Is Growing Together a good pack?

It's ok for a family play. Also, it goes perfectly with Parenthood.

I bought it full price and after the milestones bug got fixed I really like it!

If you're iffy on it, always wait for a sale, but I bought it full price and havent regretted it.

I really like it for family play! It makes some of it more meaningful, and pairs really well with Parenthood. I think it wouldn't be worth full price for people who really aren't into family play, though. And I think it's best on PC/Mac where you can get expanded Milestones sets from modders.

I waited until the milestones bug was fixed then I bought it :)

I love the compatibility system! I use it all the time. It really changes the experience of meeting new sims and makes it feel (finally) like not all relationships/potential relationships are the same.
Especially combined with the sexual orientation system.

The expanded infant gameplay is really fun too.

The premades are wonderful.

Everything else that came with the pack, San Sequoia, baby showers, kids riding bikes, rec center lot type, etc. is just a bonus.

This is a great thread :smile: I don't have Growing Together either and I think I might rather get it than For Rent, if I buy either of them. (For Rent I'm most interested in the new jacuzzi, marbles and hopscotch :sweat_smile: So it's not really worth it yet.) The first pack to buy would be CrCr, though.

Anyway, the compatibility system sounds good and I think I might like more in depth infants, though I can also play without them. Kids riding bikes and the treehouse are probably nice. But I'm unsure whether I want my sims to have a midlife crisis. I read you can avoid it though, so it's probably not that bad. I have also heard San Sequoia is a boring world, so I'm not too interested in having it in my game. I have more worlds than I can use already :sweat_smile:

Yes, it has a lot of game play, likes and dislikes which can measure the compatibility of your sims. A great system. Bikes and learning to ride them for children, and a treehouse to build. Diaper changer, and tons of cute milestones for infants. The infants seem so real with the pack. It has the new community lot, and a nice world. I usually buy my packs before they go on sale, and this one is well worth it. But if you can catch it on sale, even better.

It adds a lot of things that work in the background, in contrast to the horse ranch EP that adds a lot of "substantial" content and no overarching feature, to compare. Growing Together adds depth to family gameplay, interaction with other sims, milestones that you can unlock depending on the things your Sim actually achieve... This EP comes with a lot of things you might not see if you don't work for it.
But it also comes with more obvious gameplay, such as improved infants, activities, a new type of venue...

I personally don't use the community lot that much but I really like the pack overall for the depth it brings to the game.

I voted "not at full price" because the whole game is just too damn expensive with everything bought at full price and I feel like Sims 2 (and Sims 3 to an extent even though I didn't like the game) had way more content for the same price tag (one could argue that 40€ 15 years ago was worth more than 40€ now so TS4 packs are technically cheaper), but I do recommend it a lot :D

It's great if you want complexer infants, but has not much to offer otherwise. All those milestones and family dynamics are as forgettable as the lifestyles from Snowy Escape etc. Among the 2023 EPs, I think this is the weakest pack while the much underrated Horse Ranch is the clear winner. (OK: I also love the Rec Centers from GrT).