The Sims has a great history with dragons, but The Sims 4 doesn’t do it justice
If you’re looking for dragons in The Sims, you’ll have to look past the meager option in The Sims 4 and head back into The Sims 3. Released in 2013, Dragon Valley adds a new fantasy world to the life simulation game. It’s a medieval-inspired neighborhood with lore and legacy, where dragons abound. There have been dragons in most Sims games except The Sims 2, but The Sims 3’s Dragon Valley world built off the myth of the creatures in a way that past and present games have not.
Dragon Valley has a backstory: Though the dragons are now little pets you can wear on your arm, their larger counterparts were once a menace to the land. The town is still recovering from the massacre, but adult dragons haven’t been seen in years. Thanks to a scientific discovery by a new family, the O’Connells, the dragons of Dragon Valley stay small — and are now just mildly mischievous instead of outright destructive. The elven families that call Dragon Valley home are wary of the dragons, causing a dispute between new and old: “Don’t let them pull the wool over your eyes,” the elven character Mithrilen says in a piece of lore published on the Dragon Valley store page. “Just look at the dragons. They are supposed to be ‘babies’ but each one does something more dastardly than the last.”
There’s a stark difference between The Sims 3’s dragon world and The Sims 4’s Realm of Magic expansion, which lets players have a little purple dragon as their companion. Even The Sims and its Makin’ Magic expansion had iconic dragons you could care for as if they were babies. The dragons hatch from eggs that, too, must be cared for and soothed by talking to them through the shell. And from that, they become sweet babies who can start fires and torch Sims to ashes.
To that, I say: Bring Dragon Valley to The Sims 4. The perfect dragon expansion for The Sims 4 would be a mixture of the pet dragons from The Sims: Makin’ Magic and the world-building of The Sims 3’s Dragon Valley.
Though Dragon Valley added deep lore, its dragons didn’t actually do much; after caring for an egg, they hatched and just hung around. The dragons didn’t need to be cared for, like in The Sims: Makin’ Magic. But they were helpful: If you had a red dragon, you didn’t need to sleep. With a green dragon, there was no need to eat. Each of the dragons had abilities to foster (by talking to them about subjects), like setting people on fire or giving their owner charisma. The dragons in Makin’ Magic had needs to be met and would leave if you didn’t take care of them, making it a more interesting system. In The Sims 4, the dragons do essentially nothing except add some visual flair.
Electronic Arts has been all in on The Sims 4 for the last year; the company’s codenamed Project Rene won’t replace the 10-year-old game, but instead live on next to it. The future of The Sims will be built on top of The Sims 4 — and you can already see that happening. The Sims has always been about storytelling, be it through design, drama, or character creation. There have been tons of packs that let players explore all sorts of fantasies: a bevy of romance options (including the Reaper!), iconic landscapes (the beautiful peaks of Mt. Komorebi, for instance), and role-playing options (like paying rent and dying by mold poisoning!).
Electronic Arts, though, has only dipped its metaphorical toe into fantasy: There are only seven small packs compared to the dozens built around family, friends, careers, design, and fashion. The Sims 4’s fantasy offerings give players ghosts, aliens, magic, and werewolves — but not robust, meaningful dragons, as the franchise has in the past.
The Sims 4’s Cottage Living expansion felt like a turning point for the game, at least from a storytelling perspective; it gave me a reason to pull my Sims out of their houses and into the world to do small favors and storylines built into the game. I see the return of dragons in The Sims 4 as a way to build on that progress — a way for developer Maxis to flex its narrative tools while providing a wildly different fantasy playground for people to iterate on. Until then, you’ll find me back in The Sims: Makin’ Magic talking to my dragon eggs.
