The Sims 4 Growing Together

The Sims 4 Growing Together Expansion Pack

The Sims 4: Growing Together is the thirteenth expansion pack released for The Sims 4, and one of the most ambitious family-focused packs the game has ever received. Developed by Maxis (The Sims Studio) and published by Electronic Arts, Growing Together launched worldwide on March 16, 2023, arriving just two days after the free “Infants” update hit the base game on March 14, 2023. Together, the update and the expansion reshaped how players raise a Sim family from their very first days of life all the way through adulthood. The pack can be seen as a spiritual successor to The Sims 2: Family Fun Stuff, The Sims 3: Generations, and The Sims 4’s own Parenthood game pack, pulling family-life gameplay together into one cohesive system for the first time in The Sims 4’s history.

The Sims 4 Growing Together at a Glance

• New World: San Sequoia
• New Life Stage: Infants (base game update, released alongside the pack)
• New Systems: Family Dynamics, Social Compatibility, Milestones, Self-Discovery
• New Events: Baby Shower, Family Reunion, Slumber Party
• New Aspirations: Creative Genius, Mind and Body, Playtime Captain, Slumber Party Animal (all for children)
• New Radio Station: Soul
• New TV Channels: Brainchild Learning, Sitcom Central, Scare Max
• New Objects: Giant customizable treehouse, swing sets, splash pads, rideable kids’ bikes, infant carriers and cribs

New Features in The Sims 4 Growing Together Expansion Pack

Growing Together’s central theme is family — how Sims are raised, how they bond (or clash) with relatives, and how the choices players make ripple across generations. Rather than adding one flashy new career or life state, the pack layers several interconnected systems on top of existing gameplay, making family life in The Sims 4 feel far more reactive and personal than before.

San Sequoia: A Bayfront Town Built for Families

The pack’s new world, San Sequoia, is a bustling town with historic roots inspired by the San Francisco Bay Area. It blends quiet suburban streets with a lively community center, giving families plenty of reasons to leave the house. Notable spots include an urban park, a public library stocked with children’s books, a movie theater, and a water park, along with the influential local Robles family who help set the tone for the neighborhood’s own long-running drama. While some reviewers felt San Sequoia’s individual lots lack the personality of earlier Sims 4 worlds, it remains a functional, activity-packed backdrop tailor-made for multi-generational households.

San Sequoia Lots Details

The Infant Life Stage and Base Game Update

Growing Together shipped alongside a free base-game update that finally freed babies from the bassinet, introducing an entirely new Infant life stage. Infants arrive with their own starting trait — Cautious, Intense, Sensitive, Wiggly, Calm, or Sunny — and grow through 18 unique infant quirks that shape their behavior. Toddlers also received 18 brand-new quirks of their own. Parents need to change diapers, teach basic life skills, and help infants hit gross- and fine-motor milestones, while new items like carriers, bassinets, high chairs, and four new crib types make day-to-day caregiving easier. Players who’d rather skip WooHoo altogether can also use the new “Science Baby” feature to have a child.

Create-A-Sim customization goes deep for the new life stage too, with new skin tones, hairstyles, accessories, and outfits for infants and toddlers, plus stork-bite scars that fade naturally as a Sim grows older.

How Family Dynamics and Social Compatibility Work

Family Dynamics is one of Growing Together’s headline systems, determining how related Sims actually get along. Every household can be assigned a dynamic — ranging from Supportive to Difficult — shaped by Likes and Dislikes across new Sim Characteristics and Conversation Topics categories set in Create-A-Sim. Some relatives naturally become close companions, while others get pushed to the outside of the family circle, adding an unpredictable layer of drama or harmony to every household.

Closely tied to this is Social Compatibility: Sims will now click instantly with some strangers and immediately clash with others, based on new social preferences that determine who becomes a lasting friend and who becomes a lifelong rival.

Milestones: Tracking a Sim’s Life Story

Milestones give players a running record of a Sim’s biggest life moments, from finding love to hitting career setbacks to making a new friend. Achievements are organized into Firsts, Life, and Social categories, and some even award object rewards like certificates and keepsakes. Sims genuinely remember these events too — a Milestone tied to a specific location can resurface in a Sim’s memories or mood the next time they visit that spot, giving San Sequoia’s locations a sense of lived-in history.

Self-Discovery, Midlife Crises, and Growing Up

Growing Together adds several new life events that push Sims to evolve rather than stay static. Teens and adults can go through Self-Discovery, where the game may offer to swap out an existing trait for its opposite (a Slob becoming Neat, for example) — players can accept the change or reject it, and a Sim can gain up to three new traits this way over a lifetime. Adult Sims can also face a Midlife Crisis, dealing with Workplace Rivals, Burnout, and even Random Layoffs along the way. On the lighter side, kids can now learn to ride a bike, lose their baby teeth, build Friendship Bracelets, and host sleepovers complete with Temporary Stay Overs and slumber-party sleeping bags.

Build Mode and Other Additions

Growing Together’s build and buy catalog leans heavily into family and childhood themes, adding everything from nursery furniture to backyard play equipment. A standout addition is the giant customizable treehouse, which is large enough to function as a small standalone house of its own. Other notable additions include:

• A new swing set and bear-themed mini activity gym, giving young children and toddlers dedicated play equipment
• Splash pads and slides, perfect for San Sequoia’s warm, family-friendly atmosphere
• Rideable bikes for children, tied to the new bike-riding skill milestone
• New playmats, toy boxes, and board game decorations for indoor family time

The Sims 4 Growing Together – New Build Mode Items

Growing Together’s catalog focuses on nursery and family-room essentials, playground equipment, and cozy multi-generational furniture — think cribs, playmats, treehouses, and backyard swing sets designed to make a household feel lived-in by Sims of every age.

The Sims 4 Growing Together – New CAS Items

The pack’s Create-A-Sim additions center on infants, toddlers, and children, adding new skin tones, hairstyles, accessories, and outfits for the youngest Sims, along with stork-bite scars usable across all life stages. It gives players far more room to make every generation of a family look distinct, from a newborn’s first outfit to a grandparent’s signature style.

The Sims 4 Growing Together Reviews & Player Feedback

On Metacritic, The Sims 4: Growing Together holds a “Generally Favorable” critic score of 82/100 based on nine reviews, making it one of the better-received expansion packs in the game’s later lineup — though its user score sits lower, at 6.4/10, reflecting a more mixed reaction from the community. Critics generally praised how much depth the pack adds to family gameplay: reviewers highlighted the combination of Milestones, Family Dynamics, and expanded Create-A-Sim and Build/Buy options as long-overdue additions that make individual Sims feel more like real people with real histories. Some reviewers did note that San Sequoia itself feels a little shallow compared to previous worlds, and that the new Social Dynamics systems — with their built-in potential for jealousy, rivalry, and conflict — won’t appeal to every playstyle, particularly players who prefer a calmer, drama-free household.

Is The Sims 4 Growing Together Worth Buying?

For players who love story-driven, family-centered gameplay — raising kids from infancy, watching personalities evolve through Self-Discovery, or building out multi-generational households full of quirks and Milestones — Growing Together is one of the most substantial expansions in The Sims 4’s catalog. Its combination of the free Infant life stage, deep Family Dynamics, and a steady stream of new life events makes it an easy recommendation for anyone who wants their Sims’ family life to feel more connected and reactive. Players mainly interested in a flashy new world or career path may want to look elsewhere, but for family-focused storytelling, Growing Together delivers exactly what its name promises.