The Sims 4 Adventure Awaits review: pack your bags

The Sims 4 Adventure Awaits is a very subtle expansion, like Businesses & Hobbies before it – but with its clever tweaks to Sim holidays, and a smorgasbord of other activities packed in, it arrives as a clever twist on the formula that feels just different enough to have impact.

The highest praise I can give is that Adventure Awaits evoked a powerful nostalgia in me, with its new kid-friendly camp getaways inspiring me to reflect on my own school-era camps, and how they changed me, as a person.

For brief context, the pack’s changes allow you to plan getaways that are regimented by schedule. There’s a bunch of presets here, including for school camps (wake up, breakfast, exercise, play in the water, sit around a campfire, sleep), and you can also set your own activities if you don’t mind a bit of busywork.

Reminiscing about school camp with The Sims 4

Playing through the school camp preset for a getaway with my Child Sims, I was superbly happy to see how well process flowed, and how it evoked my own childhood. In the expansion’s new location – Gibbi Gibbi Point, inspired by New Zealand – you’ll find one particular location that’s designed after a traditional school camp. While it’s the classic American idea of school camps – all long socks, scout attire, and camp councillors – it still resonates.

As a Child Sim, you can explore what it means to go camping alongside a new pack of friends. You’ll sit down for a meal, chatter about your activities for the day, make papercraft dolls, tell stories around a campfire, and so on.

It reminded me distinctly of a CRU camp visit to Galston Gorge in the Berowra Valley Regional Park, around 2003. As in The Sims 4 Adventure Awaits, this camp was all about ‘finding myself’ – taking part in archery, group cooking, and having downtime in the nearby pool, learning what it meant to exist without parents, and to take responsibility for myself.

Adventure Awaits understands camping is a milestone for kids, and so it also introduces something new to Child Sim memories: formative moments that help to define their life as they grow older. I certainly have positive, formative memories of trying archery for the first time, so it’s a rather nice inclusion.

When Child Sims get back from camp, they are changed by their memories, and taking steps on their path to a more fulfilling childhood.

The Sims 4 Adventure Awaits: getaways for older Sims

Of course, it’s not only Child Sims that benefit from these new getaways – adults need a holiday, too, and a structured one can have plenty of benefits for mental health and control. Presets for these activities are already pretty fun on their own: there’s a preset for a Love Island-style romantic competition with eliminations for the least romantic Sims. There’s also a fitness retreat for those looking to work on their physical health, and a crafting retreat for those looking for more creativity in their lives.

Custom treats open up these options even more. You can set custom roles for your Sims (guest, leader, camp counsellor, trainer, and so on) and then program what each role will do, at what time. As mentioned, this does require some busywork – if you’ve got a particular vision, you’ll need to take your time, plan ample time for each activity, and ensure everything flows smoothly. But once your roles and schedules are locked in, everything flows smoothly for a fun, interactive getaway that gives your Sim a break from the humdrum of everyday.

Watch the trailer for The Sims 4 Adventure Awaits.

Being able to set elimination goals also makes certain getaways very juicy. The romantic competition, which could be considered one of the headlining features of this pack, is an absolute blast to work through. Each day, you’ll be required to flirt away with new friends, in a space designed for romance, buffs providing you with a flirty atmosphere where most interactions succeed. If your Sim is feeling unlucky in love, it’s a great setting to work on new relationships – with the threat of elimination speeding progress as you go.

In my particular playthrough, I had accidentally kicked out the owners of the space designed for the romantic competition – an enormous wooden retreat with multiple bunks and a rustic vibe – so I actually held my first romantic competition in my own home, which forced a notable sense of awkwardness and tension as my family watched on with my single Sim’s exploits. Still, it was great fun to see the drama play out, as certain Sims were romanced, and certain other Sims got jealous, all leading to dramatic eliminations as the days rolled on.

Being at home let me monitor my bills, at least, which is an important consideration when you send your Sims on getaways. In my time with this pack, I noticed that my days didn’t actually pause while I was on a getaway, so any bills left by the wayside would actually be left alone, leading to my power shutting off at one point. Your life doesn’t stop because you’re on a getaway, so it’s best to plan out your trips so they don’t interfere with daily life.

Keeping the fun going

Heading back home might be slightly disappointing, after all the excitement that getaways can bring – whether that’s working on self care, working on a new project, or just having time away, but at the very least, The Sims 4 Adventure Awaits does keep the party going, away from its new getaway system. For one thing, any new activity you can do while on getaway is also available at home. There’s a bunch of new gameplay objects available with this pack, which is great to see.

You’ve got an archery set, which can be used to learn the new archery skill. There’s also new diving boards, and a new diving skill, a new papercrafting object, and a robust papercrafting skill, a modular playground kit for building your own playgrounds (and notably, adults can also use this), new kayaks and kayak activities, and a new case for raising worms into butterflies.

That’s not to mention the new Imaginary Friend dolls, which allow Child Sims to befriend dream beings, and eventually make them into real characters, as well as the many adventures you’ll find in Gibbi Gibbi Point. As mentioned, this area is clearly inspired by New Zealand. You’ll spot various locations inspired by Rotorua and coastal locales, with each adding to a sense of natural wonder as you roam.

You’ll want to explore freely in each town location, because there’s actually lots of discover quests hiding around, each revealing more about local lore and denizens. Exploring near Gibbi Gibbi’s camp site, you might discover a strange creature known as the Plumbird, which reveals deep secrets about Gibbi Gibbi and its history. You can also take on more quests by visiting the local town noticeboard, which sends you to find mysterious folks, all with their own ties to the land. It’s a lovely touch, and helps to keep you moving through Adventure Awaits, even when you’re not taking part in a getaway.

Overall verdict

This is a pack that’s focussed around a small, but clever, central conceit: getaways with schedules. But knowing this isn’t enough on its own, EA and Maxis have packed in an array of other activities to sweeten the deal, making this expansion akin to The Sims 2: FreeTime, with light elements of The Sims 3: Generations. It’s not entirely robust as a complete pack, with each activity feel relatively siloed, but it succeeds on the sheer number of new activities and quests, and the creativity that its new getaway system allows.

You will need to spend time with this pack to unlock its full potential, to understand exactly how a well-planned getaway can shake up gameplay, and add transformative new events (for example, you could plan a spellcaster’s coven, a meeting of werewolves, a co-parenting situation, a pottery retreat, a small business summit, a pop culture convention, and more) but once you grasp how this Expansion Pack works, the ideas will flow at speed.

Get to know this expansion’s many parts, and you’ll find a bounty of activities to enrich the lives of all Sims in your household – whether that means learning a new skill, or taking time to relax in Gibbi Gibbi Point, and beyond.

_{A PC code for The Sims 4 Adventure Awaits Expansion Pack was provided by the publisher for the purposes of this review.}

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