Throw Cottage Living and Horse Ranch into a blender and boom you got an awesome pack. EA wants your money.

“Object animals” are the new babies.

One thing that annoys me about the pack is that milking goats gives you regular milk and not goat milk. I was unpleasantly surprised. Also upset we didn't get squash, beans and corn to plant and harvest.

Cottage living is much more worth the money imo. Less glitches, more gameplay and a prettier world

They really missed out on having a hay pile decoration that you could woohoo in, like the Get Together bush.

Horse ranch x cottage living x cats and dogs x my first pet stuff = An amazing expansion pack

cottage livins is still currently one of the best (if not the best, on par with seasons) Expansions in terms of what 'we pay, and what we get'.

I get talking about Cottage Living vs Horse Ranch but I think we need to add one more circle to the Venn diagram: Cats&Dogs.

US vs UK ; who has the most romanticized muddy pathways and manures.

I actually don’t mind object animals when well done. It allows you to fill out a farm without worrying about knocking out family slots 🤣🤣 Especially for things like chickens. I just don’t know they’ve done enough with Horses right now that they deserve the spot they occupy as a full Sim.

Thank you! Saw Lil Simsie say Horse Ranch was better than Country Living yesterday, and I was like, "hell no!" 😂 And now you've proven it for me 👌 thanks! 😅

Horse ranch eventually gets boring fast if you don't have cottage living

I feel like Cottage living had more stuff tbh

Thank you for making this video! Many of the "EA Game Changers" have been incorporating gameplay from Cottage Living in their reviews of Horse Ranch, and it's bee driving me CRAZY!

Already have Cottage Living and I still haven't bought Horse Ranch bc of it. Thanks for this vid, makes It easier for me to decide if I'll buy or not like is it even necessary

I dont mind all the cute little npc animals they give a little dopamine just to look at or play with ❤

Gardening in Cottage Living is definitely one of the best features of the pack! Combine it with seasons and you get an amazing combo! There are several new crops that you can grow: oversized ones (lettuce, mushrooms, pumpkin, watermelon and eggplant) and regular ones (chocolate berry, blueberry, raspberry and I think one more, forgot the name), plus you get a new object-dirt square, it doesn't affect the growth of the plants, but it does make the garden look neat. The oversized crops can be turned into decorative objects, you can compete with them, and if you cook them you'll get 12 servings instead of 8. For the berries, you can turn them into jams and chocolate syrup and use them for cooking or sell them. There are new types of fertilizers that can help you grow the oversized crops, you can either buy them or find them in chicken coop or cow/llama stalls. Compare it to Horse Ranch where the only new crop you get is prairie grass, which is not even a crop but rather a feed for the animals. You do get a new fertilizer with the horse poop. So, I'd definitely give one more point to Cottage Living for gardening since it's a big part of the gameplay, and it goes hand in hand with "simple living" lot trait. Btw, the market stalls in Cottage Living are active ones with owners, unlike in Horse Ranch where the marketplace is a rabbit hole. Also, if you befriend rabbits and birds in Cottage Living they'll help you with gardening by eating the weeds, and they'll also occasionally bring gifts, same with foxes, if you befriend them they'll stop stealing from you, and they'll bring you gifts. (btw, foxes will appear f you have the "wild foxes" lot trait, and they'll steal your crops and eggs, and they'll attack bunnies as well). Overall, Cottage Living has more interesting gameplay, and I'd definitely recommend buying this pack first and wait for the Horse Ranch to go on sale because it doesn't offer anything aside from horses and juice making, oops, sorry, "nectar" making, my bad, they are just so similar (sorry, couldn't resist x)) This video is a good comparison between two packs, and it puts into perspective of what you get with each pack!

If I could only get one I’d get cottage living. The clothes, build/buy, recipes, gameplay all wayyyy better than Horse ranch.

i love satch's videos because of the absolute honesty in regards to different dlc, games etc

As an american i can assure you i preordered cottage living and i doubt i will ever buy horse ranch. 😂

I pirated Horse Ranch and still feel ripped off😂 the world is big but completely empty and useless.

So I recently downloaded another game (The witcher 3) and downloading that game made me realise how small sims 4 packs actually are. TW3 is about 50GB and costs now 40$ and that is ironically also how much the horse ranch pack costs, but when I downloaded it, I realised that it only has 1,3 GB. TS4 with all their packs in fact has only 50GB. About as much as any other "normal" game out there on release. So just by comparing these numbers we can get some sense of how overpriced the sims 4 actually is

Well, my personal comparison would definitely have Cottage Living winning, because 1. it feels like it has more stuff to do, and 2. I much prefer the English countryside aesthetic to the Southwestern U.S. country aesthetic . . . That would have been a really dull video - I'm glad you do these comparisons rather than me! 😁

Thank you for this video and making me realize (again) how these packs should’ve just been one expansion pack. Also why are we getting these big worlds with nothing in them in every pack now? Wish the budget went into actual gameplay instead of just empty worlds…

I haven’t seen anyone mention that the goats can be milked for milk and the little sheep can be sheared for wool if you’ve got the cottage living pack.

I love collections in game and look forward to a new one with every EP (and am pleasantly surprised when we get bonus ones like in Werewolves or MWS.) Horse Ranch could have made the Racing Trophies a collection if they couldn't think of anything else. Very disappointed there's not a new collection!

Cottage Living ❤

I agree with this so much! I personally LOVE Cottage Living's gameplay. Opening a pie shop, a jam/produce little market, and living off the land are a few examples of things that give me goals to work for, make money, and create stories. Even a flower shop goes well with the Henford-on-Bagley vibe. Combining llama wool with Nifty Knitting works like a charm to sell stuff on Plopsy. Overall I enjoy CL much more than HR. But I do love Nectar Making!

Horse ranch should have been a game pack. They aren't even trying anymore.. it's so cash grabby it's pitiful, and the more the years go on, the worse it gets. I got Sims 3 again for the first time in years and it's so much better, also you can actually control your horse on the sims 3. The amazing modders are the only thing keeping the sims 4 going.

At the flower and grocery stalls you can actually sell all you collectibles and produce

Agree with u Satch. I was a bit shocked when lilsimsie said Horse Ranch is better than Cottage Living in her review video.

thank you for this! it's a really well thought out comparison and made me realise i don't actually want to get Horse Ranch, but i do want to pick Cottage Living back up again; i forgot how much fun the combination of building up a farm and Simple Living is ☺️ more videos like this please! your skills really shine in these structured review/analysis/opinion pieces! (i know you've already done loads, but still 😅)

I just want the goats and sheep from Horse Ranch in my Cottage Living.....

I'm from Texas and we pronounce "prairie" almost the same as "prayer". Like "prayer-y". Also I think both worlds are beautiful! Horse Ranch seems very inspired by parts of Arizona and Utah. Google some pics of Zion national park and Vermillion Cliffs, they're so beautiful!

Personally I think the Horse Ranch pack and Cottage Living pack complement each other nicely, and if you’re not too uptight about immersion they’re fun to mix ☺️

Cottage Living all the way!!! I will buy Horse Ranch when it’s on sale because I have every other expansion and game pack. But, I’m mostly interested in it for the cross play with Cottage Living (sheep and goats - yay!) I’m sure I’ll play the horses at least once or twice - for the training up/winning all competitions challenge, and to breed and raise a foal. I also like the nectar making/aging piece - will be fun to incorporate into my ‘rags to riches’ gameplay. But I definitely do not see it ever becoming my “go to” pack like Cottage Living is.

I still can’t believe the competitions for horses are a rabbit hole - that is basically why I won’t be getting the pack. Really disappointing for an expansion pack all about horses!

Ultimately I agree. I think horses are the big thing from this new pack that really sets it apart. I've been having a lot of fun with it but I think that's because horses are more interactive, they're very different from the cats and dogs we have so it's a new type of gameplay, and I've done everything else in the game 100,000 times. However, half of the outdoor plants we got were either recolors of ones we already have or like....literally the new flower thing is just the debug flower patch from strangerville, cut in half and sized down. It feels insulting and I'm surprised more people aren't talking about it.

This is the second video I’ve seen of yours and immediately subscribed 😅 love your personality!!

I actually liked it when animals weren´t objects. I´d like the option to control them even if that meant giving them a family slot. Makes it way more interesting in my opinion. I spent so many hours just playing as a cat or horse in The Sims 3 it was really fun x) And it makes it easier to move them around. But I get that some people don´t have the need for that and I can see why as well. Maybe give us the option to choose between control or no control? Would be really neat!

On the one hand : horses & nectar On the other hand : gardening, canning, giant plants, animal treats to discover with different effets, cows, lamas, cross stitch, new foods, new collections, new lot traits that actually had an impact and made the game more challenging, new weekly events that incorporate new game play and older game play, the community jobs... so so much more ....

Cottage living has to be my favorite pack. I love it so much since I adore that type of country aesthetic and the modest clothing!!

There is only one thing I dislike about the object animals (cows, llamas, chickens, goats, sheep) and that is you can't get a tombstone for them, but the reaper still comes to collect them when they die. -_- That being said, if this bothers anyone else and you'd like to make a faux grave spot for your object animals, I've used the little metal signs from the ranch pack and just making a pretend memorial spot lol.

hey satch! i love your videos

A few things you missed. The mini goats and sheep produce milk and wool, they can also kill you if you’re mean to them. And you can woohoo in the bathroom bush. 😊

Honestly I love both of them I have been doing a rags to ranches and both have been very useful with all the jobs from horse ranch and the cottage living garden/cross stitching ❤

thanks you and rekowcski are the best the sims KZfaqrs to me

I completely lost interest in the cave when I found out from onlyabidoang that the level number was set to a billion (so glad I checked). For me it just feels like the illusion of progress because clearly the sims team doesn’t expect you to reach a satisfying end and the rewards are meh. Should’ve been 20 levels and you go to a secret area with unicorns.

Omg both of the pack together are AMAZING!!! 🎉❤

Nice review! Must Have Sims 4 packs: Seasons, Cats & Dogs, Cottage Living, and Horse Ranch. Love those! Side note.... Horse ranch DID ADD a NEW woohoo bush! You keep forgetting that lol

I loved the way you outlined this video. Thanks again!

Love your videos

you can sheer the sheep! they have different color wool that can be used for knitting

I am one of those ugh there was too much gameplay to me people. I got burnt out on cottage living animals, crops, fairs, etc. because it got to be so grindy. I love the goats and sheeps as objects. I can get their needs up with basically one or two interactions and it doesn't take forever. I also love that they can wonder around and WISH the cows, llamas, and chickens could as well. I don't like them stationary. I love the ranch hand service in horses. It's game changer and it doesn't feel as grindy to me. Some days I can work on nectar, some on horse days, some on garden days. Cottage living didn't come with that option, so I got burnt out. I might revisit now that I have a ranch hand. I wonder if they help the cows, llamas, and chickens as well? I do wish the competitions weren't so rabbit holey in horses. Even a nectar set up like the cottage living milk fair would have been a nice addition.

7:50 a big part of the horse world being big is that it feels even more empty. They do not increase the amount of sims being generated. Another thing is that because there are no wild horses. You hardly ever see any horses that aren’t your own. I highly recommend filling at least one of the lots you aren’t going to use with some more horses and this will make it feel a little better.

Cottage living does actually come with a 64x64 lot too 😊

I agree with all your points. I will say that I love the gulch section of Horse Ranch and I'm enjoying having my Sim canter around all the trails. I like that you can take a sleeping bag, your horse's bed and a cooler and camp out anywhere under the stars. I like that the animals in Horse Ranch aren't tied to the barn the way the cows and llamas are in Cottage Living. Also, I'm glad training the horses isn't super quick and easy and took a couple in-game weeks to completely accomplish. I wish the nectar sold for a more reasonable price to make rags to riches more challenging. If they did that, people who wanted to get rich quick could just sell theirs on a selling table for 300% profit. The normal milk and eggs in Cottage Living sold for a semi-reasonable price and made gameplay more interesting to me. The mini sheep and goats are a major pain and are always threatening to run away even though they are full, clean, and content, just like the cows and clams in Cottage Living. I'd just let them go, but unfortunately, they come back once you spend some time with your other sheep and goats. I think this would have been a phenomenal expansion pack if they had been combined. But if I was rating them the way you did, Cottage Living would have won for me, too. Side note-I finished the nectar aspiration, but nothing changed with my nectar. Was supposed to come out of the machine finely aged and worth more, but doesn't. Since I want it to be more reasonably priced, that doesn't bother me, but the glitch might bother some.

Cottage Living allows you to swim in the rivers. I love having my sims have a swim in the river. There are a few places you can do this.

For me personally both packs are complementary, its hard for me to say which is better or worse For me the minisheep and goat format is cooler than the locked animals to object format But both packs complement each other well I think theyre quite different in style so i cant compare aesthetics I love both worlds but cottage libing def wins in terms of lot sizes And horses are complete life stage animals with traits and skills Nothing like that is in cottage living but i do love the cows llamas and chickens along with bunnies ❤ Are they worth tye money? If u love animals and farm play and get it maybe on sale yes If you arent that bothered probably not

Thank you so much for the side by side comparison! I was struggling to decide which of the two I should put on my wishlist. ♥And then likely never buy anyways lol. It's really a pity Horse Ranch object animals don't live up to the expectation for them set by Cottage Living. I was hoping when I saw the animals in Horse Ranch that it would be capable of serving as a (weaker) substitute for Cottage Living, with the bonus of having a whole new pet type as well to make up for that. But it seems Cottage Living is still the farmiest farm pack.

I love canning and simple living lot traits because i like a storyline of a farmer living off the land and trying to make when he can

cottage living is one of, if not THE MOST ambitious sims 4 expansion pack, it honestly had so much love involved and i love this pack just so much, i never get bored of it and this is why i love it just so much

Not even a comparison for me. The only pack I paid for was cottage living, for the world, aesthetic, gameplay, lot traits, overall vibe. If I were to ever buy the horse ranch (not gonna) it would be for the horses alone. Nothing else in the pack is appealing to me.

Right now i’m definitely giving love to the horse ranch. It’s bringing the horse girl out of me, for sure. I think I like horse ranch a little better rn but I think with time, I’ll rank them at the same level. Both have really beautiful worlds and tons to do. I just like to keep my sims busy

I do like Cottage living but if I had to choose between the two I'd get Horse Ranch

I was really against getting horse ranch, but I love horses and am in the middle of finishing my dissertation so I needed something fun and I have to admit, I actually absolutely love that pack.

(Although I don’t think anyone should give you trouble about how you pronounce things…you have a British regional accent which sounds great and I love…but in the US, you’d pronounce it preh-ree grass…saying it out loud to myself, I think the emphasis is on…either, sorry…my accent is US newscaster, meaning, I don’t have much of a particular regional accent.) Anyway, I think you’ve convinced me to buy Horse Ranch…when it’s on a massive sale…for the sole purpose of making Cottage Living more fun. Cottage Living is my favorite pack, and my favorite world for prettiness (so why I always start my endless Rags to Riches games in Willow Creek, I have no idea, lol.) Thanks, Satch, I love your humor, snark and even when you rant on Sims, I think you’re being fair and honest in what you say!! Looking forward to more adventures of Shanice and Shantelle in their Horse Ranch Let’s Play!

I have just launched the EA App. I noticed that the Horse Ranch pre-order bonuses are not pre-order bonuses at all. If you buy the pack before 31 August, you will get the 3 items...

I get so much use out of Cottage Living because I like making my Sims homestead. (In Sims 3, I actually had a post-apocalyptic world where everyone had to live off the land, and I created a generational-type challenge where each generation had to build a new public building (like a school, military base, etc.) and they got to unlock some items which were not previously allowed in a survival situation. You basically re-built civilization.) I also love the British countryside, so I love all the decor. It's the best expansion since World Adventures for the Sims 3 (which is by far and away my favorite).

Omg Satch I genuinely did a WOOP when you said prairie grass correctly. I knew you could do it LMAO. Honestly, as a fellow British person....you speak so weird, doesnt mean I dont love you to bits though. Plus I'm from Essex and live in Weston-Super-Mare I'm sure I'm in no position to talk at all lol. Where in the uk are you actually from? I can't place your accent x

Devs could put window pop cut scene for horse or equestrian competition, either win or lose cut scene depends on skill level.

I love both packs both Have their own unique things to offer as a USA citizen and A former horse girl I needed Horse ranch more than anything

As I will likely get the new pack for Christmas, I can't judge really, but from what I've seen Cottage Living is more dynamic. I find it very harsh in Sims 4 that animals are part of a household but you can't even see their needs. I can kinda understand not being able to control them but not even being able to see their needs but they take a household slot. It makes them feel like objects more than the "object animals". For that reason alone, the horse pack is a negative for me. I feel that way about cats and dogs as well. Maybe I've been playing Sims 3 too much, but always in every household in Sims 3 I added a pet and I don't in Sims 4 because of the reasons mentioned. At least the animals in Cottage Living ARE objects and don't take a household slot. I kinda feel they should bee more like roommates from University, they live in your house but are not under your control and don't take a household slot. Now, as I live in Texas the aesthetic of Horse Ranch, does appeal. A lot of the gameplay does look fun. But it doesn't seem to have the cross pack compatibility that Cottage Living does. You didn't mention that and its a big big part of my judgement on a pack. The animal clothes for knitting are a big plus for CL and I have not been made aware of any major cross pack for HR. CL ties in cooking and baking and gourmet cooking and gardening, while HR doesn't even tie in the animal treats from CL or anything like that. Its always the missed opportunities that hurt the most. The interface for the equestrian center in Sims 3 is more interactive, they could have done that rather than the fade out and its much more exciting to "see" the race than just be informed afterward. Can the wool for the lambs be used for knitting? I haven't heard that it can, but there is not a lot of intense gameplay available yet from the youtubers I follow. Recently, I have started a new game in Sims 4 because my niece asked me to. I'm playing a bear, someone who is always in a bear suit, who is living in Henford on Bagley because of the berries in the park there. You know, bears eat berries... Anyway, my game flickers when I move the screen. It's fine if I find an angle and just leave it alone but when I move the screen for any reason it flickers. This is a new issue that is a MAJOR issue. I'm not playing it often, just when my niece is over visiting, but it really really really bothers me that the screen is flickering that way. I'm pretty sure its from after one of the recent updates. So I don't know how much I will be playing 4 again, or if I'm going to just go back to Sims 3 completely.

Honestly - I think the best thing to do is to get both (on sale). One of my friends lives in Phoenix, Arizona so I visit her there sometimes (though I haven't in a while it has been like 118°F Which I think is about 47°C - my math might be a little off). Thing I don't like about horse ranch is that there are no pools - everyone has a pool there because it's always hot there in general., because well it's a desert. I think both the worlds in general are pretty in their own way. I don't know the british countryside thoug - I have never been to the UK basically only to Germany, France, and Czech Republic in Europe. So it's a rare treat for me to go there because the plane flights are sooooo long even living on the east coast of the US. but next time I am planning on going to Dublin, London and Athens - might stop by in Berlin for a day or 2 because I love that city. In general. I just stick to somewhere I can get a train to like NYC, Boston, Baltimore, Chicago, and DC. I already live in Philadelphia where I grew up so nothing is never new to me here. Hrm maybe I should go to the west coast of the US but people have told me that I would need a car (I don't drive and never learned - never needed to because I could alwaysn walk, bike or bus wherever I wanted to go.) So maybe not.

SMH, Satch thinking a pony is a baby horse. That is not very horse girl of you. Very disappoint.

Cottage living seems really great! Cas, animals, the style just hits the spot

I just started to look for equestrian CC in case I would buy this pack on sale, because, obviously, EA could not give us proper horse stuff. They even screwed their eyes and make them look like f*cking derps because of it, I'm so annoyed, gods...

You need to look into Roberto Crinkletop (not sure if I got that right) some more

I so thought you said the mysterious rancher had a big willy!!! I did a double take and had to go back.

I don't care nothing, Cottage Living is the Best EP of TS4 and nobody cans change my mind😌

Prairie is “prayer-ee” 🙏🏻

"OBJECT animals"? I call them "objects with friendship bars" XD

really wish the competition was something you were able to view/ play like the acting job in get famous

💯 agree with your review!

I literally don’t play the game. I’m a CAS girl but this video is making me want to play Cottage Living!

The best pack is when you close The Sims 4 and go back to play Sims 2/3

I don’t think anything can live up to Sims 3 set up for the animals and farm packs. However I do I think the best part about it was that the Pets pack included all your average pet animals, and then you were able to pick and chose what extra animals you’d like from the store. It probably equaled out in price eventually compared to what we have now. It would have been great for the team to implement cows, llama’s, chickens, pigs and sheep as kits, or game packs if they’re feeling etra money hungry. It was just a way more fair and personal option for players to have more customisation and choice in their games. I’d also like to believe their was more effort into making them which resulted in better gameplay feistiness and fully rounded out assets

Please do a sims 3 pets vs sims 4 horse ranch video ❤

I think I'll get horse ranch when it's on sale. Going to take a while but yeah :)

I'm glad the horse ranch competitions aren't a live event. The Finchwick Fair doesn't work most of the time STILL. The smaller competition items don't usually award you with anything, you don't even get any results once it ends. I prefer if we just have more to do, even if they're rabbit holes, as long as they work. Having to go into build mode after a chicken, llama or cow competition and having to enable bb.showhiddenobjects just to get your animals back is such a chore. That being said, I haven't gotten Horse Ranch yet, since I don't think it's worth the full pack price so I can't say for sure that the horse competitions work as intended. So far I haven't seen people report bugs with it, but I haven't been looking as actively either.

In the rabbit hole for the horse competitions we should have been given a mini game star stable styled or like a little movie

Bunnies? There you go, that one is better.

The part about Agnes Crumplebottom is so true, my sims just got married in a park and Agnes went around beating all the guests with her bag 😂😂

THE HORSES NAME IS SENDING MEEEE

Please can you make horse ranch vs cats and dogs ❤❤

Idk why they didn't just put them in one fucking pack to begin with...

I like the nectar concept but wish this was a game pack basically

0:01 Well, when you start it like that ...

My ranch hand just quits everyday. Apparently my farm is a mess, they get out when they can

The two packs seem very complimentary. Cottage living seems to have more but if you are a horse person I suppose that's the most important element. Exciting for farmers to combine the two for a giant farm.