The Sims 4: Cottage Living

 PC
User Score
5.4

Mixed or average reviews- based on 5 Ratings

User score distribution:
  1. Positive: 1 out of 5
  2. Mixed: 1 out of 5
  3. Negative: 3 out of 5

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  1. AllNewSuperfake
    Sep 24, 2021
    4
    When you have dedicated your franchise to being family friendly, you will sooner or later run out of things that are interesting enough to be put in a life simulation. This is normally the part where the Sims hammer out your megastars and superstars expansions, but as with so many things the Sims 4 is way, way beyond that point.

    I would like to point at the description, which raves    When you have dedicated your franchise to being family friendly, you will sooner or later run out of things that are interesting enough to be put in a life simulation. This is normally the part where the Sims hammer out your megastars and superstars expansions, but as with so many things the Sims 4 is way, way beyond that point.

    I would like to point at the description, which raves about two (out of four) things that are not in the game - well, there are forests, but they are part of the ever illusive open world this game doesn't have, and abundant new ways to connect to the countryside, that this game also doesn't have - not the ways, and not the countryside.

    The "woodland creatures" live in their own rabbit holes, numbering three: Rabbits (now that's fitting), birds (that don't go anywhere except if you enslave them to garden for you, how realistic is that) and foxes, that look suspiciously like someone just sabotaged the sliders in the pet creator and it shows in their profile pictures where it turns them into horribly deformed nightmare creatures, one of the the several new features that didn't make it into the description because they are of course bugs.

    Like every new feature their main purpuse seems to be overdoing the three things that they can actually do until you are pissed enough to turn them off, which leaves us with cozy architecture and cozy furniture that even your grandma would sneer at for not wanting to move into a retirement home made out of prejudices angainst old british people, but now you can. And you probably will, because you paid for this, and discover the two new plots of fertile soil that you can put "giant" crops in, after you grinded your gardening skill to the usual heights. You can eat that stuff, even though you know how much chicken **** went into it, or put it out in a sunny warm August day to have it prized in a competition that is mysteriously populated with standard crops of the beginner variety or the same kind of pie, and yet lose. I mean of course, get a participation trophy.

    And the odd jobs from the unspeakable island expansion make a comeback as "favors" that you get paid for, because Crumple-on-Forever has the worst post office in the world, and therefore a lot of packages that went missing or never got anywhere. And who hasn't dreamed since the day of the Sims 1 to finally do Mrs. Crumplebottom? Yeah, not me, but then again, I also never wanted the f*ing farm expansion that everyone wanted since those days, because I knew it would be boring, and now everyone knows.

    Can't fault the developers for once, I'd say they actually showed half an effort this time.

    But there is a reason why nobody wants to be a farmer anymore once he discovers the aforementioned more interesting things in life once puberty hits. So, EA, now that we have done all of that and you are certainly not going down that road with the medieval crap again, can we have that GTA expansion that *I* always wanted? No? Well, thank god for the modding community then.    … Expand
  2. Drewmeadyy
    Oct 24, 2021
    4
    The good
    The fairs are quite interesting (excluding the glitches) Looking after pets is quite fun at first and it does add some interesting deaths that appear quite amusing, So ideal for retired sims
    The bad very lacklustre , bored after a few hours of gameplay, despite the world being aesthetically pleasing it just adds little to the gameplay. This pack is almost too family friendly    The good
    The fairs are quite interesting (excluding the glitches) Looking after pets is quite fun at first and it does add some interesting deaths that appear quite amusing, So ideal for retired sims

    The bad
    very lacklustre , bored after a few hours of gameplay, despite the world being aesthetically pleasing it just adds little to the gameplay. This pack is almost too family friendly and the foxes are simply annoying. This pack is only good if you prioritise family gameplay.

    simply mediocre    … Expand

Awards & Rankings

81
#81 Best PC Game of 2021

Critic Reviews

All reviews »
Metascore
80

Generally favorable reviews - based on 14 Critic Reviews

Critic score distribution:
  1. Positive: 11 out of 14
  2. Mixed: 3 out of 14
  3. Negative: 0 out of 14
  1. Cubed3
    Jun 12, 2023
    70
    The Sims 4: Cottage Living adds a variety of new and exciting opportunities to the base game. The new style is themed very well and fits the country aesthetic. The overall number of added features can be overwhelming at times, but this pack comes highly recommended to anyone wishing for a bit more action in the lives of their Sims.
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  2. CD-Action
    Oct 12, 2021
    90
    Henford-on-Bagley is charming and picturesque and I had a great time tending animals, getting to know the local community and completing some minor tasks for my neighbors. I would have been even happier with Cottage Living, if the developers had added more new furniture pieces and made the barn larger, as it only holds one cow or llama. [10/2021, p.37]
  3. Dexerto
    Sep 24, 2021
    75
    The Sims 4 Cottage Living is a step in the right direction for The Sims team and shows that they’re listening to what the community wants. With a beautiful world, deep story, returning, and highly requested features, the overall experience of Cottage Living is incredibly positive. However, after taking off the rose-tinted glasses and taking a step back, it highlights significant gaps in the overall gameplay loop that need to be expanded upon to truly create something that will give its players more to keep coming back to in The Sims.
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