Well here it is!

The Sims 4: StrangerVille, which seriously is addon pack number twenty-seven.

As far as game packs go though, it’s only

“only”

the seventh one of those thus far, so y’know.

Could be worse.

And personally, as a concept I find StrangerVille immediately compelling.

“Solve the mystery of a desert town that holds a deep, dark secret” is the headlining

teaser for this one, inviting comparisons to the vast number of conspiracy-laden TV

shows and movies that revolve around strange little towns.

But another reason for its initial appeal is that it brings to mind Strangetown, a neighborhood

first seen in The Sims 2 for PC in 2004.

Strangetown was a remote desert locale prominently featuring a crashed UFO and a variety of quirky

citizens, most notably a memory-wiped Bella Goth.

Of course, with a name so similar to Strangetown and the odd occurrences shown off in the trailers,

I was eager to see the sights of StrangerVille.

So let’s get right to it!

It all begins with the town of StrangerVille itself, a small desert community with a clear

military presence and shady goings on.

There’s an airstrip just outside of town and a not-so-secret secret lab tucked away

inside a large crater.

And while it’s a weird enough spot to visit on its own, to really get the most out of

StrangerVille you’ll want to equip yourself with the new StrangerVille Mystery aspiration.

This enables a special set of interactions and activities throughout town, with an end

goal of uncovering the local secrets that the authorities are clearly hiding.

And unlike most Sims 4 things, this is a rather linear storyline with a defined beginning,

middle, and end.

So lemme go ahead and say that I won’t be spoiling the story in this review, at least not yet.

I’ll have a section at the very end where we’ll bust the mystery wide open, but I’ll

warn you before we get there.

For now though, what I’ll say is that the StrangerVille aspiration takes you on a 12-step

journey to enlightenment, a sort of rehabilitation program for the paranoid conspiracist.

When you begin your journey it’s simply about talking to local sims, getting their

take on the town and hoping that someone, anyone shares some sliver of information.

Whether it be military personnel, scientific researchers, or full-blown conspiracy theorists,

nearly everyone will have something to say regarding the town’s weirdness.

And well, it won’t be long until you’re greeted by some of the more... affected inhabitants.

[sim cackles maniacally]

Or rather, infected, because these folks ain’t right.

Try to talk with a possessed sim and their response comes in

the form of bizarre movements and barely coherent statements

many of which refer to a “mother” of some kind.

You can also try slapping them out of it to actually talk to them for a bit, but they

soon turn back and you’re not gonna get much of these folks regardless.

Same goes for the Sims In Black that tend to show up once you start poking your nose

in places it doesn’t need to be, responding only that “there’s nothing to see here, move along.”

And of course, it’s an open secret that the town is littered with these bizarre glowing

purple plants, all of which appear to be growing at an alarming rate.

Another early clue to the strangeness of StrangerVille is the Curio Shop: a small shack run by a

local weirdo, dedicated to cataloguing the unexplained activity of not only StrangerVille,

but the world of The Sims at large.

Heh, and you know, of all the game universes that would have dedicated conspiracists, The

Sims is an obvious pick.

It’s a series full of aliens, ghosts, lake monsters, fairies, zombies, time travel, vampires,

werewolves, and magic garden gnomes.

A world like The Sims should be full of folks Jonesing for a chance to rant about massive

government cover-ups and secret societies.

Anyway, it won’t be long till you’re directed towards The Lab north of the military base,

which appears to have been hastily evacuated.

Files, boxes of paperwork, and computers are strewn all over the place,

filled with top secret information.

Naturally, the first step is to scrounge up enough of it to form a dossier of evidence.

You’ll likely need to look beyond the facility though, because there’s a large sealed door

blocking your path and not enough evidence was left out in the open.

So it’s back to StrangerVille to bug sims until they give up something juicy.

And also to bug sims until they give up something juicy, using electronic bugs surreptitiously

placed onto the backs of key citizens.

Using the new listening station you can eavesdrop on their conversations to record evidence

both meaningful and mundane.

You can also hit up the local library and sift through the archives of books dedicated

to the history of StrangerVille.

Eventually, you’ll accumulate the evidence required to win over access to a key card.

And that card can be used to waltz deep into the bowels of The Lab, the answers you seek

surely just within reach.

What lies beyond that door?

RALPH!

He’s back, baby, and ready for action!

Yeah okay maybe not, almost forgot Ralph died in a fire.

But yeah, if I say anything more about The Lab it gets into spoiler territory so I’ll

leave it there for now.

However, we can still talk about StrangerVille’s new career: the military, returning from The

Sims 3, now in a semi-active form.

By that I mean, it’s one of those where you can send your sim off to work as usual

to disappear for the day, but they also have the option

to work from home and perform activities directly.

Things like working out, marching around, and sparring with both fellow recruits and

sparring robots alike.

And halfway through the career you’ll be provided a choice between two paths: Officer

and Covert Operator, with the former leading up to your sim becoming a grand marshall,

and the latter setting you on the path to becoming a Sim In Black.

And despite the top secret silliness you’ll be dealing with, the military career can be

played in any neighborhood in the game, it’s not limited to StrangerVille.

Though it certainly fits in the most with the theme of StrangerVille.

As do the new build mode items, including the long-awaited return of laptops.

Yeah, it took nearly five years for laptops to officially be added to The Sims 4 for some reason.

Anyway they’re here now, along with about a hundred other items.

Lots of laboratory and military equipment, plenty of sci-fi strangeness and bizarre tech,

and a nice assortment of grungy DIY items befitting the bunker of a post-apocalyptic

prepper with the new paranoid trait.

Also fits with the unique lots, like this eccentric non-mobile mobile home.

And the crashed cargo plane just outside of town, which opens up to an underground bunker

filled with survivalist storage and excess army surplus.

And I am shocked to say there is only one new chair.

Dang.

And that’s The Sims 4 StrangerVille!

It costs twenty dollars and the majority of its content consists of a linear storyline,

quite a departure from the usual fare.

Some will dig it, others may not care much for it.

Especially since the entire mystery can be solved in like an hour and half if you focus

on that exclusively.

So if you’re looking for something completely new and completely weird, it’s a welcome addition!

But if you prefer a more open-ended experience filled with tons of objects and activities

to be played with however you want?

This is probably not the pack for you.

The best parts of StrangerVille, where you’re sneaking around cracking open conspiracies,

is only experienced once and then all you’re left with is the usual Sims stuff.

Again, fun while it lasts, but is it twenty dollars fun?

Perhaps, but it really depends on what you value in a Sims pack.

And that’s my overall take on the pack, but now it’s about time to jump into spoiler territory.

If you don’t wanna know StrangerVille’s secrets, turn away now.

Cool, you still here? Nice.

So yeah, y’know how the pack is titled StrangerVille?

I have a sneaking suspicion that it’s a small nod towards the Netflix show Stranger

Things, more than it is a reference to The Sims 2’s Strangetown.

Both Stranger Things and StrangerVille have communities with weird crap happening to its

citizens, both have a shady government facility just outside the city limits, there are people

in hazmat suits that have to wander the depths of a secret lab with lots of floaty things

in the air, there are these weird vines that pop up in bathrooms and sinks, eventually

there’s crazy clouds forming in the sky complete with colorful lightning strikes,

and there’s a big bad monster with a big mouth that opens up like a flower.

[plant monster roars]

Top it off with the fact that Millie Bobby Brown herself is officially

in the game as a sim, and eh you get my point.

I mean, it’s obviously drawing from a bunch of sci-fi source material, there are no shortage

of stories about remote towns hiding a dark secret.

But my point is that the mystery of StrangerVille is closer to Stranger Things than Strangetown.

Meaning that you won’t be diving into the details of Bella Goth’s famous abduction,

or learning more about the Pollination Technicians.

Sure, Bella’s still prone to showing up as a townie and there are some neat little

references to Strangetown here and there,

but for the most part you’re playing a totally different story.

One that revolves around a giant plant monster known as The Mother.

Her spores are popping up everywhere and making sims go nuts

so it’s your job to concoct a vaccine.

Then once you’ve cured enough sims, you form a ragtag group of PlantBusters to take

out The Mother once and for all.

This is accomplished by way of a boss battle against The Mother, which is pretty straightforward.

All you need to do is outlast her and her possessed minions by tossing vaccine containers

and dousing her in overpowered Roundup.

Once she’s down, that’s it!

The town returns to normal, you’re a hero.

That is, unless you decide to revive The Mother.

And I guess she’s your ally now?

I dunno, but you can talk to her and use her as a kind of chlorophyllic genie.

Ask for riches, success, energy, or a longer life and she’ll grant those wishes.

Or you can request that the town return to a weird infected state once again.

Yeah I dunno, it’s The Sims, these things happen.

And yep, once again that is The Sims 4 StrangerVille.

I had a couple hours of fun while it lasted, but beyond that?

I can’t imagine I’ll be revisiting it anytime soon now that I know precisely what

happens in the linear storyline, but I’m certain I’ll be using some of the new items

it came with in other scenarios.

One thing’s for sure though...

I am now very much in the mood to watch another season of Stranger Things.

[C418's "Stranger Think" plays]

And if you enjoyed this Sims coverage, then sweet!

I’ve covered each pack here on LGR, and there are new videos on all kinds of gaming

and tech topics every week otherwise.

And as always, thank you very much for watching!