Sims 4 Cottage Living: A Comprehensive Overview + Official Screens

Just like magic, the Sims 4 Cottage Living gameplay trailer has ignited the Sims community at large once again.  Players are buzzing about the wide array of new gameplay features that the fresh expansion pack promises; stuffed to the brim with cottage-core build buy, intricate Sims lore, sprawling views, and quaint country life activities, Cottage Living is poised to offer Simmers worldwide a sweet peek at the simple life in Henford-on-Bagley.

The World of Henford-on-Bagley

The new world that comes folded into Sims 4: Cottage Living  is called "Henford-on-Bagley." Reminiscent of a squat English-countryside town, Henford-on-Bagley offers Simmers the lush, rolling hills of picturesque England and the robust Sims lore that many Simmers have craved.  Henford-on-Bagley boasts three distinct neighborhoods: Finchwick, Old New Henford, and The Bramblewood. 

Finchwick

Finchwick is the heart of village life in Henford-on-Bagley.  Home to the weekly Finchwick fair, a bustling marketplace, Crumplebottom's Garden shop (where players can purchase items for their gardening and jam-making needs), the Gnomes Arms Pub (owned by Sarah and Simon Scott), and village errands, Finchwick is where the Sim fresh to farm life can get to know the seasoned locals. 

Old New Henford

Old New Henford is the idyllic neighborhood with wide open spaces just outside of town. Its lush countryside is perfect for farming, raising livestock, and befriending Wild Animals, who will forage for special trinkets on a Sim's behalf. Simmers can find the new, broken-hearted NPC Cecilia here as she remakes her life in a refurbished barn and as the unlucky-in-love Creature Keeper Michael Bell aches for her from afar. This is also where Simmers can find the Olde Mill Estate, one of the larger lots in the new expansion. 

The Bramblewood

Finally, the Bramblewood is the untamed wild of Henford-on-Bagely. Here, Sims can collect chocoberries, mushrooms, and nightcaps. They can visit the Island of Volpe, which brims with the rich history of Henford-and-Bagley and hosts the most romantic spot in town. This is also where Sims can find the Creature Keeper's home. The Island of Volpe Park, conversely, is home to Sophie the Snail and Cordelia Falls. 

Fresh Farm-to-Table Gameplay

Cottage Living brings a fresh focus to the simple pleasures of small-town family life.  Full of rustic windows, country cabinets, and quaint cookware, Cottage Living is sure to please the family-player.  In the pack, families can cook together, garden together, watch over their beloved animals together, picnic together, can fresh goods together, and even make jam together.  

Canning and Cooking

One of the most highly-anticipated features of the upcoming pack is the new canning activity. Players will be able to harvest choco-berries, fruits, and mushrooms from The Bramblewood, a scenic woodland area just outside of town.  Once a Sim has harvested these collectibles, they can use them to create a wild assortment of jams right in their kitchen. 

The pack promises a collection of 16 kinds of jams that Sims can cook up in their country kitchens. 

​But even this is not all. Families will not only enjoy a new selection of recipes to choose from, but thanks to a base game update, children and other family members will be able to take part in a new interaction called "Group Cooking."

During Group Cooking interactions: 

• Up to five family members cook together (including children!)
• Children gain "Mental" skill 
• Family members forge sentiments about one another 
• Families produce higher-quality food and more servings

There are many more recipes to master in this pack, amongst them Beef Wellington, Yorkshire Pudding, Bangers and Mash, and more. 

If this were not enough, Simmers can now choose from several "lot challenges," the number of which will vary according to how many packs a certain Simmer owns. The Cottage Living Challenge "Simple Life" urges Sims to fish, harvest, and collect the items they need for daily living.  After all, with the "Simple Life" challenge active, the forever-full refrigerator will no longer be forever full. 

Gardening

Gardening gets one heck of an overhaul in Cottage Living.  Players will be able to grow such large crops as massive mushrooms, leafy lettuce heads, huge pumpkins, swelling watermelons, and oddly phallic looking eggplants.

Despite the nearly ribald placing of confidently grinning women alongside their enormous eggplants, gardening in Cottage Living is truly a family affair.  The pack, in tandem with a the next Sims 4 base game patch, allows children and toddlers to water, weed, and harvest crops. Toddlers will adorably talk to plants and even ask strangely off-kilter questions about gardening in the way that only toddlers can.  Teens, Young Adults, Adults, and Elders can even teach their little ones how to garden, which increases Mental skill in-game.

Cross-stitching

The cross-stitching activity will allow Children, Teens, Young Adults, and Elders to master the art of cross-stitching.  There are 34 different cross-stitching patterns that Sims can attempt, working through ill-advised stitching maneuvers and pricked fingers.  As with the art of gardening, child Sims can learn the nuances of cross-stitching from their older counterparts, 

Animal Husbandry

Caring for cozy farm critters takes on a kooky twist within the Sims 4 Cottage Living. Families work together to: 

• Shear llamas for cross-stitch necessary wool
• Milk cows for various fresh recipes
• Collect eggs from Cooped Hens
• Befriend the bunnies and fowl of the forest for treasure hunting purposes

The overall happiness and diet of the kept animals affects the quality of the goods they produce. Feeding rainbow feed to a beloved cow will not only poof her into rainbow-furred glory, but it will also get her to produce some delicious rainbow milk that can be bottled, enjoyed, or entered into Finchwick fair's weekly competition. 

Each chicken coop will house up to eight of the fluttering fowl, and Sims care for the chickens and collect their eggs. However, Sims will need to keep a close eye on their beloved hens; skulking foxes can slip into unattended chicken coops and make off with precious egg treats of their own. To prevent this, farmers can purchase a new alarm called the fox-be-gone, which will sound off when a swiping no-gooder creeps into the chicken coop under cover.

The Finchwick Fair

Finchwick, Henford-on-Bagley's town center, will host weekly competitions for both country recipes, best farm animals, and finest large crops. Both winners and participants will earn prizes at the close of each competition, but only winners will get to enjoy their immense bragging rights. 

What part of Sims 4 farm life has you fired up?