Parents' Guide to

The Sims 3: Seasons

By Mark Raby, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 15+

Expansion pack encourages outdoor activities all year long.

Game Mac, Windows 2012
The Sims 3: Seasons Poster Image

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this game.

  • The Sims 3: Seasons Game: Screenshot #1
  • The Sims 3: Seasons Game: Screenshot #2
  • The Sims 3: Seasons Game: Screenshot #3

Community Reviews

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age 10+

Based on 3 parent reviews

KitKatAndPiper
KitKatAndPiper Adult
November 19, 2019
age 10+

Good but slow

Before you fall in love with the new game features upgrade your ram! Every time a weather event happens it will slow down your computer. Once your ram is upgraded there is so many new things to do! At first it looks like a bit of a jip because there is not much in the buy mode, but it makes up for that in play mode. I love the holidays and festivals with all the new stuff to do like skating, soccer, and being abducted by aliens!
AG Fan Parent
AG Fan Parent Parent of 0, 2, 5 and 10-year-old
January 29, 2013
age 10+

Amazing, NOT 15-and-up except for the base game!

The Sims 3 is a game both me and my ten-year-old daughter love. If you think I'm a bad mom, trust me when I say my daughter's Sims are forbidden to "Woohoo," and without that, the game works out nicely, even for fourth graders. I have to admit, I'm a bit irritated at Common Sense for not providing a better review of the expansion pack itself. The problem with their reviews is they're all fifteen and up, because of the sex, when that doesn't even have anything to do with said expansion pack. While The Sims 3 overall might be a 14-and-up, the truth is by limiting your kid to certain interactions -- or just figuring they've either heard it all before or don't necessarily know what going on anyway -- this game can be fairly harmless and a whole lot of fun. Seasons specifically is me and my daughter's second favourite (Generations is first) expansion pack, and it brings a lot of new things into gameplay. Winter is our favourite season, but loading the snow does often take the game a lot of extra power and increase slowness. We love the holidays (though we would have liked if you could had Christmas trees and menorahs and such) and love how there are many different opportunities for each -- you can stay home, throw generally one-two different kinds of parties (some overlap, such as feast parties fit in winter and fall, but costume parties also fit in fall and gift-giving parties also fit in winter), or attend a party at a non-active sim's house! The new clothes are nice, but they're mostly outerwear and jackets and the like. There is some new hair, but it's mostly winter caps, with just two new hair for women (one is very cute, the other VERY horrendous with curls at the bottom and not the top? It's weird.....). Anyway, overall, this expansion is really great! Don't listen to the 15-and-up, that's just the overall game, NOT this expansion. Come on, Common Sense, you can do better with that!

This title has:

Too much sex
Too much consumerism
See all 3 parent reviews

What’s It About?

The expansion pack THE SIMS 3: SEASONS adds to The Sims 3 realism by providing players with new areas to explore and new activities to engage in during different times of the year. Because time within the virtual Sims world flows by much more quickly than in real life, players can participate in all the different activities within the same day. In the spring, they can go to a park and see the bright flowers blooming, in summer it is all about the beach, in fall there are jack-o-lanters galore, and in winter the snowy terrain provides fodder for snowball fights. Each season also has a festival for players to visit, filled with limited-time activities and special visual effects (like fireworks on the 4th of July). Players also get new outfits and new items to decorate their homes, including Christmas lights, tanning booths, etc.

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (3):
Kids say (8):

The Sims 3: Seasons fulfills its duty as an expansion pack. It provides a new layer to the game, it gives players something that did not exist in the base game, and it offers enough new stuff to justify the purchase. All the new elements in the game are very well crafted, from the spring dance to the ability of Sim characters to learn the recipe for pumpkin pie. However, it does not fundamentally change the dynamic of the game in the way other expansion packs do. The greatest aspect of this title is that it helps to break up the monotony of a day-to-day virtual life. The fact that players can participate in different activities at different times helps to provide a more dynamic experience.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

  • Families can talk about what they can do during the different seasons. What activities in the game would you like to try in real life?

  • Discuss whether Sims 3 expansions do a good job of keeping the experience fresh. Was the expansion pack worth the extra money?

Game Details

  • Platforms: Mac, Windows
  • Subjects: Hobbies: gardening, sports
  • Skills: Responsibility & Ethics: learning from consequences, making wise decisions, Self-Direction: personal growth, time management, work to achieve goals
  • Available online?: Not available online
  • Publisher: Electronic Arts
  • Release date: November 13, 2012
  • Genre: Simulation
  • ESRB rating: T for Crude Humor, Sexual Themes, Violence
  • Last updated: August 26, 2016

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