I’ve been playing the Sims 3 a lot lately and I thought I could go back to Sims 4 really easily. It turns out, I cannot. In this blog I would like to go into the reasons I think are behind this!

1. DLC Feels Like It Adds More Depth in The Sims 3

In The Sims 4, a lot of the DLC feels like it’s adding shiny new toys — fun, but surface level. With The Sims 3, expansion packs seem to genuinely weave into the gameplay itself. Careers, skills, and even the worlds feel more intertwined. Each new pack doesn’t just add objects, it changes how you play. For example, Pets adds more than cats and dogs! It adds horses, horse riding, bugs, birds, and more traits. These impact the gameplay as it adds a career and includes things from Sims 4’s dlc- Pets and First Pet stuff.

It’s like the difference between buying new furniture for your house and adding an entirely new room. The Sims 3 expansions give you the room.

2. It’s Harder… But in a Good Way

I didn’t realise how much I missed having to actually work for things in The Sims until The Sims 3 reminded me. Progression feels more earned. Getting promotions, building skills, or achieving goals isn’t just a checklist — you have to manage your Sim’s energy, relationships, and opportunities smartly. Promotions include building relationships with coworkers which takes time outside of work.

In The Sims 4, the pace feels more forgiving. You can climb the career ladder quickly, and even a brand-new Sim can suddenly afford a big house. In The Sims 3, you start small and feel every step of the climb.

3. Opportunities and Relationships Feel Alive

Opportunities in The Sims 3 are such a small thing on paper, but they change the entire rhythm of gameplay. Getting a call to help out at a science lab or perform at a friend’s party adds a sense of spontaneity and connection. You can even use them to your advantage, sometimes you can get permanent promotions at work! This makes things easier at later stages as the promotions stack up.

Relationships also evolve in more dynamic ways. Friends can drift apart if you ignore them, romantic partners can get jealous, and your Sim’s social circle can naturally grow or shrink. In The Sims 4, relationships tend to be more static once you’ve established them like they’re waiting for you to interact instead of doing their own thing. It’s almost Sims 4 is a pure dollhouse and Sims 3 is a doll city.

4. Emotions and Traits Actually Shape Gameplay

The Sims 4 technically has an emotions system, but in practice, most moods are just temporary buffs. They rarely derail your plans or force you to adapt. It’s almost like “oh my mum died” one second and “oh this room is SOOO pretty yay!!” the next.

In The Sims 3, traits feel like they truly matter. A couch potato might skip the gym no matter how much you try to push them, a flirty Sim might flirt at the worst possible time, and an absent-minded Sim might literally forget what they were doing. Your Sims aren’t just avatars you control they’re little chaos machines with their own agendas. I love the chaos.

Final Thoughts

The Sims 4 is undeniably prettier and smoother, and there are certain “quality-of-life” improvements that were hard to give up at first. But The Sims 3 just feels deeper. The worlds are more alive, the gameplay feels more interconnected, and my Sims feel like real(ish) people with quirks I can’t predict.

So while I might want to get back into Sims 4 from time to time, it’s The Sims 3 that keeps pulling me back in. Once you’ve had that level of depth and unpredictability, it’s hard to settle for less.