The Sims™ 4 Horse Ranch Expansion Pack Review Summary

Adorable mini goats, fun horse riding, and an engaging breeding legacy are undermined by missing text, blank interactions, lacking horse depth, and game-breaking bugs.

Mini goats and sheep adorable: The mini goats and sheep are widely loved for being cute and therapeutic, adding a rustic charm to the ranch. Their playful bouncing brings joy to players.

Positive overall reception: Many players find the pack to be a great addition, with a lot to offer and enjoyable gameplay. It is often described as fun, cute, and a time killer.

Stylish CAS and build items: The CAS and build/buy items are stylish, with a Western theme and cottage core aesthetic. The clothing and decor are praised for their design and versatility.

Pack is visually beautiful: The overall aesthetics of the pack, including the world, build items, and CAS, are highly praised for being beautiful and well-designed. The pack adds a stylish Western theme.

Horses have cute animations: Many players praise the horses' cute and well-animated behaviors, noting that the models and animations are spot-on. The horses are frequently described as adorable and fun to watch.

Missing or blank text and interactions: Text and interactions related to horses and the expansion pack are often missing, blank, or broken. This affects speech bubbles, notifications, and social interactions, leaving players confused.

Game is unplayable due to bugs: Many players report that the game is completely unplayable because of severe bugs. This includes frequent crashes, freezes, and broken mechanics that prevent normal gameplay.

Horse interactions are lacking: Players cannot interact with horses in meaningful ways. Many actions like leading, mounting, or communicating with horses are missing or non-functional.

Not worth the price: The expansion pack is considered overpriced for the amount and quality of content it offers. Many players feel it does not justify its cost.

Create-a-horse is severely limited: The create-a-horse feature is lacking in breeds, traits, and customization options. Players cannot save custom breeds or see traits properly.

Horse Riding and Training: Players can ride, train, and level up horses, with dedicated training areas and skills. This is a core feature, frequently mentioned across clusters.

Sheep and Goats: Sheep and goats are included as farm animals, with mini versions that can be raised and interacted with. They produce wool and milk and require care.

Horse Competitions and Shows: Players can participate in various horse competitions, such as show jumping, barrel racing, and shows, with different categories. Competitions occur once per day and some are rabbit holes.

Nectar Making and Aging: Players can make nectar (wine) and age it, with a nectar skill and business opportunities. Juice making by stepping on fruit is also included.

Horse Customization: Players can create and customize horses, including breed, color, size, name, traits, and age. This is a highly requested feature.

Frequent Game Crashes Reported: Players report that the game crashes constantly, with some experiencing a dramatic increase in crashes after installing a new pack. Crashes were previously rare but have become commonplace.

Severe Lag and Slowness: The game has become very laggy and is described as incredibly slow and glitchy. This performance degradation affects overall playability.

Sims and Horses Freezing: Sims and horses are getting stuck or freezing during gameplay, disrupting player control and progression.

Game Fails to Launch: Some players are unable to start the game at all, as it fails to launch. This prevents any gameplay from occurring.

Occasional Restarts Needed: Players find that the game needs to be restarted every now and then during a session. This suggests stability issues that accumulate over time.

Wait for a sale: A recurring recommendation is to wait for a discount before purchasing, with specific suggestions like 50% off or half price. Players feel the pack is only worth it at a reduced cost.

Bugs and unplayability: Players report bugs that make the pack unplayable, with some calling it a scam DLC and requesting refunds. Others advise not buying until it is fixed or waiting for updates.

Must-have for horse lovers: Equestrian enthusiasts and animal lovers highly recommend the pack, often calling it a must-have for those who love horses, mini sheep, and mini goats. It satisfies the desire for horse gameplay and cottage life.

Not worth full price: Many players strongly advise against buying this pack at full price, calling it not worth the money even on sale. Some would not recommend it to anyone due to poor value.

Don't waste money: Several players explicitly warn against wasting money on this pack, even going as far as saying not to install it for free. They believe it is not worth any investment.

Community fair range: $15.00 - $25.00.

Game completion: 72.0h.

Session length: 5.0h.

Endgame: 10.0h.

Cozy Animal & Cottage Life Roleplayer: Slow-paced animal care, cottage life, and story recreation. Motivation: Living out cozy horse and cottage-farm roleplay with small animals. Stance: buy.

Western Aesthetic Builder: Build/buy decorating and cowboy-themed storytelling. Motivation: Creating Western and cowboy-themed builds and aesthetics in The Sims. Stance: sale.

Veteran Expansion Synergy Player: Collection and expansion integration in persistent saves. Motivation: Expanding long-running Sims 4 saves with compatible DLC content. Stance: sale.

Monetization: The reviews concern a single traditional paid DLC for a base game, criticized for being overpriced at around $40, low-effort, broken at launch, and missing dialogue/translations. All evidence relates to the upfront DLC purchase price and content quality/technical condition. There is no mention of in-game purchases, real-money gacha, loot boxes, battle passes, currency obfuscation, or paid power/convenience. Under the override rules, traditional DLC and base-price complaints cannot push the score above 20, and no direct evidence of post-purchase monetization exists.

Expansion priced too high: The pack is criticized for being priced as a full expansion but offering less content, comparable to a game pack. Many feel it is overpriced and not worth the cost.

Adds significant content: The pack adds a lot to the game, including new mechanics, animations, and horse breeds. Many players appreciate the effort put into it.

EA greedy and expensive packs: Reviewers accuse EA of greed and note that packs are very expensive. The pricing model is seen as exploitative.

Pre-order regret and delays: Multiple reviewers regretted pre-ordering due to the pack's release issues and delays. Some felt it was not worth the advance purchase.

Inferior to Sims 3 pets: Compared to The Sims 3 Pets expansion, this pack has fewer decoration and gameplay options. Sims 3 had more content and better horse breeding with blended offspring.