The Sims 4 Enchanted by Nature: Houseplants, Gardening, and More!

Has your Sim been itching for other ways to show off their green thumb? The Sims 4 Enchanted by Nature adds an all-new element for foliage fanatics: Houseplants and a plethora of new Gardening elements.

About The Sims 4 Houseplants

Grab your planter pots and Pothos cuttings, because Houseplants have arrived in The Sims 4! Our Sims can now interact with more than just a Bonsai Tree with the addition of the Boston Fern Live Houseplant, Monstera Live Houseplant, Pothos Live Houseplant, Succulent Live Houseplant, and the Ficus Live Houseplant. These can each be purchased in Buy Mode for 240 Simoleons without a pot, or can be purchased pre-potted for an extra cost.

Sims 4 Houseplants have to be placed in specific containers called Plant Pots. These can also be purchased in Buy Mode or crafted using the Pottery Skill. Once in a pot, houseplants can be added to the world anywhere by placing them on any surface that other decor can be placed on.

Two Helpful Personality Traits

Sims who have caught the gardening bug will find it easier to level up with the Mystical and Plant Lover personality traits. Mystical Sims learn the Gardening Skill quicker, while Plant Lover Sims can emotionally interact with their plants. Plant Lovers can use the Compliment Plant on Photosynthesis Skills, Tell Plant They’re Your Favorite, Name, and Scold Plant interactions on plants and houseplants.

These Sims will experience negative Moodlets when harvesting a plant or after going too long without interacting with a plant. Plant Lover Sims can also use the Give Unsolicited Plant Care Advice and Enthuse about Plants vs. Occults social interactions, and will autonomously maintain plants around their home lot. 

Show Your Garden Some Love With These New Interactions

The Sims 4 Enchanted by Nature Expansion Pack gives Gardening an overhaul with new interactions for Normies and Fairies, like the Talk to Nature interaction for Sims with the Natural Living Skill.

Normies and Occult-Sims alike can more efficiently tend to their gardens with the Evolve All and Fertilize All interactions. These interactions work similarly to the pre-existing Harvest All and Water All interactions, so your Sim will no longer have to search each individual plant to see which one is ready for attention.

Fairy Sims can unlock different interactions as they progress through their Skill Tree. The Bloom Plant self-interaction blooms all nearby plants, letting your Sim Harvest plants at a quicker rate. Fairy Sims can also use the Nurture Nature interaction to magically tend to the plant’s watering and fertilizing needs, and Enchant and Re-Enchant plants.

Sims with enough Fairy Dust in their inventory can also use the Enchant and Enchant All Plants Nearby interactions on both plants and houseplants. Enchanted plants won’t need any watering or maintenance until it’s time to re-enchant them. Make sure you keep an eye on these plants, though. Plants that are enchanted with the magic of Fairy Dust tend to attract Pixies.

Pesty Pixies and Mischievous Gnomes

Pixies will appear and float around your Enchanted plants, preventing your Sim from interacting with the plant until they’ve dealt with the Pixies. Fairy Sims are one with the magical world and can use the Gently Shoo Away Pixies interaction to ask them to leave kindly. Normie Sims, on the other hand, can do this by using the Chase Away Pixies interaction, which can lead to some angry Pixies.

Gnomes can be enchanted with Fairy Dust to take on the Gardening Role. Gnomes will teleport around your lot to your Live plants to tend to and enchant them. They will also leave seed packets behind, helping you grow your garden without breaking the bank. These helpful buddies also give off a magical aura that causes plants to quickly rise in quality, letting your Sim evolve them several times.

Magical New Plants

Along with houseplants and other changes, this Expansion Pack adds three new plants: The Aura Blossom, Lightning Root, and Moody Shrub plants. The Aura Blossom Plant is a new plant that can be used to influence Sims’ Balance and Luck, and craft recipes on an Apothecary Table. Once your Sim has enough Fairy Dust, they can use the Change Aura interaction to change the active aura to one of the available auras.

Icon	Aura Action	Reaction
	Change Aura to Bad Luck	“When near the Aura Blossom, Sims’ Luck may worsen.”
	Change Aura to Balance	“When near the Aura Blossom, Sims’ Balance may increase.”
	Change Aura to Enchantment	“When near the Aura Blossom, plants may become Enchanted.”
	Change Aura to Good Luck	“When near the Aura Blossom, Sims’ Luck may improve.”
	Change Aura to Imbalance	“When near the Aura Blossom, Sims’ Balance may decrease.”
	Change Aura to Majesty	“When near the Aura Blossom, Sims may get a Happy Moodlet and slight boost to their Needs.”
	Change Aura to Warding	“Pixies will be less attracted to plants near the Aura Blossom.”

The electrifying new Lightning Root Plant channels the force of nature, and Sims plant this on their home lot to use the Connect to Power Grid interaction, which will save them a little Simoleons on their electricity bill. These can also be harvested for Lightning Root Leaves and used for different Elixir recipes.

The Moody Shrub Plant projects emotions onto nearby Sims. Just hover over the plant to learn its current Mood. Your Sim can use the Collect Bottled Emotion interaction to bottle up the current emotion and create an Emotion Potion, or use the Change Shrub’s Mood interaction to influence the plant’s current Mood with an Emotion Potion from your Sim’s inventory. 

The Updated Plant Information Panel

Up until this new pack release, the information panel for each plant simply displayed the plant’s name, a short description, a quality level bar, and the correct season for the plant. We had to click on each plant to see if it needed water or any other care, click on each plant to evolve them, and other time-consuming tasks. Well, now we can stop wasting time and start tending to plants with a handful of new information panel changes!

The new-and-improved information panels display everything that was previously included, plus the addition of the Water and Fertilizer statuses. You can also see if a plant is Sheltered from the elements. Just hover over any Live plant to check the plant’s status and get to work.

While houseplants don’t have the fancy detailed information panel, you can still view the plant’s general Health Status by hovering over it.

Are you excited about The Sims 4 houseplants and the new gardening updates in the Enchanted by Nature Expansion Pack? Let us know below!

The Sims 4 Balance & Imbalance – All About The Latest Gameplay Feature

The Sims 4 Enchanted by Nature Expansion pack introduces two exciting new features that shape the way your Sims live in surprising ways: Balance & Imbalance, and Luck! Whether your Sim is a goody two-shoes or a menace to society, these new systems add new depth to gameplay. Here’s how they work, and how you can use them to your advantage!

What Is Balance & Imbalance?

Balance & Imbalance expresses how a Sim’s mood affects them over time, beyond the moment-to-moment. Negative moods will result in a shift towards imbalance, whereas positive moods will move it back towards being balanced. A Sim’s Balance and Imbalance can have a major impact on their need decay, as well as their Luck.

Balanced

Being balanced is the typical state for a Sim. Keeping your Sim in a positive mood is imperative for them to remain Balanced in life. If your Sim is persistently in a negative mood (low needs) or experiencing negative emotions (sad, angry, embarrassed), they will slip into Imbalance.

There are several ways to keep your Sim balanced:

• Visit a Naturopath (Available under the Home tab on the Phone)
• Meditating in Nature (Unlocked with the Natural Living Skill)
• Crafting and drinking Apothecary Elixirs
• Maintaining Houseplants
• Curing Ailments

Imbalanced

Imbalance is the result of Sims whose needs need more attention and care. They may need to eat more frequently or care for their hygiene more often. All needs (including occult exclusive needs) will drain 25% faster than a balanced Sim. They will also experience slower skill building at 15% slower.

Very Imbalanced

A Very Imbalanced Sim is the result of direct neglect or unfortunate luck in life. Situations such as deaths in the family or losing a job can tip Sims into Imbalance instantly. Sims who are Very Imbalanced are more likely to contract ailments, these can be cured via the Apotercary skill, visiting a Naturopath, or becoming balanced again.

What Is Luck?

The luck system introduced with Enchanted by Nature impacts everything from skill gain and social scores to career progression and meal quality. A Sim’s luck can be viewed in the (now very cluttered) Simology panel. Your current luck will be represented by either a four-leaf clover (Good Luck), a green three-leaf clover (Ordinary), or a wilting desaturated clover (Bad Luck). A Sims’ Luck will refresh at 2 am every day, they can really get out of the wrong side of bed!

The Three Levels of Luck

Check out our handy table below on how luck affects your Sims!

Icon	Affects
	Good Luck
	Collections – Everything collectable by your Sims has a higher chance of being less common/rare, or more abundant. Affects fishing, frogs, fossils, archaeology, feathers, tassels, and more!
	Skill Gain – All skills are gained 10% faster.
	Crafting Quality – All food recipes have a greater chance of being a higher quality. Craftable items on the woodworking bench, nectar press, object fabricator, etc, have a higher chance of being high-quality.
	Crafting Quality – All food recipes have a greater chance of being of higher quality. Craftable items on the woodworking bench, nectar press, object fabricator, etc, have a higher chance of being high-quality.
	Foraging – Sims living off the land will have a greater chance at finding items in greater quantities or rarer quality.
	Careers – Sims are more likely to receive a promotion early.
	Ordinary Luck
	Ordinary Luck has no impact on any actions or outcomes in a Sim’s life. This is the state that your Sims will find themselves in most of the time.
	Bad Luck
	Skill Gain – All skill is gained at 10% less than the normal rate.
	Careers – There is no higher chance of being demoted or fired by Bad Luck.
	Crafting Quality – All items crafted by your Sim will have 30 points in quality removed.
	Social – 20 social points are removed from the benefit of positive social interactions
	Lottery – Sims with Bad Luck are less likely to win the lottery.
	Foraging – Foraging is more likely to lead to common items found, or none.

How to Improve Luck!

Sims don’t need to wallow in self-pity once they’ve had bad luck befall them. There are a number of ways for your Sim to improve their overall luck!

• Spruce Almighty in Sprucederry Grove can help your Sims improve their luck once per day.
• The Great Gnome statue can be appealed to on the Coast of Adhmor.
• Foraging, crafting Elixirs at the Apothecary table, or purchasing a Freezer Bunny foot can all improve luck.

How to Worsen Luck.

A Sim’s luck, much like Balance, is always in flux. Every day at 2 am, a Sim’s luck will refresh. If you want your Sims to experience bad luck, you can do the following:

• Make your Sim Imbalanced or Very Imbalanced
• Purchasing, finding, or crafting a Cowplant Horn will result in worse luck.

How are you keeping your Sims Balanced? Let us know in the comments, and make sure to stay tuned to Sims Community for all the latest on Enchanted by Nature!

Let’s Take A Look At The New Nature Press!

The Nature Press seems to have been pushed to the sidelines during the release of The Sims 4 Enchanted by Nature, and sure, it’s not the main focus of the pack, but it does bring an extensive new hobby to the game! First revealed in the Build-Buy trailer for Enchanted by Nature, the nature press allows Sims to take flowers, herbs, and vegetables and press them to create new decorative items. Let’s take a look at everything you can create!

The Nature Press

The Nature Press can be purchased in the Build-Buy catalogue for §450 under the Creative section of the Activities and Skills category. The Nature Press comes in 4 swatches, check them out below!

Nature Press
§450

Crafted from rustic wood and adorned with delicate carvings, this Nature Press is ideal for preserving natural ingredients foraged or gathered from a garden to decorate cozy items for your space. Simply place on a table with a chair or on the ground for pressing.

Build-Buy Catalogue

Nature Press Craftables

There are a total of 15 unique prints and candles that can be crafted using the Nature Press. There are also 15 Enchanted variants that require the same list of ingredients, plus 1 pile of Fairy Dust. Take a look at each item below!

Nature Prints

There are a total of 10 unique prints that can be crafted from a range of vegitables, flowers, and herbs with the Nature Press. You can check out the handy table below to see which ingredients are required!

	Golden Blooms Sage – 1 Daisy – 1 Cost: §10
	Frogs On Leafy Lilypads Tulip – 1 Snapdragon – 1 Any Herb – 1 Cost: §50
	Petal Medley Spinach – 3 Cost: §5
	Dancing Daisy Daisy – 1 Parsley – 1 Cost: §10
	Owl-ways In Bloom Parsley – 1 Spinach – 1 Sage – 1 Cost: §15
	Blossom Bonnets Sage – 1 Snapdragon – 1 Cost: §30
	Flora Elegance Chrysanthemum – 1 Snapdragon – 1 Rose – 1 Cost: §70
	Faerie-Kissed Blossoms Daisy – 5 Cost: §20
	Majestic Butterbloom Bluebell – 1 Lily – 1 Tulip – 1 Cost: §70
	Midnight Dance Rose – 1 Lily – 2 Cost: §85

Nature Candles

There are 5 craftable candles with the Nature Press. Check out the table below to see what is required for each of them!

	Floral Flame Candle Grape – 1 Rose – 2 Any Vegetable – 2
	Butterfly Blooms Candle Bird of Paradise – 1 Lemon – 1 Potato – 1
	Bonnet Beauty Candle Parsley – 1 Orchid – 1 Basil – 1 Any Berry or Berry Jam – 1
	Flame of the Floral Fruits Candle Parsley – 1 Lily – 1 Any Herb – 1
	Illuminated Firefly Candle Pomegranate – 1 Tulip – 1 Any Berry or Berry Jam – 1

Making Prints and Candles

To make Prints or Candles you must first purchase the Nature Press from the Build-Buy Catalogue. You can place the Nature Press either on the floor or at a table/desk and get to work!

Once placed the Nature Press has a number of options. Before crafting you will need some ingredients, and luckily you can purchase them straight from the Nature Press by clicking ‘Purchase Ingredients…’.

You can also put the Nature Press in your inventory incase you want to take your hobby to the park, the wilderness, to work, or on vacation to Granite Falls.

With the Life & Death Expansion Pack installed the object, like many others, is heirloom eligable.

Once you have the required ingredients, your Sim is ready to begin their new hobby of making pressings of their findings. The new Natural Living skill and foraging can be especially useful as you can forage for ingredients.

Enchanted prints and candles can be created by the addition of 1 pile of Fairy Dust. Enchanted items can emit emotional auras, and can sway a Sims mood when viewed. Non-Fairy Sims can create enchanted items, however only Fairies will reap the reward; a boost in their Fairy experienece level! When sold, enchanted items created with the Nature Press will be worth more than non-enchanted items.

Business Opportunities

Unfortunatley the Nature Press isn’t featured among the new Business Activities for those with The Sims 4 Businesses & Hobbies, however that does not mean you can’t make a quick buck from your latest creations.

If you own The Sims 4 Nifty Knitting your Sim can list the crafted prints or candles on Plopsy, much like Knitted items, Cross-stitch items, and more.

Players with any packs that include a selling table (City Living, Jungle Adventure, Eco Lifestyle, Home Chef Hustle, Crystal Creations, Businesses & Hobbies) can stock their tables with Nature Press candles and mark them up to make a profit. You can also set them for sale in Retail Stores from Get To Work, or Small Business Lots from Businesses & Hobbies.

What are your thoughts on this new activity? Let us know in the comments below and stay tuned to Sims Community for all coverage on The Sims 4 Enchanted by Nature.

The Natural Living Skill in Sims 4 Enchanted by Nature is changing the fabric of The Sims as we know it.

The concept of The Sims as a whole started as a mere home-building and decorating simulator. It wasn’t until later in the design process that it became the life simulation that we know and love. Ever since its release, the ideology and gameplay loop throughout the entire series of The Sims has been creating a family, building a house, and either improving on that home or moving to a larger one as they reach success in their lives.

Enchanted by Nature turns that entire philosophy on its head by introducing the concept of the nomadic life. No longer does a sim need four walls and a roof to thrive and live their best life. They don’t even need furniture to fulfil their needs. The phrase “this house is a home” is no longer relevant because Sims can do just fine, truly living off the land.

But how does the Natural Living Skill in Sims 4 Enchanted by Nature work? Here is your one-stop guide for wilderness living.

Natural Living Skill in Sims 4 Enchanted by Nature Guide

Hunger

It’s always been possible to fulfil a Sim’s hunger need without a kitchen, but with the Natural Living Skill in The Sims 4 Enchanted by Nature, it has become easier than ever. The concept of foraging has essentially been in the game previously by way of growing or collecting different fruits, vegetables, and the like.

Enchanted by Nature takes this to new heights by allowing your sim to eat a more varied diet, such as frogs and fish; no cooking required. Yes, your Sims can now eat raw fish. And I’m not talking about the sushi variety.

Energy

If a sim is tired, they should sleep. Anywhere. It doesn’t matter. They can now sleep on the floor, no sleeping bag required. They can sleep on the ground outside without any kind of protection or comfort. Anywhere a sim can fit, they can sleep.

As expected, it takes a lot longer for a sim’s energy needs to increase while sleeping on the ground. Their hygiene need will also steadily drop throughout their slumber. Luckily, as they improve their Natural Living Skill, the speed at which their energy rises will increase, and the speed at which their hygiene drops will decrease. Eventually, they will be perfectly content with sleeping on the ground outside as if it were the most comfortable mattress in existence.

Bladder

Please, don’t try this at home. There is potential for legal action to be taken against you for urinating or defecating outside. That said, your Sims are now free to go wherever, whenever. Sims could relieve themselves in bushes for a while now, but the Natural Living Skill changes the game. Once you reach level 2 of the skill, your Sims can summon a bush to use. I don’t know where it comes from. I don’t know where it goes. I also don’t think I want to know.

But wow, is it convenient.

As I’m sure everyone can imagine, using a bush for such intimate reasons will lead to a loss of hygiene. This drop decreases as your Natural Living Skill increases.

Hygiene

If you see water, you can bathe. That’s essentially how it feels living naturally in The Sims 4 Enchanted by Nature, thanks to the Natural Living Skill. If water is shallow enough for a sim to wade into, they can use that water to bathe. Rivers, oceans, ponds, and lakes. Any water is clean enough water.

For those more interested in using indoor plumbing without owning it themselves, Sims are now able to take sponge baths in public restrooms. Not my cup of tea, but I’m sure some will appreciate it. Maybe not the onlookers, though.

Note: When it says public restrooms, it means the rabbithole versions found throughout the worlds, not bathrooms on public lots, sadly.

Bathing in these ways starts out with a slow rate of hygiene increase as well as the occasional uncomfortable moodlet, but this will be second nature (no pun intended) to Sims as they increase their Natural Living Skill, making it a nicer experience overall.

Social

Living naturally in Sims 4 Enchanted by Nature might feel like a solitary experience for some. But it doesn’t have to be. There are friends to be found around every corner. If a sim is feeling lonely and in need of some socialization they can start socializing with nature. This ability does not unlock until level 5 of the Natural Living Skill, so it will take some time to develop.

As with every other need, this starts out with a low rate of increase, but it improves over time as the skill is developed.

Fun

There are plenty of ways to have fun in nature, even without living naturally in Sims 4. Enchanted by Nature essentially makes everything you do outdoors increase the fun need. As soon as you start developing the Natural Living Skill, your Sims will gain fun need by eating harvestables, no matter if they grew them or foraged for them. Eventually, they will increase their fun need by bathing outdoors.

One of the best ways to increase the fun need is unlocked later in the skill. At level 7, Sims are able to meditate in nature. This not only increases their fun need, but it also helps with their natural balance as well. If your Sims are feeling the negative side of life’s balance, be sure to meditate. That will put you on the up and up.

Natural Living Skill Levels

Be sure to follow our coverage of The Sims 4 Enchanted by Nature to find other guides, information, images, and more.