Squashed as it was between The Game Awards, a dozen or more game announcements, and the release of The Finals and The Day Before, you can be forgiven for missing the release of the latest expansion for The Sims 4 on December 7th. For Rent adds multi-family lots to the aging dollhouse 'em up, and with it the ability to be a landlord or renter within apartnment buildings.
The "multi-family lot" feature is flexible enough that you can use it to create basement flats and duplexes as well as apartment buildings. It should have some fun storytelling potential as families live in close quarters together, and there's a new region, Tomarang, to help you get started. Tomarang features a botanical garden, Spirit House, an animal sanctuary and a night market.
If you're the owner of a property, you'll be charged with keeping your tenants happy by repairing their utilities, keeping them in essentials like water and flushable toilets, as well as fighting off toxic mould, roaches and, uh, ghosts. Y'know, usual homeowner stuff. Should you fail, your ratings will fall and you could be faced with a "Tenant Revolt".
The Sims has long been tagged with being a power fantasy for millennials, many of whom may never own their own home. I don't think For Rent is counter to that common narrative, because it presumably lets you put your landlord in a swimming pool and remove the ladder. Now that's a millennial power fantasy.
For Rent is a full epxansion, meaning it comes with mechanical additions as well as items for building with, which places at the top of The Sims 4's DLC price range. It's £35/€40/$40.
Apartment living looks to be a core feature of the next Sims game, currently called Project Rene.
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