Crafting sizzling hot romance storylines has been a significant gameplay mechanic inThe Simsfranchise. WhileThe Sims 4has a dating mechanic in its base game, Maxis and EA hope to spice it up with its upcoming love-centric expansion pack,The Sims 4: Lovestruck. Set to be released on June 27, 2025,Lovestruckwill bring many new additions toSims 4, such as a new world, dating apps, new romantic interactions, heart-themed items and clothing, and many more.
Upon announcingThe Sims 4: Lovestruck, eyebrows were raised about why EA decided to add a dating expansion only now, especially since it has been a decade sinceThe Sims 4hit shelves. Looking at past entries in theSimsfranchise,The Sims 1and3offered dating expansions as their third DLC, whileThe Sims 2offered it as their second expansion. ConsideringThe Sims 4: Lovestruck’s late arrival in the game, one wonders how its features compare to other dating DLCs inThe Simsfranchise.
The Sims 3: Late Night vs. The Sims 4: Lovestruck
Similar toThe Sims 4: Lovestruck’s Ciudad Enamorada,The Sims 3: Late Nightalso introduced a new neighborhood called Bridgeport. Both worlds focus on bringing new hotspots into town, giving simmers plenty of nightlife locations to go to on dates.The Sims 3: Late Nightalso added the Celebrity mechanic to the game, and whileLovestruckdid not introduce the fame system inThe Sims 4, it was added earlier inGet Famous.
Luckily for fans hoping to make their sims' love life more interesting,The Sims 4: Lovestruckincludes more romance options thanLate Night. In theLovestruckexpansion, players are given new WooHoo spots, alongsidethe WooHoo spots already inThe Sims 4, to try their luck with their date. The trailer for the expansion showed the new WooHoo locations under a blanket while stargazing in a park, inside a closet, and on the new heart-shaped bed included inLovestruck.
The Sims 2: Nightlife vs. The Sims 4: Lovestruck
Like inThe Sims 3: Late Night,The Sims 2: Nightlifefocuses more on bringing more nightlife activities for Sims. WhileThe Sims 4: Lovestruckwill introduce dating apps to allow players to find potential matches,The Sims 2: Nightlifedoes things old school. Instead of a dating app,Nightlifeadded a new NPC called the Gypsy Matchmaker. As its name suggests, the Matchmaker will find a potential love match for sims. However, it is worth noting that a sim’s compatibility with their date would depend on how much money is paid to the matchmaker. WhileThe Sims 4: Lovestruckdoes not include a matchmaker NPC, players can be the matchmaker viaa new Sim career called Romance Consultant.
Another new feature thatThe Sims 4: Lovestruckwill add to the game is the ability to set a Sim’s turn-ons and offs. Veteran simmers would remember that whileThe Sims 2: Nightlifedid not add the turn-ons and offs feature, it was already in the base game. Other similarities betweenNightlifeandLovestruckinclude a new neighborhood that offers more locations for sims to bring their dates on a night out of town and new buy-mode items.
The Sims: Hot Date vs. The Sims 4 Lovestruck
WhenThe Sims: Hot Datewas released in 2001, it was a revolutionary expansion pack for the franchise as it allowed sims to leave their houses for the first time with the introduction of the Downtown area. Similar to new worlds added in other dating expansions in the franchise,the Downtown area inThe Simsgave players new locationssuch as shopping centers, recreation areas, restaurants, and nightclubs.
InThe Sims 4: Lovestruck, apart from new dating hotspots, the neighborhoods are designed to become perfect backdrops for romantic getaways. WhileThe Sims: Hot Datealso introduced new romantic interactions,The Sims 4: Lovestrucktook things to a different level by adding the Romance Dynamics system. Romance Dynamics reflects the romantic relationships between sims that range between Wholesome, Steamy, Strained, and Unpredictable.
The upcomingSims 4: LovestruckDLCintroduces more features than similar expansions in previous games. Apart from including almost everything dating-related in past expansions,Lovestrucktakes dating inThe Sims 4to a whole new level by adding new mechanics, such as allowing polyamorous relationships, compatibility, dating apps, new traits, a romantic boundaries system, and romance dynamics.
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