Every game in The Sims series has DLC, which introduces new gameplay and items. Since the first Sims game, Expansion Packs have added new ways to play, as well as new objects to furnish homes and other places with and new clothes to dress Sims up in, as well as new places to explore. When The Sims 2 came out, a new type of pack was introduced: Stuff Packs.
While Expansion Packs expanded gameplay, Stuff Packs gave us new objects and clothes for Sims. Each Stuff Pack would have its own theme. Stuff Packs may not have introduced new gameplay, but they did give us some cool stuff.
In total, 10 Stuff Packs were released for The Sims 2. By the time the final Stuff Pack, Mansion and Garden Stuff, was released, players were gearing up for the release of The Sims 3, which came out the following year. Even though The Sims 3 went on to be a huge success, there are still plenty of dedicated Sims 2 fans today. That’s why we’re looking back at all the Stuff Packs for The Sims 2.
It’s tough ranking the Stuff Packs. None of them are really bad, but which one is the best? Let’s find out, starting from the bottom of the list.
9. HOLIDAY PARTY PACK/HAPPY HOLIDAY STUFF
The Holiday Party Pack was released as a pilot Stuff Pack for The Sims 2. It included Christmas-themed objects such as Christmas trees and decorations, as well as Christmas outfits. The Holiday Party Pack was included in The Sims 2: Holiday Edition, a limited-edition version of The Sims 2 released in 2005.
(YouTube video by The Sims Archives)
In 2006, the Holiday Party Pack was re-released as Happy Holiday Stuff. Additionally, The Sims 2: Holiday Edition was re-released, which included the updated holiday Stuff Pack with the base game. It was basically the same as Holiday Party Pack, except it added twenty new items.
This Stuff Pack was great if you wanted to celebrate Christmas in The Sims 2. You could deck your Sims out in some Christmas-themed clothing, but the outfits were very much like costumes. It would have been nice to have thrown in some snazzy Christmas jumpers or t-shirts, and maybe funny reindeer antlers or Santa hats to wear.
The decorations didn’t disappoint though. Not only did you get the traditional Christmas tree, but also stocking that you could hang on your Sims’ fireplace, windows with frost and special stickers, wreaths, and lots more. You pretty much got everything you needed to make your Sims’ homes look perfect for the Christmas season. Adding the Santa NPC to the mix was a nice touch too, especially if he left your Sims a present.
Holiday Party Pack and Happy Holiday Stuff were great for throwing festive parties and perfect for celebrating Christmas in your game, but unless you celebrated Christmas every day, this was one of those Stuff Packs that you probably wouldn’t use as much as the others. You might decorate your Sims’ homes for Christmas, but once the festivities were over, the decorations and costumes were probably getting put away for a while. It was the same issue with the New Year’s items. Would you want to throw an in-game New Year’s Bash when it’s June in real life? There were some Halloween objects too, but only lawn ornaments, so there was no trick-or-treating or Halloween costume parties, which seemed like a missed opportunity.
8. MANSION & GARDEN STUFF
The final Stuff Pack ever to be released for The Sims 2, Mansion and Garden Stuff was released in November 2008. This last outing for The Sims 2 allowed you to build impressive mansions in 3 styles: Art Deco, Moroccan, and Second Empire. You had extravagantly-designed doors and windows, special roof pieces, and grand staircases. You also got some colorful new walls to jazz up your Sims’ homes. New stuff was added to spice up your Sims’ gardens too. They got some sweet new plants, particularly bushes and flowers, as well as some fancy statues.
You got everything you needed to build some exotic homes – but there was more! Ceiling fans were introduced, which were functional, as well as wind turbines and solar panels. Mansion & Garden Stuff didn’t include new outfits, but it did have some new hairstyles for your Sims. A new tool was also added so you could alter the angle of roofs, something you could previously only do with cheats.
Mansion & Garden Stuff was great for building elaborate and artistic mansions, but maybe not for decorating smaller more modest homes, particularly with starter homes on lower budgets. The new garden objects could certainly be used for any kind of home though, with wonderful new plants to spruce up your Sims’ gardens, even if they only had a small patch of land to work with.
It was a pity that no new outfits were introduced with this pack. With the theme of elaborate mansions and gardens, they could have given our Sims some new outfits to match the style of the objects, such as Art Deco-inspired outfits or traditional Moroccan wear. Overall, Mansion and Garden Stuff was just what you needed if you loved designing gardens, but if you weren’t interested in building fancy mansions, you might have chosen to give this pack a miss.
7. GLAMOUR LIFE STUFF
Released in August 2006, Glamour Life was a good Stuff Pack for jazzing up your Sims’ homes, complete with sleek modern furniture and decorations. Your Sims would be the envy of their friends! The new objects mainly focused on living rooms, dining rooms, and bedrooms. With glamour and luxury though came a big price tag, so if your Sims were poor, they’d probably miss out on what this stylish Stuff Pack had to offer. There would be little chance of your new starter Sims getting to furnish their new homes with any of this new stuff. This pack was obviously aimed at high-flying, wealthy Sims.
The best part of Glamour Life though was probably the new outfits. The women got lots of gorgeous new dresses (and a darling fur coat!), and the men got some fabulous new outfits too, primarily formal wear for fancy parties. It would have been nice if there had been some more clothes for everyday wear, or more luxurious new nightwear, and some new swimming costumes. Teens got to dress up a little too, but they only got a few new outfits.
Sadly, toddlers and children missed out, as this pack was designed for the older Sims. It would have been nice if the kids got included too and had the chance to live it up like the adults. Couldn’t the girls have had some fancy new dresses or hairstyles? Maybe the boys could have had some new suits or tuxedos to wear?
6. CELEBRATION! STUFF
Released in April 2007, Celebration! Stuff debuted as the fourth Stuff Pack in The Sims 2 era. This was the perfect pack for throwing weddings, birthdays, and other parties. You got loads of new stuff, including a new wedding arch, wedding and birthday cakes, balloons, banners, tables and chairs, and fancy flowers. You also got some lush new wallpapers and floors for designing party rooms.
The new clothes were mainly for weddings. You got lots of new wedding dresses, as well as gorgeous bridesmaids dresses and smart tuxedos for grooms and best men. Women and children got some lovely new hairstyles, so they could wear flowers in their hair, or veils for the bride. None of the age groups missed out on new stuff, so toddlers could dress up too!
If you loved throwing parties in The Sims 2, whether your Sims got married or were having their birthday or just loved a big bash, this pack was perfect for you. If you weren’t really a party animal though and only had private weddings or low-key birthdays for your Sims, you might have passed on this pack.
5. H&M FASHION STUFF
H&M Fashion Stuff was released in June 2007 as the fifth Stuff Pack. As the first Stuff Pack to feature a real life company, The Sims 2: H&M Fashion Stuff was a great addition. Your Sims got a ton of stylish new outfits to wear. It was a shame though that only teens and adults got the new stuff, leaving out the toddlers, children (although girls got one new outfit), and elders.
Although you didn’t really get anything much to deck out your Sims’ homes (apart from some cool new wallpapers), you did get something really special: the H&M stores. There were 3 pre-built designs you could place in your Sims’ neighborhoods, or you could even build your own!
Overall, if you loved fashion and dressing your Sims up, H&M Fashion Stuff would not let you down. Your Sims would be guaranteed to be dressed in the hottest fashions, whether they were doing housework or going out to town. It was a shame that only the teen and adult Sims got the stuff though, leaving the other age groups out. Couldn’t the kids or elders have had some cool new threads too? There weren’t new objects for the house, but at least your Sims could go shopping in the hottest H&M store in town.
4. KITCHEN & BATH INTERIOR STUFF
The seventh Stuff Pack for The Sims 2, Kitchen and Bath Interior Stuff was released in April 2008. Having a whole pack just for kitchens and bathrooms might sound odd, but this gave those rooms in your Sims’ homes some real style. You could pick from two different themes: stylish and modern, or classic and romantic. You got loads of new stuff for your Sims’ kitchens and bathrooms, such as kitchen appliances, bathroom facilities, mirrors, and decorations to give that finished look.
There were also lots of new tiled floors and walls to go with your Sims’ new modern or classic kitchens and bathrooms. Kitchens and bathrooms were often overlooked with the other Expansions and Stuff Packs for The Sims 2, so to have a whole Stuff Pack for these two rooms was actually a great move.
It wasn’t just the kitchens and bathrooms that got decked out big style, but also your Sims. They got some stylish new outfits, such as aprons and overalls and cozy sweaters, as well as bathrobes and new slinky nightwear for the ladies. Finally, you could have your Sims wear aprons, so they would look the part for cooking and cleaning, and bathrobes for your Sims’ pamper days.
(YouTube video by GamesRadar)
3. IKEA HOME STUFF
The eighth and penultimate Stuff Pack for The Sims 2. IKEA Home Stuff was released in June 2008. After H&M Fashion Stuff, it was the second pack to feature a real-life company, this time IKEA, the Swedish furniture retailer. Whilst H&M Fashion Stuff focused on new outfits, IKEA Home Stuff introduced IKEA furniture and decorations into your Sims’ homes, with something for almost every room in the house, mainly living rooms, studies, and bedrooms. There were new sofas, armchairs, coffee tables, beds, and new décor such as mirrors, rugs, pictures, and lights.
The objects in IKEA Home Stuff were ideal for building and designing modern homes. They were also ideal for starter Sims with limited funds, as like in real life, the IKEA objects were cheap. One of the biggest issues in The Sims is having low funds for starter Sims, so your range of options for purchasing the cheapest furniture was limited. That’s why IKEA Home Stuff was such a great pack. Whether or not you were a fan of the retailer, you could at least spruce up your Sims’ new homes with cheap but stylish and modern furniture. The items also matched together well, so you wouldn’t have to be stuck with cheap, mismatched furnishings.
2. FAMILY FUN STUFF
The first official Stuff Pack for The Sims 2, released in April 2006. Family Fun Stuff was mainly centered around child Sims, but also included some clothes for the other age groups. This was great news for children in the game, as you could now design bedrooms specifically tailored for them. You could pick from two different themes: medieval and underwater. With each theme, you got everything you needed to create the perfect bedroom for your child Sims. They also got new costumes matched with these themes, so they could dress up as princesses, dragons, or mermaids. They even got new snorkeling garb and cozy pajamas.
The fact that you got a choice of two different themes for your young Sims was fantastic. Also, because the objects had different color swatches, you could have, for example, two medieval bedrooms next door to each other that still looked unique if one was all in pink and the other blue.
The rest of the age groups didn’t have to miss out on new stuff. With Family Fun Stuff, every age group, from toddlers to elders, got snazzy Hawaiian outfits that matched so they could dress up like a family. Other additions included some nice nautical decorative objects and masks. It would have been great if we could have had a whole collection of new objects for the nautical theme, rather than just a few decorations. That way, the parents could have had something, and not just the kids. After all, it was called Family Fun Stuff, not Kids Fun Stuff. Nevertheless, this pack still remains one of the greatest as children were often overlooked in favor of the older Sims who could do more.
1. TEEN STYLE STUFF
Teen Style Stuff was the sixth Stuff Pack, released in November 2007. Teenagers in The Sims 2 finally got their own stuff, which they could seriously deck their rooms out with. They were no longer stuck with boring grown-up rooms or babyish kids’ rooms. They could finally have a space they could call their own.
Teens were generously gifted with 3 distinct themes: socialite, thrasher, and goth. The socialite theme was very girly, complete with pastel-colored furnishings and flowers and butterfly wallpaper. Thrashers were for sporty teens, mainly with the theme of surfing. They got sleek furnishings and wallpaper and even a surfboard to hang on the wall. The final theme was goth, with dark yet stylish furnishings such as a big bed with drapes and vintage lamps.
To go with their new digs, teens could dress up in a whole wardrobe of new clothes exclusive to their age group. Just like the objects, the outfits were divided up into the 3 categories aimed at teenagers. There was plenty of cool stuff for the socialite and thrasher styles, but only one outfit for boys and girls for the goths, which was a pity. Teens also got some exclusive new hairstyles, such as baseball caps for boys and hairbands and hats for girls. Nevertheless, it was great for teenagers to have a whole pack dedicated to them, and one done so well.
It might seem odd putting at the very top of the list a pack made just for the teenagers in the game, but there’s a reason why it’s regarded as a general favorite. Many of the objects that came with Teen Style Stuff didn’t just have to be for teenagers, but other age groups too. Children could also enjoy the sophisticated style of the objects for their own bedrooms.
(YouTube video by SimWolf24)
Some of the objects could be used by any age groups, not just teens. Teen Style Stuff came with a high-tech new computer that anyone could use, as well as a small modern TV that would look fabulous in any living room. It seemed bizarre yet wonderful that a Stuff Pack designed for teen Sims could actually be used by all the age groups, even toddlers and elders. This made Teen Style Stuff an especially great addition to The Sims 2, which is why it’s at the top of this list.
The Sims 2 set the standard for Stuff Packs in the next generation of Sims games. For a game introducing Stuff Packs for the first time in The Sims series, The Sims 2 got it right. The Sims 3 and The Sims 4 each have their own collection of Stuff Packs. The Sims 4 took it a step further, introducing Game Packs and later Kit Packs. Stuff Packs for The Sims 4 not only included new objects and clothes, but also new gameplay. We don’t know what lies ahead for The Sims series, but let’s hope they bring us more great stuff.
