The Sims 4 is slowly, but surely approaching its tenth birthday, and yet it's still missing some of the most iconic features from previous Sims games. The most recent entry in the popular life-simulation franchise, which launched in September 2014, was initially met with less-than-favorable reception. What was meant to be the most progressive and advanced Sims game yet was missing dozens of core gameplay elements (such as pools or, more notoriously, the entire toddler life stage). Since then, many such aspects have slowly been added to the game - either through base game updates or DLC - but nonetheless, there are still plenty of features that Sims 4 is missing.
Luckily, The Sims 5 will be a clean slate and a fresh opportunity for Maxis to avoid its previous mistakes with The Sims 4. The game - which is codenamed Project Rene - is still in early development, and as such, much is still being kept under wraps. From everything that's known about Sims 5 so far, though, it looks like a big step forward for the series. Online features, the return of custom color wheels, and even availability on mobile platforms all sound promising. However, it wouldn't hurt for some of that same love to be extended towards The Sims 4, which is still missing some crucial Sims features.
10 Matchmaker
The Sims 2: Nightlife and Sims 2: FreeTime both featured a fascinating NPC called the Matchmaker, which would've been a welcome addition to The Sims 4. As the name implies, the Matchmaker's main service was pairing a Sim up with a blind date for the night. Combined with Sims 2's compatibility trait (which could affect how well two Sims get along), it was a fun way to spice up any character's dating life. While Sims 4's Get Famous expansion does feature the chance to go on blind dates, it's not something that Simmers themselves can initiate - a problem which easily could have been solved with the Matchmaker.
9 Fairies
Similarly, although life state options have been greatly expanded with the introduction of various DLCs, Fairies are still a Sims feature that's missing from Sims 4. In Sims 3: Supernatural, Sims could take on the form of these mystical creatures, which allowed them to transform into their "natural" fairy form, play magical tricks on other Sims, boost plant life around them, cast mood-changing auras, and more. One of the best parts about fairies in Sims 3 was the customization of fairy wings, and players can recreate the experience with the Sims 4 - but having fairies as a fully-fledged life form would've been far more magical.
8 Zodiac Signs
A small, but unfortunate deleted feature from Sims 4 was the ability to assign zodiac signs to Sims. The twelve astrological signs were present as personality traits in every previous mainline Sims game, and although they had varying impacts on characters' lives and gameplay as a whole, they were a nice touch of customization that certainly wouldn't have hurt to include in The Sims 4. Especially for players who enjoy creating themselves, loved ones, or other real-life personalities in-game, the inclusion of zodiac signs would have provided an extra layer of immersion and world-building.
7 Sim Biographies
Along those same lines, Sim biographies were also scrapped unnecessarily in The Sims 4. As its name suggests, Sim biographies allowed Simmers to write small stories about their characters in-game, which was immensely helpful for storytelling. Not only were they a creative tool for players to describe their Sims' backstories, or to keep track of important notes and events, but they also served as a means for learning the series' canon lore. Much of what is known about the most iconic, recurring Sims characters comes from Sim biographies, and so it's a shame that they were removed entirely from the Sims 4.
6 Burglars
While Sims themselves can commit plenty of crimes (many of which actually make for the highest-paying careers in Sims 4), one infamous lot of criminals are notably absent from the game. Indeed, burglars are missing from The Sims 4, and even though they could certainly be a bit of a nuisance in the past Sims titles, it's not quite the same without the stereotypically stripe-clad and bandit-masked thieves. In general, many Simmers have found that the latest game is lacking in drama and excitement, and burglars could've certainly aided that cause with their pesky kleptomaniac antics.
5 Auto-Roof
Any player can become a pro builder in Sims 4 with the right knowledge and enough practice, but the entire prospect could've been much easier with Auto-Roof. In the original Sims, automatic roofs were always enabled, but Sims 2 and Sims 3 gave players the choice to enable or disable the option at will. For those not wanting to spend ages perfecting every tile and angle, this was a fantastic, time-saving feature that zapped away a lot of the frustration of building. For unknown reasons, Auto-Roof isn't included inThe Sims 4, which unfortunately forces Simmers to deal with the intricacies of roofing, time and time again.
4 Drivable Cars
An otherwise mundane real-world activity, the ability to drive a car is yet another feature that's missing from The Sims 4. In both Sims 2 and Sims 3, cars were the main means of transportation, but in the Sims 4, Sims resort to simply walking or fast traveling everywhere. In fact, there aren't any usable cars to be had whatsoever. Some Simmers cope with the loss of vehicles by enlarging toy cars and placing them on their lots, simulating the look of a functional car - and while it does make up for some of the lost realism, it's nothing compared to the drivable cars in past Sims games.
3 Create-A-World
Though it was exclusive to Sims 3, the absence of Create-a-World in Sims 4 is nothing short of tragic. The feature allowed Simmers to get creative and fully customize the world around them, giving them the power to terraform and even to create new neighborhoods entirely from scratch - a stark contrast to Sims 4's small, restrictive, and oftentimes paywalled neighborhoods. While terrain tools were eventually added into Sims 4 through a base game patch, it only allows players to edit pre-existing lots, which is still brutally restrictive compared to the Create-a-World tool from Sims 3.
2 Create-A-Style
Since the launch of the game, one of the most highly requested features for Sims 4 is the return of Create-a-Style. Much like Create-a-World, the tool let players take the reins completely, this time with the designs of their Sims' clothing and furniture objects. The possibilities were nearly endless, with dozens of patterns to choose from and even a fully-fledged color wheel. The Sims 4, more than any other game, could greatly benefit from the reintroduction of Create-a-Style, with its notoriously mismatched and generally quite limiting color swatch system.
1 Open World Functionality
Last but certainly not least, the biggest feature missing from Sims 4 is open world functionality. Whereas Sims 3 boasted a seamless experience, in which Simmers were free to explore the environment freely, Sims 4 was a step backwards with its small lots and jarring, constant loading screens. Performance issues and frequent crashes in Sims 3 may have been a large part of the reason why open world was scrapped for Sims 4, but it's a feature that players have missed dearly nonetheless. After all, there are no loading screens in real life.
