Other Games to Play if You're Bored of the Sims 4

Sims 4 is undoubtedly one of the best life simulation games out there. Not only because of the depths of gameplay, you can have but also due to the massive amount of player (known as simmer) content that's available for download, like here on PlayWhatever. It takes hours of dedication and extreme passion to build a world or legacy in the Sims game.

But let's face it. Playing Sims for hours and hours can get dull. You can only build so many houses and prank a handful of sims to their doom before you feel you need something more. You need to be the master of another universe!

That's when these other life simulation games can come into play. Although the aesthetics and gameplay may differ from the customization level on the Sims, these games will also compete for your attention and gameplay time with their life simulation qualities.

Animal Crossing: New Horizons

Chances are, if you've done your digging, you've come across this little number on several lists. Animal Crossing: New Horizons is an immensely popular game that gained much traction during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The game has a unique style with adorable and memorable NPCs, offering a general calm and mellow gameplay experience. Your character's customization level enhances as you progress through the game, from clothing and accessories to hairstyles to face paint. The game also features custom design features where you can create customized clothing patterns to express your creativity. However, the game is still nowhere near the level of customization as the Sims 4.

With that said, Animal Crossing: New Horizon has its flaws - limited multiplayer features, slow progression, lack of interaction, and limited content updates. All of these downsides factor into the game's overall vibe, but they can jeopardize replay value. But nonetheless, it's still a cute game to hop on while you dwell on the next build for the Sims 4.

My Time at Portia

My Time at Portia by Pathea Games is well received overall by those who love to flesh out their world. The game starts with promising character customization like the Sims, with a great lot of worlds to discover, much less restricting than the Sims 4.

More RPG elements are involved in this game than in the Sims 4, including the ability to fight and combat - and no, not in the quibble sense like on the Sims 4, but really explore dungeons and fight monsters. You manage your workshop and farm your way to riches, cultivating a fun time to interact with your little workshop builder avatar. It's like a farmer sim let loose in a post-apocrylic world trying to better society.

That said - it does have that RPG element, and that, in turn, means some things are just out of your control, more so than the fickle nature of Sims. Some content in the game can get repetitive, and the inevitable grinding that peeks its head out in all RPG genres pops out in later gameplay. It's still an exciting world to explore with Sim-like elements for those looking to dabble more into adventure.

Life Makeover

If you fancy the customization of your Sims, Life Makeover is a gorgeous game to try. Although limited by the main story progression, which you, the stylist, will need to go through to advance and unlock more features, Life Makeover has highly customizable avatars, dyeable outfits, a home-building feature on different themed lots, and a social interaction feature with associations (guilds) and home visits.

One key issue or differentiating factor with the Sims 4 is that many outfits will cost money to access. Now, sure - Sims 4 does have paid content like expansion packs, stuff packs, Patreon work, and game packs.... but the frequency of the new outfit releases on Life Makeover is on another level. Plus, because many times the outfits are by a gacha system, unlike the Sims 4, you'll most likely spend more on your avatar's outfit than your local trip to a clothing store or online store like PlayWhatever for yourself.

Still, much like how the Sims 4 has much to offer in its base game alone, Life Makeover, as a free-to-download game, has its share of fun with its base version, too.

Sims 3 and Other Versions

Last and final on the list is Sims 3 or other older versions of the Sims series. You might be asking, "Why in the world would you want to play an older version of a game?!?!" that is where you need to stop yourself and read what I have to say.

Sims 3 and 4 are VERY similar in gameplay, but some differences make Sims 3 also worth a reboot once in a while between your Sims 4 sessions. Starting from Create-a-Sim (CAS) and Build and Buy - whereas Sims 4 is more intuitive with less customization (without mods), Sims 3 has more flexibility and allows creative flow of technicality.

Sims 3 is also more open-world, while Sims 4 has a segmented world structure where each neighborhood is a separate lot with loading screens. Pros and cons to that - but the additional loading screens make the Sims world less lifelike.

Modding on Sims 3 (in my opinion) was also simpler than modding on Sims 4. Don't get me wrong - there are excellent modders and Sims 4 cc creators - we even offer Sims 4 custom content here at PlayWhatever. However, at the end of the day, the complexity and level of customization were more in-depth on the Sims 3 vs the Sims 4 because of the more accessible access to modding on Sims 3 vs 4.

Have You Found Something Else to Play Besides the Sims 4?

So those are my suggestions if you're looking to take a little break between the next episode of your Sims 4 legacy or just needing to be inspired in a different world with similar life simulation features. If you have any other suggestions, please share them with us in the comments below!