Despite my small village upbringing, I’ve not been near a horse since 1993, when I fell off one of the towering animals and landed ass-first in a river. So, as someone who knows a little about horses but isn’t especially interested in them, I wondered how longThe Sims 4’s latest expansion pack, Horse Ranch, would hold my attention.
As you’d expect, Horse Ranch is heavy on the horses, and the ranches. You can buy, breed, adopt or create horses. Sims who add a horse to their household can also train, ride, and compete with their animal, building a bond with them along the way. Horses themselves are well-fleshed out, using the same core systems as cats and dogs, allowing for a range of different breeds and traits as well as extensive customisation. Yes, this does mean you can graffiti your horses.Fiddling with the personality traitsalso makes a noticeable difference in how they react, which I’ve always loved about cats and dogs in The Sims 4.
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After discovering that competitions at theEquestrian Centrearen’t interactive, I was anxious that horse-related gameplay would be more limited than it first seemed. However, this isn’t the case. You need to keep your horse well-fed and watered, as well as provide a place for them to sleep. You’re also able to jump fences and circle around barrels, preparing them for competitions.
Beware, Horses cannot be contained. you’re able to build all the nice enclosures you like, but they’ll always find a way out. They have zero respect for fences or gates and not only will they escape the ranch and go for a midnight wander, but they may also make themselves at home on your sofa. If you’d prefer your horse to stay outside, place some steps. They hate steps. Perhaps they’re related to early Daleks.
Exploring the world on horseback is a great experience. So far I’ve not fallen in any rivers but since your horse can throw you off and they can walk through shallow water, it’s just a matter of time. Chestnut Ridge is the largest world we’ve seen in The Sims 4 and the paths you can traverse are long and winding with some unique details, including a new secret area that’s essentially a giant text adventure. Each neighbourhood has a different feel and while exploring you’ll spot a lot of small areas to train, places to take some great screenshots, and you’ll be surprised how long it takes to discover it all.
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Other worlds offer more challenges to the rider, including snow, mountains, and more of those pesky steps, but remain incredibly enjoyable to explore. You can mostly ride where you can walk, and seeing Sulani’s beach on horseback while the sun sets is an amazing experience. You can also ride around the hiking trails in Mt Komorebi, despite the aforementioned snow.
Gameplay is heavily horse-oriented, but you can also buy mini goats and mini sheep, extending the Cottage Living menagerie of cows, llamas, chickens, foxes, birds, and rabbits to make a pretty extensive farm. There are also some new social interactions and events, making relations with your neighbours in Chestnut Ridge feel more natural.
The expansion pack is vastly oriented around ranch life and horse ownership. If horses aren’t your thing then this pack likely won’t be either. I was initially unsure of the theme and remain so in terms of longevity for storytellers. I will absolutely be playing in the world, and using the build items, but horses likely won’t hold my interest long-term. I mostly just want to try and explore the world from a different perspective and see if I can climb Mt Komorebi on horseback, for science.
Horse Ranch also offers ahuge selection of core items for building homes; including doors, windows, flooring, wall panels etc. There’s furniture for most rooms, including a beautiful rustic kitchen that I love so much I’d like to add it to everything I build. Items fit well together and also complement the more rustic furniture from packs like Outdoor Retreat and Werewolves. It’s the kind of pack where you’ll find yourself dipping into it for different things, something I’m a huge fan of. Now if only we can persuade the team to separate the Monstera plant from the other two far inferior plants you have to place it with. I need to add one to every room, in every house, ever.
The Sims 4’s Horse Ranch expansion is a fun experience with a number of worthwhile new features and items for long-term players to dig into. As a builder, I will be busy taking advantage of the new materials and items to build my perfect homestead. However, I will be taking a break to ride around the other worlds using one of my trusted steads. I need to know if I can take a horse into the magical realm, and the Grim I added to my family needs a white horse named Binky, stat.
