so i haven't played the new expansion OR checked out the new kits, but i did get to finally meet the incredibly lovely @leafbats at the eras tour! we had the absolute best time and i love her with my whole heart 💕
now that i've finished dragon age veilguard, hoping to dive into all the new sims content!
Confession time, I actually dislike horses in real life! I have been known to dramatically call them 'vehicles of satan' when pressed, so I was a little concerned about this pack's appeal for me specifically.
But considering I never really wanted horses in the first place, I'm happy to say that I mostly enjoyed my time with the pack! Buckle in, this review turned out to be an especially long one.
I was provided with an early access copy of Horse Ranch to review via the EA Creator Network! Software was not final at the time of my gameplay.
(quick preface - if you see any extreme typos or letters in random places, no you don't! my bird has developed the habit of crashing her little body into my keyboard at high speeds for fun. 😂 catching the typos and fixing them has definitely become a challenge for me! thanks in advance for the patience!)
The easiest place to start both this review and gameplay is the ranch community board! Much like the boards in other packs, this object is scattered throughout the world and contains a wealth of information about new content and events.
Important options on the board are also available elsewhere - for example, calling the animal exchange to purchase animals can be found on feeding troughs and horse competitions can be entered from the equestrian center in town.
While there isn't a traditional new career included in the pack, ranching has proven to be a full time job. However, options like community jobs and competitions can earn your sim more than enough to keep the ranch running. I was able to easily earn §250 to over §1,000 a day with only my test sim and her horse, and that's not accounting for nectar making and mini sheep + goats!
I chose to start my ranch with a foal and sim fresh out of create-a-sim, but horses of all ages can be purchased from the aforementioned animal exchange!
Foals, when compared to full grown horses, have a slightly limited set of interactions and skills. In my opinion, this didn't detract from the experience of having a foal whatsoever! My sim was still able to bottle feed her foal, teach her to eat hay from both the trough & patches of wild grass, and give her lots of loving attention.
Of the four available horse skills, foals are only able to progress in the temperament skill! Temperament is a skill built by interacting with and caring for your horse. As their temperament increases, horses exhibit less "undesirable" behaviors, like bucking. Horses with a high temperament skill will have additional social interactions, such as your sim being able to come to them for comfort while in a sad mood.
As all of the horse skills go up to level ten, I would highly recommend focusing on temperament with your foals. Foals with a high enough temperament skill even receive a bonus trait after aging up!
After aging up, horses gain access to their remaining three skills: agility, endurance, and jumping. Each of the skills work together to create a well rounded horse, especially for competitions.
Agility - affects how quickly and easily a horse can move. horses with high agility are better at using training barrels, completing certain community jobs, and competitions
Jumping - horses with high jumping skill love to reach for new heights! they are better at using training jumps, completing certain community jobs, and competitions
Endurance - all about how resilient a horse is! a horse with high endurance skill will become fatigued less often, and do better completing certain community jobs, and competitions
Once your sim is able to mount their horse and start riding, they'll begin building the horse riding skill. Don't expect a smooth ride - from a sim's visible discomfort in the saddle to being bucked off, an unexperienced rider will definitely face some difficulties. However, sims with a high enough riding skill will find they can no longer be bucked off horses!
Sims are able to go for a ride with their horses at three different speeds - a relaxed, energetic, or intense ride. Much like sending your sim for a jog to build the fitness skill, going for a ride will build your horse's endurance! The more comfortable your sim becomes in the saddle, the faster they'll be able to direct their horse - both while riding for skill and traversing the world.
While the horse riding and endurance skills can be built virtually anywhere, training jumping and agility require two new objects - training barrels and jumps! These can be found dotted around the world or placed on your home lot.
As your horse's skill progresses, so will the training options! Sims can add additional jumping rails, direct horses to train alone, or train intently with the horse themselves. Intense training is a great tool - it builds skill faster, but also tires your horse out at an increased rate!
With horse skills covered, it's time to compete! Normal competitions take place every day from 7am to 7pm at the rabbit hole equestrian center in the Historic Appaloosa neighborhood. You can compete in four different competitions - Barrel Racing, Endurance Racing, Show Jumping, and Western Pleasure.
Each competition has four levels of entry - beginner, intermediate, expert, and master. As your horse rises through the different competition levels, different skills will be required for entry. An expert barrel race, for example, will require both agility and endurance. Sims aren't exempt from skill requirements either! They'll need to meet the required horse riding skill for each competition.
Every Saturday in game, the Ultimate Horse Championship takes place at the equestrian center. This challenge will require both you and your horse to have maxed all the new horse related skills.
Placing at the Ultimate Horse Championship is a requirement for the aspiration, so any aspiring champions will want to make sure they're in the best possible position to win - especially since this is a once a week activity.
Prior to competing in any competition, I found it especially helpful to initiate the 'encourage training' interaction with my horse. If all the horse's needs are met, they will become confident! Confident horses do better in competitions.
After completing the Championship Rider aspiration, your sim will receive the Grand Champ Trainer trait. Sims with this trait are able to train horses faster, build more fun while riding, sell horses for a higher price, and give competition advice to new riders.
In addition to purchasing horses, your sim can also rescue a horse! Rescue horses come at a reduced cost (§250 vs §1000), but also tend to have more negative traits, like being aggressive or defiant.
The game even goes as far as to warn you about the 'difficulties' of rescue horses before choosing one, but that absolutely shouldn't be a deterrent. Difficult traits and all, there were few differences in training up my rescue. He needed a bit more reassurance during training, but he became a champion regardless.
Two horses of the opposite sex are able to breed, provided their relationship is high enough! Much like with cats and dogs, sims will have the option to encourage the horses to interact and eventually breed.
Horse pregnancy in game was astoundingly fast - just hours after breeding, a notification and a small baby bump confirmed the pregnancy! Pregnant horses cannot be ridden or compete in competitions.
Pregnant horses will labor for a handful of in game hours before a foal magically appears alongside them. Foals born in game have the ability to be born with unique traits, such as curious, playful, and hardy!
Horse genetics matter! If one (or both?) of the parents have won competitions, foals can also inherit the Champion Genes trait. This trait allows for faster skill building and a higher sale value for the horse.
Let's talk about unicorns. While they do actually sparkle in game, unicorns are unfortunately not a new occult in this pack - they're just normal horses.
A unicorn horn can be applied to any horse from the 'head' category and will remain on the horse through outfit changes - much like tattoos or skin details for sims.
Foals can also be unicorns, albeit their horn is a bit different! Until they age up into an adult horse, their horn will be a tiny nub.
Mini goats and sheep are the real stars of the pack in my eyes! Not only are they incredibly cute, they provide help in the garden and help your sim earn money! Most importantly unlike the livestock in Cottage Living, the minis aren't tied to an object.
Fill your pockets full of sheep or goats and take a community job. These little guys will host a goat yoga class or even a sheep sleep study! Sheep and goats also provide wool and milk, respectively. Without Cottage Living installed, these are instantly sold for simoleons.
With a high enough relationship, your sim can ask for help in the garden - sheep eat weeds and goats eat bugs! (Full disclosure, I did have some issues with this in early access. Maybe my lot was too big, maybe they don't like planters! I've seen a sheep eat weeds though, so who knows?)
Additionally, if your rancher is feeling a little sleepy during the day, find a fluffy friend and talk to them about counting sheep! You'll have a quick (and adorable) power nap!
Sims can now make nectar! This skill goes up to level five and even has an aspiration to match. While leveling up in the nectar skill is a slow process, it pays off! If your rancher has the time to make nectar, it's a great somewhat passive source of income.
Nectar needs to age to become profitable, which means you won't be selling your freshly made nectar any time soon. Store your unopened nectar in the new storage rack to start aging! While the storage racks can be placed anywhere, nectar will age faster in a basement.
In addition to increasing profits, aging nectar also enhances any benefits associated with it. Different types of nectar provide different perks, which are listed below!
Apple Nectar - helps sims feel inspired. if nectar is at least lightly aged, inspiration persists after nectar wears off
Grape Nectar - helps sims feel confident. if nectar is at least lightly aged, a confident feeling persists after nectar wears off
Strawberry Nectar - helps sims feel flirty. if the nectar is at least lightly aged, a flirty feeling persists after nectar wears off
Potato Nectar - helps sims feel especially happy, or the opposite if they overdo it. if nectar is at least lightly aged, the consequences of overdoing it are significantly reduced
Prairie Grass Nectar - helps sims feel happy and reduces tension. surprisingly filling! if nectar is at least lightly aged, tension and hunger reduction is stronger
Trash Nectar - helps sims feel happy while making them a bit smelly. animals seem to react quite positively. having nectar that is at least lightly aged will improve the smell
Energy Nectar - helps sims feel happy and staves off sleep for a short time. if nectar is at least lightly aged, sims get more energy and happy feeling persists after nectar wears off
Vitality Nectar - helps sims feel happy. extends vitality for the living by a little, and for the dead by a lot
Berry Nectar - helps sims feel happy. if nectar is at least lightly aged, happy feeling persists after nectar wears off
Fruit Nectar - helps sims feel happy. if nectar is at least lightly aged, happy feeling persists after nectar wears off
In addition to these, there's three additional nectar types that can be made with different packs installed. I was not able to make them, even after having access to all of the packs. They were unlisted in the nectar maker. In the interest of including a full list, the missing nectar types are:
Plasma Nectar (requires Vampires) - helps vampire sims feel happy and refreshed. non-vampires should avoid. if nectar is at least lightly aged, vampire refreshment greatly increases
Valerian Nectar (requires Realm of Magic) - helps sims feel happy, with a little something extra for spellcasters. if nectar is at least lightly aged, spellcaster effects increase significantly
Moonpetal Nectar (requires Werewolves) - helps sims feel happy. werewolves may enjoy an increased sense of calm. beware, any werewolf who drinks too much will surely struggle to maintain control...
I'll be the first to admit - it was a bit of a bummer seeing another single step aspiration, especially one where I viewed the §100,000 goal as completely unattainable. Spoiler alert, its not. I've never made more money in this game than I have selling nectar! By the time my early access period ended, I had made just shy of half a million simoleons.
After completing the aspiration, your sim will be rewarded with the Nectar-Know-It-All trait. These sims have the ability to craft pre-aged nectar, a stronger bladder while drinking nectar, and their negative emotions have less influence on their current mood.
Nectar is plenty profitable when sold normally, but this man is completely responsible for my unreasonable amount of early access wealth.
Every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, the Mysterious Rancher will appear in New Appaloosa and offer to buy your nectar for above face value - he claims nectar is in high demand every time, even though I surely singlehandedly ruined the nectar economy.
For comparisons sake, I took 6 bottles of nectar to the rancher. In my sim's inventory, those bottles would have sold for §15,834. The Mysterious Rancher, however, paid §19,795.
All of my sims are about to be incredibly rich.
As I said before, ultimately I did really end up enjoying this pack! For me personally, enjoyment doesn't always mean I would recommend something.
If you love horses, I truly think this pack will be a great experience for you! My personal opinion is that I found the gameplay extremely repetitive. I don't see myself playing with horses again any time soon, and you will absolutely never catch me entering the Ultimate Horse Competition again.
Ultimately, while fun, this just isn't a pack that I would pay full price for.
