The Sims 4 may not be as expensive as you think!

If you think about it, I may have spent about $400 on this game over the years, but I’ve played like 2200 hours, so I’ve gotten about four hours for every dollar spent or something.

I simply look at it this way:

My hubby and I used to go out to dinner and a movie once a week. It'd cost us anywhere from $30-50 for dinner and at least $30 for the movie (depending on if we got drinks and snacks or not) That's at least $60 a week or $240 a month for entertainment purposes.
We find that we are happier staying home, making dinner, and settling in to play our favorite games. We still go out for dinner and a movie now and then (maybe once a month) but for us, spending $20-40 on my Sims games when one comes out every few months, and him spending 40-80 on whichever game he's interested in every few months still saves us $120 dollars a month at least. Much, much more on the months where neither of us has a game/game pack coming out to spend on.

TLDR: The Sims 4 can be quite affordable if you are willing to budget for them in place of other things.

I realize there are probably quite a few people who have less/more disposable income than my husband and I. I figure we are probably middle of the road there. Its just an example that works for us.

@duhboy2u2 honestly I think that is a really good way of looking at it, I could honestly probably say the same about my wife and I.

"brenleedee;c-16981443" wrote:
It costs almost 20.00 US dollars to go to a movie theater, that is at the most 2 hours of entertainment then it's over. A Sims pack is 40.00 at the most and it gives hours/weeks/months/years of entertainment. Xbox live is 9.99 a month, most xbox one new releases are around 60.00..I think if we really sat and thought how many hours of enjoyment this game has given us, the price for this entertainment would be very small.

I've spent $595 $535 US dollars on my Sims 4 (official content, that's not counting what I've paid towards mods and CC to support my favorite modders and creators). Yeah, it's pricey, but that is over 4.5 years and I have put in, at minimum, 4707 hours (not counting my offline play).

That means, to date, I have paid around 12 11 cents an hour to enjoy my game. Well worth it, if you ask me. I don't want to know how much I've spent on coffee in the last 4.5 years and that only lasts as long as the cup stays warm.


(ETA: I forgot for a second that I didn't pay for my base game, I won my copy of it, though I did pay later for the digital deluxe upgrade. I have adjusted accordingly)>

@ChelleJo I agree, to me it is well worth it, and I don't find it expensive at all for a game. Most of the packs I have bought on sale, I still don't have them all but I have enough that my poor old computer can handle lol, I guess when you have a Teenager that is into gaming and you have to pay those high prices for new releases and a fee each month to have it "live" then my little games are a bargain ♥

"mirta000;c-16981452" wrote:

"brenleedee;c-16981443" wrote:
It costs almost 20.00 US dollars to go to a movie theater, that is at the most 2 hours of entertainment then it's over. A Sims pack is 40.00 at the most and it gives hours/weeks/months/years of entertainment. Xbox live is 9.99 a month, most xbox one new releases are around 60.00..I think if we really sat and thought how many hours of enjoyment this game has given us, the price for this entertainment would be very small.

I have paid at least 300£. I've played for about 200 hours and due to live service I can no longer play it. I must have broken 1000 hours on both Vampire The Masquerade: Bloodlines and Elder Scrolls IV Oblivion and I can still fire both of these up. Value to entertainment ratio is highly subjective and for me the sheer amount of frustration that TS4 brought me over the years exceeds the enjoyment that I got out of it long ago. I'm happy that you're enjoying your purchase, but there's no denying that The Sims is an expensive series, only beaten by train simulator in expensiveness.

I guess "expensive" is viewed very differently, I not only play but I build and it can take hours, sometimes a couple of days to do a build..so I have gotten my moneys worth and some, for the simple entertainment, and escape from everything the game can give. Your experience seems very different from mine, I've played 3,731 online hours, not including when I'm offline..so it's a bargain for me. I wish your experience would have been better.

I think the game is priced like every other game on the market. Most new games cost 60+ US dollars. Gaming in general is an expensive hobby rather you play the Sims or like my kid and play Fortnite.

Considering I spent thousands of hours across all the Sims titles I've played, I'd say they're a good investment for me :D

"Chicherino;d-956484" wrote:
I know a lot of people say that The Sims 4 is expensive, BUT! Did you guys know that in 1990, the average Nintendo game cost around $50 in the US? If you take inflation into account, that would be more than $90 in today's money! :open_mouth:

Sims 4 doesn’t cost you $90 does it? Besides, it’s true computers and games were way more expensive in the early years, in comparison. That doesn’t make Sims 4 not so expensive.

"MidnightAura;c-16981168" wrote:
I’m not sure a game with twenty seven pieces of dlc should ever be praised for not being expensive.

And no before anyone comes at me, the sims 3 store was optional. You didn’t have to buy any of it and in many cases (mine) I got it all for free via EP registration and points.

Try playing sims 3 without stuff packs or game packs. You wouldn’t want to as the game would be boring. Right now the sims 4 without any sales is almost £500 and that figure will continue to rise.

And for what it’s worth I have games from previous generations. I found my sims 2 expansion that was 19.99, I have a sims 3 expansion with a 24.99 price tag on it.

Apart from the fact Sims 3 being expensive doesn’t make Sims 4 a cheap game. I’d rather say both games aren’t cheap, my gaming non simming son’s laughing at me for spending so much money on a game. Not that I care because it was worth every penny, no other hobby gave me so much joy for over nine years now, but that doesn’t mean it was a cheap game.

"MidnightAura;c-16981168" wrote:
I’m not sure a game with twenty seven pieces of dlc should ever be praised for not being expensive.

And no before anyone comes at me, the sims 3 store was optional. You didn’t have to buy any of it and in many cases (mine) I got it all for free via EP registration and points.

Try playing sims 3 without stuff packs or game packs. You wouldn’t want to as the game would be boring. Right now the sims 4 without any sales is almost £500 and that figure will continue to rise.

And for what it’s worth I have games from previous generations. I found my sims 2 expansion that was 19.99, I have a sims 3 expansion with a 24.99 price tag on it.

Packs are also optional, or you can wait and get them on sale. I include purchasing packs as part of my general entertainment budget. Being an old lady, I don't go out drinking or to clubs anymore, so the money I'm not spending on alcoholic drinks and cover charges can go support my Sims habit. And being partially disabled (mild mobility issues, but enough that I use a cane and don't really like to go out without my husband to give me a hand when necessary) I spend a lot of time at home, so having The Sims is entertainment, and a chance to have something in my control in a world that feels out of my hands at times. And my husband supports my Sims habit because it keeps me quiet and happy most of the time -- he's not interested in playing himself but he likes to hear about my Simming adventures. B)