The Sims 4 Island Living

The Sims 4 Island Living Expansion Pack

The Sims 4: Island Living is the seventh expansion pack released for The Sims 4, and it’s the game’s tropical, laid-back answer to earlier vacation-themed titles like The Sims 3: Island Paradise. Developed by Maxis and published by Electronic Arts, the pack was officially announced during EA Play on June 8, 2019, and released just under two weeks later on June 21, 2019, for PC and Mac, with the Xbox One and PlayStation 4 versions following on July 16, 2019. Coming after Get Famous, Island Living traded fame and city lights for sun, sand, and slow mornings, introducing the Polynesian-inspired world of Sulani along with mermaids, a conservationist career, and a whole new way to live by the water.

The Sims 4 Island Living at a Glance

• New World: Sulani
• New Life State: Mermaids
• New Career: Conservationist
• New Part-Time Jobs: Lifeguard, Fisherman, Diver
• New Traits: Child of the Islands, Child of the Ocean
• New Aspiration: Beach Life
• New Activities: Swimming, snorkeling, canoeing, jet skiing, beachcombing
• New Objects: Stilt foundations, outdoor showers, mermaid-friendly décor

New Features in The Sims 4 Island Living Expansion Pack

Island Living’s central theme is trading the daily grind for a slower, sun-soaked lifestyle centered on the ocean, the community, and the environment. The expansion’s headline features all revolve around Sulani and the water surrounding it, giving players a genuinely different rhythm of play compared to the rest of The Sims 4’s worlds.

Sulani: A Tropical Island Paradise

The pack’s new world, Sulani, is a Polynesian-inspired archipelago drawn largely from the look and feel of the Hawaiian Islands. It’s a tropical archipelago full of clear waters, coral reefs, beaches, and volcanic activity. Sulani is split into three neighborhoods — Ohan’ali Town, Lani St. Taz, and Mua Pel’am — with Ohan’ali Town standing out as the most inhabited island, home to most of the world’s lots. In total, the world holds 14 lots, mixing beachfront homes, community spaces, and hillside builds, all set against an active volcano that can occasionally rumble to life. Unlike most Sims 4 worlds, Island Living launched without a traditional reveal trailer, something that hadn’t happened since The Sims 2: Apartment Life.

Sulani Lots Details

Mermaids: A New Occult Life State

Island Living’s signature addition is the return of mermaids, a playable occult life state last seen in The Sims 3: Island Paradise. Sims can become mermaids by wading into Sulani’s waters and building up enough satisfaction points, after which they gain access to a mermaid tail, underwater grace, and a set of Siren Songs that let them influence the moods of other Sims nearby, usually at the cost of their own Hydration. Mermaids can also summon Azure Dolphins, a rare variant that appears wherever they call it. It’s a lighter, more cosmetic occult state compared to vampires or spellcasters, built more around atmosphere and beach life than deep skill progression.

The Conservationist Career and Island Jobs

Alongside the world, Island Living introduces a new active career: Conservationist, aimed at Sims who want to make a real change in their new tropical home. The more a Sim cleans up and cares for the environment, the more lush and vibrant Sulani becomes over time. For a more casual pace, Sims can also pick up part-time work as a lifeguard watching Sulani’s beaches, a diver exploring underwater wrecks, or a fisherman working the docks and canoes — all jobs that fit naturally into the pack’s relaxed, community-driven tone.

Ocean Activities: Swimming, Snorkeling, and Boating

For the first time in The Sims 4, the ocean itself becomes a real gameplay space rather than a backdrop. Sims can walk straight off the shore or dive directly from a dock into open water, swim out to explore reefs, or paddle a canoe across the bay. Island Living has open-water gameplay, letting Sims walk straight into the ocean or dive into the water right off their home’s deck and begin swimming, with dolphins, tropical fish, coral reefs, and an active volcano that can erupt and send hot rocks toward a Sim’s home. Jet skis and small boats give Sims a faster way to get around the archipelago, while snorkeling and diving let them search the seabed for treasure, sea glass, and the occasional shipwreck relic.

Island Culture, Festivals, and Local Traditions

Sulani has its own customs, and Island Living leans into them rather than treating the island as an empty vacation backdrop. Sims can get to know the locals, who have various traditions such as the fire festival, and can teach players more about their folklore stories. Beyond festivals, Sims can taste tropical delicacies, dress in island-appropriate fashion, and even sip on kava while soaking up Sulani’s community-first way of life — small touches that give the world a sense of identity beyond its beaches.

Build Mode and Other Additions

Island Living adds a full set of build and buy items designed around waterfront living, from stilt foundations that let houses sit above the shoreline to open-air, breezy interiors suited to a tropical climate. A few smaller additions round out the pack:

• Stilt foundations, letting Sims build homes that rise above water or uneven coastal terrain
• Outdoor showers and casual beach furniture, suited to homes built right on the sand
• New fishing improvements, including the ability to fish from canoes and boats

The Sims 4 Island Living – All New Build Mode Items

Island Living’s build and buy catalog leans into breezy, open-air tropical architecture — think stilt foundations, woven furniture, outdoor showers, and beachfront décor built for waterfront lots.

The Sims 4 Island Living – All New CAS Items

The pack’s Create-a-Sim additions focus on island-appropriate fashion: swimwear, sarongs, floral prints, and relaxed tropical hairstyles, alongside the mermaid tail and top used exclusively by the new occult life state. It’s a smaller CAS refresh overall, but a cohesive one built entirely around beach life.

The Sims 4 Island Living Reviews & Player Feedback

Critical reception for Island Living skewed positive. On Metacritic, the pack holds a score of 84 based on six critic reviews, landing it among the better-reviewed expansions in the franchise. Digital Spy praised the world’s atmosphere directly, describing Sulani as feeling like a fully realized, immersive destination rather than a simple holiday backdrop. Geek Culture was more mixed, scoring the pack 7.5/10 and noting that while the island is beautifully created with clear attention to detail, regular players might feel a bit unnerved by the lack of activity the expansion offers.

That gap between critics and the community showed up clearly in player feedback. Sulani’s user score on Metacritic sat far lower than its critic score, and long-time fan resources like Carl’s Sims 4 Guide echoed the same concern in more detail: the world-building is genuinely strong, but systems like mermaids and ocean transportation were seen as shallow once the initial novelty wore off, with much of the pack’s content described as scenery rather than deep, replayable gameplay.

Is The Sims 4 Island Living Worth Buying?

For players who enjoy atmosphere-driven, slice-of-life gameplay — building waterfront homes, decorating a beach paradise, or simply letting their Sims unwind by the ocean — Island Living remains one of the most visually distinctive worlds in The Sims 4 lineup. Its combination of a strongly themed setting, an approachable conservationist career, and the return of mermaids makes it an easy pick for anyone drawn to laid-back, tropical storytelling, even if players looking for deep, systems-heavy gameplay may find it thinner than other expansions.