With Black Friday season upon us, I'm debating getting another pack. I particularly have my eye on Growing Together and Home Chef Hustle. If any of you have one of these packs can you answer some of my questions? It's okay if you only focus on the questions you have strong opinions about. This isn't a job application.Growing Together:Are the new childhood aspirations fun?Burnout looks like Fear of Dead End Job, only worse. Is there a way to turn it off? Have they tuned it so that person doesn't get Burnout at the drop of a hat? Have you found any strategies for avoiding it?Midlife Crisis looks like a bummer. Same list of questions as Burnout really.Are there any other "fun game play" ideas that came with this pack that are actually more annoying than fun?Have they fixed milestones so that they don't disappear if you play as another household?How much do family dynamics and compatibility affect the game?Does the build-buy pair well with assets from other packs? Which packs?Home Chef Hustle:What do you think of the new aspirations?Do you like using the new appliances?Does the build-buy pair well with assets from other packs? Which packs?

I own Growing Together but not Home Chef Hustle. I'll give you a shorter reply than you hope for; I just realized that many of the features you ask about I never really noticed in my game. Then I understand that these crises etc are probably more fun and meaningful if you play one household over time. I play rotationally, so I probably miss most of that.I like the pack though. World suits me well, I added Recreation Centers as regional community centers in all my 8 regions and the places are always busy. B/B is fine too, CAS is good although a bit weird in a different sort of homey way (which I use quite a lot), and the Infants are just so extremely cute, again probably more fun if staying with one family for a while to see development, but I really like them although I do not focus a lot on their life stage.So - if you play rotationally and there are other packs you do not own, I'd consider other packs before this one.

Ok, that's a lot of questions, I'll try to answer most of them.The aspirations in both packs are nice. They're still Sims 4 aspirations, but they're enjoyable, and it's good to have more variety for kids. I have only tried one of the Home Chef Hustle ones, but it didn't feel too much like a tutorial, as it did have some objectives which, while easy, required some set up.Burnout, in my opinion, is much less annoying than the fears, and in fact, I think it has added to my gameplay (a little) by reminding me to vary a sims' activities when I start getting a little one-track. You get a warning with a little moodlet, which can be cleared by doing something else for a few hours, and if you do get into burnout (there are two stages of this, if I'm not mistaken), taking a day off or two to focus on other things clears it. Burnout really doesn't happen randomly and it's easy enough to manage not to get to the full thing that really hinders skill building and career leveling. Having sims do relaxing activities or sports clears up the moodlets, as does doing activities opposite what brought on the burnout (creatives skills or "mental" activities). Midlife crisis is pretty easy to ignore if you don't like it. Only some sims will get it. It gives your sim a +1 tense moodlet and a small buff to facilitate doing new things, and can give some extra, bigger moodlets at times (but positive and negative). You get some extra goals that reward satisfaction points and fulfilling enough to resolve the crisis (which also resolves on its own after a few days) gives the sim a happy moodlet.I haven't really had any annoyances with Growing Together so far. I think the milestones are fine, but I rarely check them and barely ever rotate to other families at the moment, so I wouldn't have noticed. Family dynamics and compatibility seem to affect the game quite a bit. Dynamics change the sims autonomous behaviors and compatibility can make it easier or harder to make friends, though it's nothing unbearable. You can also just refuse any family dynamic the game suggests that you don't like, so it never gets in the way of my stories. As for B/B in Growing Together, it's simple enough to go well with most things. I'm not 100% sure about color matching and such because I use a lot of packs together. Some furniture goes particularly well with the mid-century stuff from Get Famous, and there's some craftsman stuff that pairs well with Seasons. And of course, Parenthood, considering the amount of children's stuff in the pack. As for Home Chef hustle, the appliances are nice. They're quick and easy to use, allowing sims to do short tasks while they work (haven't tried the pizza oven yet, though). The build buy stuff, other than the counters and cabinets, is mostly kitchen clutter and appliances, so it goes well with just about anything. The pack has a pretty modern feel, and I use the wallpapers a lot. I hope this helps!

I had the most fun with home chef hustle initially. Growing Together was a little lack luster for me at first, as family game play is not my style and this pack was broken in may ways for me at first. Only recently has the pack shown itself to me to be worth it, but you can only see it through a lot of family gameplay. It's kind of worked in. Also since I got for rent a new found love of the world as finally prefect places for my painted ladies townhouses.childhood aspirations fun- dont know- I tried the building tree thing first but it was broken for me. I dont play as children often.Burnout looks like Fear of Dead End Job- hate the idea of- never happened- not something I do not play the sims for- escapist here.Midlife Crisis looks like a bummer. - kind of cute- get to play sims in a different way than you set up. I liked it. Kind of realistic. It's not in a bummer way."fun game play" - yes. my baby infant Hope just learned to crawl and that was the highlight of my gamplay after so long practicing with her. I also so her almost stand by herself at the church, she got up on her pew by herself.Never had a problem with milestones disappearing and I am heavy in rotation in my game play style.I like the family dynamics added and compatibility added but I am not sure how it affects the game play.I certain items from the build buy I am always using. While it's not my favorite style the bathtub with the glass doors which is a modern day stable and I cant believe the did n' add it until now is available with this pack. There are a lot of nice windows but I use them in builds that are anything but San Sequoia, very nice kitchen appliances- possibly among the best, and a couple more items I always use. They seamlessly match well with other packs. Big reason to buy this pack though is the infant items and milestones, if you're into that. I'm usually not into that, but with this game pack I found myself very into it.Hope chef hustle is a lot of fun, I really enjoyed the gameplay and build buy. It is like it's price point, a bit of get it all out in a week or two, where GT takes more time to understand how it affects your game and will continue to influence your game in a subtle longer way. Hope finally crawling after a training for a bit. She also kind of almost stand by herself is the most rewarding moments from this pack for me.

OMG! Just get both. 🤪They go together. Food blends with everything and I'm cooking more food in my game right now then at work...I'm a pastry chef in the real and I can't get over the food in this game. I do have a realistic food mod in my game that is base game with no conflicts with other mods. My sims are making a lot of money selling food in this game and I love it!!I also enjoy family play. My favorite age to play is young adult and child age...Seniors are next.Growing Together is like a glue that connects all the family gameplay. Families love to eat!I bought and explored Growing Together because of all the families and children in my game. I'm not disappointed so far. I would buy both if you want to run a family restaurant. 🙂

Growing Together-Honestly all Aspirations are just the same 'do thing to check off said thing' you know? But I think it was fine to be doing and nothing too complicated. More aspirations for kids was something I enjoyed.-There's no way to turn off burnout unless you mod it out. I haven't gotten a lot of burn out lately like when it first came out. Use to get it every other sim day or so seems like I get it maybe once a sim week or so. So depends. Can offset it with having a sim relax to get that moodlet down. Found it easy since I have the Spa Day pack.-Can't turn off Midlife Crisis, BUT your sim can go get counseling so your sim don't have to do that (Like my sim wanted to get divorced, went to pay out the money and no more with that)-Not sure what you mean 'ideas' less you mean gameplay elements that came with the day. Only thing I've found to be mildly annoying is the clipping with child sims learning to ride a bike if there's not enough room. Haven't had much problems out of this pack really. Other than when there was a problem with the whole kids losing a tooth, but that's fixed.-Yes, they fixed the milestones haven't had any missing milestones at all.-Quite a lot. Sims can get along with one another well, slightly or just down right have a hard time getting to know one another because they have different likes and dislikes. Which I enjoyed watching relationships build slower or just not at all if they don't like one another. Dynamics in family I definitely enjoy especially since they can change if sims put effort into their relationships. Like I Bob and Eliza's relationship? I put it as distant. Can definitely tell the difference with how most of their conversations don't go so well in the least even with having a green bar. Sometimes it seemed like they weren't talking to each other often at all. Sims definitely don't seem interested in talking with other sims they don't like nor have pleasant conversations without the affects of a red bar. About the same with romantic dynamic focusing on the romance part which was strained as I had them. Like there were attempts. Can be changed if you guide them to work on it if they don't do it themselves.-The build buy is nice to me. Far as furniture style falls into basics/contemporary styles with a few others sprinkled in. Think It's go well with Parenthood and Highschool years definitely along some other pieces in other packs.Chef Hustle-They're okay only prefer the one where you have to run a food stall since it doesn't feel like I'll go through it too quickly.-I like the new appliances. (Been forever to get any until we got different ones from For Rent) Think the waffle maker and stand mixer are my favorite. The latter you can even eat the prepared ingredients you need for other recipes as is. Though sims have a habit of eating those like leftovers all the time. The pizza oven is nice, but think I only have it outside for sims to use for the most part at home or at a business to sell.-Contemporary, but modern look. Lot of clutter for the most part in decor which would pair with the above packs mentioned earlier. Fridge, oven and counters definitely blocky look to it.

What do you think of these packs?

14 Replies

Miataplay
Legend
3 months ago
I love everything about Growing Together and do not regret adding it to my sims 4 library.
SEREFRAS
Legend
3 months ago
Growing Together is very good for family play. It has a new family dynamics which makes it more fun if you want to play dysfunctional family. Also, it compliments Parenthood. However, I still think this pack should've been in Base. As for the Home Chef pack, it's great for new types of kitchen appliances & counters, it also has a new job gig.
Miataplay
Legend
3 months ago
I love it for the business aspect. Batch cooking is for food sales and the appliance add this beautiful gameplay for the chefs in game to make money. Everyday use in your sim's home makes sense if you have a big family to feed or like to throw dinner parties.
The appliances that come with Home Chef Hustle are a major upgrade to the sims kitchen and are perfect at home or for business.
Don't buy the appliance if your not going to use it; however if your sims are foodies, or have big families to feed, the table top mixer and pizza oven are wonderful items to add to your kitchen's inventory.
BissenNess
Seasoned Ace
3 months ago
Thanks everyone for your helpful advice!
For Growing Together, took some time debating this with myself. I was tempted by the milestones that won't disappear, compatibility/dynamics systems that actually impact autonomous behavior, more furniture that blends with the Parenthood pack and more childhood aspirations. Also good to know that Midlife Crisis is not that big a deal. The problem is that I'm both a family player and a level up player. Even with burnout being retooled so that it doesn't crop up quite as often, the main solution to preventing it seems to be "don't be a level up player." It just sounds like it would be too disruptive to my play style. It's a shame, I would really have loved the other stuff. 😢
For Home Chef Hustle, the selling points aren't as exciting as the selling points for Growing Together (kind of expected for a SP vs an EP). It sounds like the Appliance Whiz aspiration is mainly a tutorial for the appliances, but Marketing Magnet is an interesting career aspiration. The self-employed chef game play works well, the BB fits in any modern build. The appliances would be helpful if I'm feeding a large family (often happens), entertaining a lot of guests (sometimes happens), or running a food stall, but they're overkill if I just have a single sim eating alone. Sounds realistic, in my experience. I decided to buy Home Chef after all.👩‍🍳

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What do you think of these packs?

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