The last time the Sims 4 community voted on a Stuff Pack, Laundry Day Stuff was the result, and it quickly became one of the most enjoyable and well-liked Stuff Packs in the Sims 4 lineup. This time, the community had the chance to vote again and chose Arts & Crafts as their theme, settling on Knitting as the Pack's big gameplay feature. It seemed members of the community wanted to give their Elder Sims something new to do with and for their children and grandchildren. Despite the community vote and good intentions, The Sims 4: Nifty Knitting Stuff Pack fails to deliver on almost every level.
This Pack should either have been introduced as a free update or had more arts and crafts, or even simply more needlecraft-like crochet, sewing, and embroidery, represented. Instead, it leans so far into the knitting theme, it feels shallow and niche rather than feeling like a representation of what the community wanted to see. If giving Elder Sims more activities and representation was the real goal, the Sims team very easily could have made this into an Elder Stuff Pack, similar to the way they monetized activities for Toddlers and Children in earlier Stuff Packs. As it stands, there is not enough here to warrant an entire Pack, let alone its $10 price point.
Immediately upon loading the pack and starting a new game in Create-A-Sim, the player will realize there are close to no new clothing items. This is because the new clothing voted by the community in later rounds of surveys are only available after the character begins to get good at the new knitting skill. There are obviously the usual workarounds for this, such as cheating, and Sims can also purchase the locked clothing, decoration, and furniture items from Plopsy. Plopsy is the new in-game Etsy-like shop for Sims to sell their crafts, currently excluding those Fabricated in the Eco Lifestyle Expansion Pack. With almost every new knit item available for sale here, this is an easy, if not expensive, way for Sims to access all the Pack's content from the start of the game.
Some of the clothing items are nice, and the community picked pieces are mostly versatile. Children and Toddlers get similar knit items, which is rare for Sims 4. Babies even get a little representation in this pack with new knit baby onesies. But, given not all players will want their Sims to become knitting masters, the inability to wear most of the items right away appears to decrease the amount of content in an already thin pack.
The furniture items feel recycled from other models. There is a single rocking chair, a new addition to the game, with two variants: arms and cushions. Sims cannot rock their children on these, which feels like a missed opportunity. The crafting-inspired tables look a lot like some of the kid's room furnishings available in the base game, but rather than knickknacks in the cubbies, the storage holes contain various knitting supplies. These craft tables unfortunately do not store anything and are merely decoration. The decorative items, like a loom and a pattern book, are simply clutter and cannot be used.
Knitting in the game is fairly autonomous. Players purchase one of two knitting sacks full of yarn and needles, place it in their inventory, and their Sim works on their own, the same as they would while Painting or Woodworking. Unfortunately, it is also possible for Sims themselves to get bored with the theme of the pack. If a Sim has been rocking and knitting for too long, they will stop and receive a Bored moodlet with a buff that more or less begs the player to stop knitting.
There are a few positives about this pack. There are some cute decorative craftables, including a knitted Grim Reaper plush and an octopus that will make a fantastic addition to any kid's room. The decorative ball of yarn that is now available is also interactive for cats if players also have the Cats & Dogs Expansion Pack installed, which is bound to make players smile. The hairstyles are perfect for Elders and fit the theme well. The new music stations and Aspirations are also nice additions, and the addition of Heavy Metal as a subtle nod to a real Heavy Metal Knitting event in Finland was an interesting choice. Players who like needlework and knitting may find something to love about The Sims 4: Nifty Knitting, but for the wider Sims community, this Stuff Pack is simply not worth its price.
The Sims 4: Nifty Knitting Stuff Pack is available for PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One. Screen Rant was provided with a PC code for the purposes of this review.