To a certain target audience, the Sims series has always been all about torturing our Sims. Some gamers really like setting fires, removing pool ladders, and creating similar inconveniences just so they can see how the Sims will react. Spa Day was released a long time ago to do the exact opposite, to a degree. Welcome to a DLC where you are dropping your poor, little stressed-out Sims into mud baths and forcing them to do yoga.
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A weekly article designed to inform The Sims community through a detailed look at expansions and numerous add-ons for the cult simulation game. We inform you about what works best in terms of mechanics and all the things you might encounter for decorating your home.
Massages, Levitation, and Teleportation
Spa Day introduces the Wellness skill. It lets us buy a yoga mat or a meditation stool. Our Sim sits there while we wait for the skill bar to go up. It sounds boring, but if you suffer through it and put the time in, things get completely unhinged.
The moment you max out the Wellness skill, your Sim starts levitating—literally! Then, as is the yogi way (it isn’t), they learn how to teleport anywhere on the map. Talk about going from basic downward dogs to breaking the laws of physics! Leveling up the skill will also change your daily routine. Unlocking new food and drink recipes allows your Sims to enjoy detox tea and superfood salads.
The Power of the Chair
Sitting on the meditation stool is also an incredibly useful hack. When a Sim meditates, their needs completely freeze. Their hunger and energy stop dropping. We can’t remember how many times we put our Sim on that chair while waiting for their work shift to start because we didn’t want them getting tired or hungry.
You can build your own spa or drop a pre-built one into the neighborhood. Visiting the place allows you to join public yoga classes. There’s an instructor who, for a fee, will let you follow along so that you can get specific buffs, like a massive boost to the Focused mood. Oooom.
You can also pay for the privilege of reflexology or sit in the sauna. As expected, the sauna is the perfect opportunity to WooHoo. Just be careful not to leave your Sims in the steam for too long. The sauna will trigger a new “Death by Sauna” as well.
From a Relaxing Spa Day to a Panic Attack in Seconds
We love another thing: if you want to quickly change the mood of a room and pave the ground for deep relaxation, all you have to do is buy incense burners. What we don’t love that much is that they can randomly catch on fire. Spending a lot of time trying to put out a blaze in the meditation room happened to us and, trust us, it was anything but relaxing.
There was a substantial update several years ago. It added a lot of actual gameplay to these locations. Kids can do yoga and you can give your Sims manicures, pedicures, and facial masks. Try and leave the masks on for too long. Go ahead, we dare you. See what happens! It’s totally not a nasty skin irritation.
The best part about everything that we mentioned above is how you can monetize this stuff. If you take the Self-Care Specialist aspiration, your Sim can charge other Sims for massages. You can just drop a massage table in a public park and start demanding Simoleons. To make matters more intriguing, massages aren’t an automatic success. We hope your Wellness skill isn’t low. Otherwise, you give a terrible massage and, as a result, the townie gets a nasty negative moodlet and walks away angry. It was fun doing this while inexperienced and seeing all the funny reactions.
What will you find in The Sims™ 4 Spa Day Game Pack?
Mobile Nirvana
With the Zen Guru aspiration, things get weird. Mastering it gives your Sim a literal glowing aura. You walk around emanating light and calming down angry Sims around you, completely changing how you interact with townies.
The 2021 Refresh Experiment
Spa Day originally launched back in July 2015. It was fine, but a bit thin. Six years later, the devs dropped a massive free update, adding the High Maintenance trait, the nail polish system, and three new aspirations. We remember the whole thing as an experiment of a sort to see if they could fix old content. They did a great job. Sadly, they haven’t really done it for many other packs since.
Blink Away
We like the teleporting, especially charging townies for bad foot rubs. It gave us a great way to manage negative stress moods. It is a solid pack if you just want your Sims to chill out. Just keep an eye on the sauna timer. And don’t leave the incense burning.
ID Card
- Developer: Maxis
- Publisher: Electronic Arts
- Platforms: PC, Mac, PlayStation, Xbox
- Release Date: July 14, 2015 (Refresh: September 7, 2021)
- Genre: Life Simulation
Thank you for reading, see you next Sunday!
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