the same time but wouldn’t it be great if each cabinet set for bathrooms and kitchens had their own shelves for both of those rooms for example?

What do you think?

100 Tiny Lot – Cozy Millennial

The Sims 4: Tiny Living adds dynamic, playful building strategy and really encourages you to want to build out entire maps but whoever does the sim fashion and customization side of things needs to redirect after the knitting pack lands.

What could make this pack even more enticing for today’s audience might also be the addition of some smaller lots on each map including the city to use this pack even more dynamically! For the great price of $9.99 though, this pack gives hours of fun and adds so much more potential to future packs especially as far as mapping and adding even more items that can be used in more lot-places throughout the lot. Now if only I could wash my sims dog with a hose or in the pool and speaking of the pool – give it multiple uses Maxis that you know a merman would especially enjoy!

Have you been playing around with The Sims 4: Tiny Living? Would you like to see these lots and households on the Maxis Gallery? Let us know in the comments and happy simming simmers!

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