New Sims 4 expansion gameplay shows Growing Together isn’t always easy

New Sims 4 expansion gameplay shows us that growing together doesn’t always mean doing so in harmony. The Sims 4 Growing Together expansion pack arrives in March, focusing on the relationships between family members in the life game. As a new trailer shows, that means more choices about how your Sims interact, and how they build (or break) bonds with others.

As many people will be all too aware, families aren’t always the picturesque hub of love and support that they’re made out to be. While a lot of us are fortunate enough to be close to their family members, it’s sadly not true for everyone. Relationships get strained, ideologies clash, people grow apart – the bond between family members can often be among the most complex and challenging of all, for any number of reasons.

The Sims 4 Growing Together looks to better capture that reality, allowing you to fine-tune the relationship dynamics between members of a family to give a better representation of the various ways families can behave. As seen in the Growing Together gameplay trailer below, you can choose between a number of different ‘family dynamics’ to represent the relationship between individual Sims within a family setting.

In the trailer we get a glimpse at four possible options. ‘Close’ and ‘Distant’ seem the most straightforward, representing family that spends a lot of time together or has grown apart. ‘Difficult’ allows you to capture a more antagonistic relationship, while ‘Jokesters’ is a nice choice for that classic sibling banter that sees you pranking and teasing one another in a more loving, playful manner.

EA Maxis says this system will extend beyond a simple menu choice, and you’ll be faced with making key decisions that can affect your Sims’ relationships. “For example, will they let their parents move in with them? Saying ‘no’ will impact those relationships and saying ‘yes’ could make life at home a lot more complicated.” You’ll have to deal with potential ramifications, too. “What if your Sim’s parents don’t get along with their partner?”

“New relationships are getting more dynamic too,” EA continues, explaining that these ideas extend to new social chemistry systems when making friends (or enemies). “For you, the choice might be whether you want to keep the peace or stir up some drama.” It’s certainly another step in the social simulation game, with more options to tell your own set of stories.

The Sims 4 Growing Together expansion pack releases on March 16 on Steam and the EA store, alongside PlayStation and Xbox consoles. Pre-ordering or buying the expansion by April 27 will also get you the Outdoor Playtime digital content pack when it launches.

In the meantime, there’s plenty of new concepts to discover with the best Sims 4 mods for PC, along with all of the best Sims 4 CC for plenty of fan-made custom content. We’ve also got all the Sims 4 cheats including infinite money, full needs and wants, and more. Take a look at more of the best games like The Sims if you’re eager to know what else is out there.