Since The Sims 4 launched a decade ago, EA has kept players engaged with a steady release of kits and expansions, each adding new layers of design and gameplay. So when The Sims 4 Businesses & Hobbies was announced, I was curious to see what new depths it could bring.
While some may argue that it’s a rehash of the Get To Work expansion, which lets you run small businesses and follow your Sim to work, this pack feels like a fresh take; it offers exciting new features and a deeper focus on creative freedom.
Before jumping in, I was most excited to try out pottery and tattooing, and was instantly drawn to the idea of opening a funky, vibrant tattoo studio.
Welcome to Nordhaven
The new expansion comes with an exciting new world — welcome to Nordhaven, featuring two Scandinavian-inspired neighbourhoods, Gammelvik and Iverstad. Nordhaven is the perfect setting for any creative wanting to set up shop. The beautiful architecture and cobbled streets give you that instant cosy feeling of sitting by a canal with a coffee in hand, pondering your next creative piece.
Nordhaven features 12 lots, with four of them unoccupied, including one pre-built lot named Inked Inlet. There are also two community lots: The Rouge Note, a cosy lounge, and Konst Modern, the local museum. At first, Nordhaven may seem light on community lots, but since it’s designed with small businesses in mind, I ended up having a great time hopping between the occupied lots and exploring the various businesses my Sim could visit.
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Tattooing or Pottery?
Not being much of a builder, I chose the pre-built Inked Inlet for my tattoo shop – which seemed fitting. The two-story lot allowed me to run the business downstairs while keeping my living space upstairs. In build mode, you can customise your areas between public and private; this makes it easy to keep unwanted Sims out of your personal space. After settling into my Sims new home, I jumped into tattooing because of its engaging skill progression. As my Sim improved, she unlocked more designs, placements, and even custom tattoos, along with the ability to offer sentimental dedication tattoos between Sims.
Once set up, I bought a Kiosk to get my tattoo business running. But once open, things got a little confusing. There was a steady flow of Sims, but not all were into tattoos. Some loitered, leaving average reviews without getting inked, which I found frustrating. Only a few sat in the chair to get a tattoo. To manage this, I added a coffee shop to my tattoo studio, which added variety and helped with the loiterers. Whilst tattooing, the animations were entertaining—especially when customers reacted to the pain or my Sim had an “oops” moment with the tattoo gun. However, it was hard to gauge if the tattoo was going well since you couldn’t see its progress. And if you messed up, the customer let you know with harsh feedback.
Pottery
After enjoying tattooing, I decided to try pottery by downloading a cute pottery-themed lot. I quickly noticed that pottery generated more income early on. With the Kiosk, I could charge an hourly fee, and Pottery was more profitable, with fewer disappointed Sims. Not only could you set up a retail shop for your creations, but you can also set up workstations so Sims can come in and use the facilities to make their items. At the beginning of your pottery journey, you can make pots and vases, but as you progress, you unlock the ability to create garden beds, sculptures, and even tea sets.
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One cool feature in Businesses and Hobbies is mentoring. You can run classes to teach aspiring Sims the trade, and this can be passed down through generations, which adds a personal touch to the expansion. It got me excited to try a legacy challenge with an alternative, tattooed-up family!
In the end, while I found tattooing more enjoyable, pottery proved to be more profitable and easier to manage as a business.
Additional Content
While I’ve focused on pottery and tattooing as the new skills in The Sims 4 Businesses & Hobbies, the expansion lets you turn any hobby into a business. When starting a business, you can choose up to five activities, making it easy to get creative. For example, if your Sim loves gaming, you can open a LAN cafe and pick actions like Play Video Games and Drink Coffee.
As you grow your business, you unlock perks that offer new interactions and help you maximize your potential. The way you run your business may also unlock certain alignments, such as Dreamer, Schemer or Neutral. If you like to be by the book and take on opportunities, you may be a Dreamer. If you like to dabble in insurance fraud and cutting corners, you may align with Schemer.
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Is The Sims 4 Businesses & Hobbies worth it?
This expansion was highly anticipated by me, and it met my expectations. While building a business may require some fine-tuning and experimentation to earn a solid income, the overall process is a lot of fun. This expansion adds a ton of variety to careers and how you can play the game. There are a few core expansions in The Sims 4 that enhance the experience, and this is definitely one of them.
The Sims 4 Businesses & Hobbies is available on the EA store, Steam, Epic Games, PlayStation and Xbox retailing for $59.95.
A review copy of The Sims 4 Businesses & Hobbies was supplied to Quest Daily for the purpose of this review.
