Which of these packs add the most gameplay?

I feel you - I just completed my collection over the holidays because Stuff Packs are NEVER on sale! I even bought My First Pet Stuff, which like everyone else, I was pretty peeved about and kind of vowed not to buy lol. I do think the rodent pet options are fun but right now, for me at least, the cage is buggy and my Sims get stuck there.

I voted for Fitness because you get the earbuds which allow your Sim to listen to music anywhere, and dance to their hearts content if they're a Dance Machine, and whatever else. I mean who doesn't have earbuds/headphones anyway? There's also the rockclimbing wall which is pretty cool, even though I haven't actually used it yet! There are some modern and sleek Build and CAS items to choose from but that is all based on taste as well... Overall I think this adds the most to your game from your list of choices.

I do like Cool Kitchen though because it has the ice cream maker! That thing is pretty cool and if you like to play with cooking/baking/mixology, etc., you'll probably like the ice cream maker.

Well Cool Kitchen only adds the ice cream maker, which is a food maker that I've noticed most of my Sims default to if the fridge is in use. Plus, the ice cream trays they make go immediately to their inventory, and not on counters or tables, which leads to spoiled food in inventories a lot of the time... Still though, you get lots of moodlets, and it's fun to see them eating ice cream.

As for the rest, I've not purchased them, but I've researched them. The Backyard adds a slip-n-slide, Fitness adds the rock climbing wall (that spouts fire at the intense difficulty for athletic Sims - so death...), so there are those special items, if that's what you're into. Toddlers mostly adds content for toddlers, and new playground things for them, and the First Pets adds pet content for Cats/Dogs while also introducing less interactive pets like hamsters and other rodents.

At this point, it's mostly what do you want to add to your game? I'd say in terms of enriching your Sims, I'd go for First Pet or Toddler, as they add lots of content for those life stages and characters in the game, which doesn't have a great deal of content as is, but Cool Kitchen or Fitness can add a neat item to the game for you.

Backyard has the water slide which ties in really well with Seasons. Cheaper than a pool and you can stow it away during the colder months. Fun way to build Fitness for teen+ and Motor for children. Plus the drink pitcher; if you have Dine Out you can add lemonade and iced tea to your restaurant beverage menus which is quite handy (we do need more "ordinary" (non-bar drink) options for our Sims at restaurants). And I know you were asking about gameplay but it's got some nice CAS to use with Seasons if you own that EP.

Second choice would be Fitness -- I like new ways to build skills, and the climbing wall is a lot of fun. I remodeled the Harbor Quarter Gym in Windenburg to add in some of the climbing walls, and I built a gym for Oasis Springs that has them on the first floor. It also adds the workout videos to the TV, so if you have an Active Sim but they can't get to the gym, they can at least workout with the TV.

MFP has gotten a bad reputation because of the C&D content included; I think it would have gotten a better reception if they hadn't tossed in the pet gear and costumes. If you have Parenthood, having the kids/teens take care of the small animal helps build Responsibility, and children can Study Rodent and that counts as doing the day's homework which is really handy.

I like the play structures from Toddler Stuff and have added them to my parks, but the fact that toddlers don't show up to parks (even with parent/nanny) makes playing a pretty lonely event. And your adult Sim has to know the toddlers to take them on a play date which can be tedious trying to meet them.

Cool Kitchen just has the ice cream maker -- I do like some of the extra effects (I'll often add one to my household long enough to use Taste of Diet to slim down my more zaftig Sims) but other than that it's sort of meh. It does have some of my favorite CAS items though and I like the counter set and appliances especially for my more upscale builds, but in terms of gameplay it's probably the weakest of the SPs you listed.

I think Backyard has the most game play options out of the choices listed. I like the new drinks and the slip n slide is fun, especially when you add soap. You do need some lawn space for it though, but I think paired with Seasons it's great. There is also a bird feeder but I wish it had some more interactions (there may be a mod for that).

There's a guide that describes everything in detail about the SP on SimsVIP if you are still on the fence about which pack to buy.

I didn't expect to get so many detailed comments! Thank you all for chiming in with your opinions; it makes trying to choose less overwhelming.

I'm definitely leaning toward Fitness and/or Backyard as the two I'll get. @stilljustme2 I didn't even think about how I could utilize the drinks in Backyard stuff because yes, more options for ordinary drinks would be awesome for my restaurants. Even though it's such a small thing, it does add to the appeal along with the water slide.

And, @storyy earbuds seem like it would be fun, but I was worried about sims autonomously using it too much (like how they sometimes drop to the ground and start doing push-ups)? Like, will Sims stop mid-conversation to dance at me or something, lol? I have this image of sims randomly doing push-ups and dancing in the middle of the sidewalk.

I think that Backyard Stuff offers the most with slide, bird feeder and drinks. I have to say that both Backyard Stuff and Fitness Stuff got more use than I expected when it comes to build mode & CAS. You were worried about sims using ear buds autonomously but I haven't noticed anything liek that. Some of my sims have gotten free ear buds in their inventory but I have never tried them end neither have they.

"gemjas;c-16902917" wrote:

And, @storyy earbuds seem like it would be fun, but I was worried about sims autonomously using it too much (like how they sometimes drop to the ground and start doing push-ups)? Like, will Sims stop mid-conversation to dance at me or something, lol? I have this image of sims randomly doing push-ups and dancing in the middle of the sidewalk.

Lol! Yeah I was worried about that too when they were first given to me in the game. I actually haven't noticed ANY of my Sims autonomously using them at all, which I totally appreciate. I honestly think it just adds music to your game no matter where you are without requiring speakers/stereos in every room... Doesn't really disrupt and can also give your Sim some good moodlets! I mean maybe if it's already ON they may aggressively dance at you lol, but I haven't experienced that as of yet! I'll definitely let you know if they do though! :p

I don't really use any of the new interactive objects that came with toddlers (i.e. the ball pit) because they're pretty big, but the pack adds some cute CAS items that we really needed! Plus I like playing with families. :)

I went ahead and bought Fitness and Backyard stuff yesterday and I'm having a lot of fun with both. I have this 64x64 water park in Windenburg and took full advantage of the water slides, lol. I never really take my sims to pools during the summer because... there's not much you can do in a pool. It's neat having more options. As for Fitness, none of my sims have earbuds yet, but I also haven't seen any random sims walking around with them, which I really appreciate. No idea if that will change once I manually give some of my sims earbuds, but I'm still having fun with the pack either way. It's been surprisingly entertaining watching my sims struggle up the climbing thing.

Anyway, I really appreciate the suggestions, guys. I'm terribly indecisive about these things and I easily get buyers remorse if I buy something and it... wasn't worth it. Honestly, I'm probably going to start buying stuff packs in the future based on this poll, lol. So, next time I'll buy the toddler pack. :)

Here are some links that show the new stuff added with some of the better packs you have listed in the poll:

Well, it won't let me post links, but if you type in the name of the pack + sims vip, in google, you can find great guides on the packs you have listed that show you all the cool new features of the packs. The packs I recommend looking into are: Cool Kitchen Stuff, Backyard Stuff, and Fitness Stuff.

Backyard comes with the most gameplay variety and it's great, but I really like cool kitchen for some reason. I like using the ice cream in my restaurants. I even made a Sci-Fi themed restaurant called Club Galaxy, with a portal to Sixam. The restaurant staff wears star wars costumes, and the place serves mostly experimental foods that come with Dine Out. I like to use the emotion changing ice cream, and some of the other strange and unique ice creams here too.