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Since the beginning of the decade, The Sims 4 has shown a consistent preoccupation with sustainable living and reclaiming industrial spaces.

Its most recent add-on, July 2025’s Enchanted by Nature expansion, is just the latest DLC to tackle a theme that was already present in the aptly-named Eco Lifestyle expansion pack, as well as the Cottage Living and Horse Ranch packs, the Tiny Living stuff pack, and the Werewolves game pack (that last title sounds a little left-field, but trust me, it fits the theme).

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To learn more about this growing design trend within The Sims 4 and its player community, I spoke to Eva Rotky, a Sims YouTuber who describes herself as “an interior designer by day and a Sims builder by night”.

She has been gaming as a hobby since childhood, but it wasn’t until the pandemic lockdowns that friends encouraged her to begin making YouTube videos of her Sims builds, which eventually led to her joining the EA Creator network in 2022. “If my seven-year-old self could see or know these things,” she says, “She’d be like, absolutely not! I don’t believe it!”

Eva has been a Simmer since the days of the original game back in the early 2000s, so naturally she’s well-positioned to appreciate the changes that have come to the series over its 25-year history – in particular, the expansion of build mode, one of the few features which the majority of players seem to agree has improved with every new gen of the franchise.

The Irish folklore inspired world of Innisgreen gave fairies and PlantSims a new place to call home in Enchanted by Nature.Image credit: EA / Maxis

“I do think that there is a trend at the moment outside of The Sims to go back to nature and to want to reconnect with nature,” Eva agrees. “I think that’s especially since COVID and lockdown that people are cherishing nature a bit more and wanting to embrace it, not be stuck in a concrete city and a one-bedroom apartment. I think it’s definitely reflecting a trend in society as well, but obviously also those are features in the game that The Sims community has always wanted to have.”

So does this extend to simulated living too? “I don’t know what it is about The Sims, but being outdoors is so much more fun in The Sims than just being indoors in your house,” Eva explains, adding that: “One of my favourite things to do in The Sims is the landscaping, and it’s not something I’m particularly interested in outside of The Sims, I don’t really know plants!”

Despite some Sims skills applying to real life more than others – Eva’s day job is in interior design, and she even mentions including Sims builds in her portfolio when she applied for the role she holds now – there’s no denying that The Sims 4’s whimsical vision of the natural world has a hold on her.

“Creating landscapes in The Sims is so satisfying, just making a garden or a space that looks natural with plants growing out everywhere and not perfectly pristine all the time. In my Enchanted by Nature build I went heavy on the landscaping, I spent most of my time on it just in the landscaping tools. Even though the build/buy is lovely, the exterior was kind of where it was at with the new roof colours and being able to place plants on roofs with the new base game update.”

Watch Eva put her ideas into practice with her Enchanted by Nature build!Watch on YouTube

Updates to The Sims 4 – whether free or paid – are of particular interest to Eva, who makes a point of not using custom content (CC) in her builds, and keeps her use of mods to a minimum. This ensures her designs are more accessible for players on console, for example, as well as adding an extra layer of creative challenge; and it also means that Eva is very attuned to critique of what’s new in every DLC release.

“I’ve enjoyed it more in recent years because of the build/buy and the quality of the items really changing and improving in my opinion, and there being more of a focus on the actual design of the items that really makes it easier for me to use no CC in my builds,” she says. “It’s always a challenge and I do enjoy it. Sometimes it’s a little frustrating, but in recent years I would say it’s been so much easier because of the really beautiful items that the team have been creating.”

This seems like a good time to address the elephant in the room – or should that be the spiral staircase very prominently not in the room? – and ask Eva what’s still on her wishlist for future updates. “My first thought was spiral staircases!” Eva confirms. “I miss those so desperately! That would be my number one wishlist item. Probably it’s so small, but it makes such a difference.”

Given that spiral staircases almost go without saying, though, Eva also adds that: “One thing I would also really love would be to be able to create not-full-length walls – so you could create a few more shapes, do half the length of the wall or something like that. I think that’d be really fun!”

A recent base game update brought greenhouses and living roof options to The Sims 4, further supporting that recurring theme of greener living. | Image credit: EA / Maxis

Eva is also quick to point out that, despite not wearing its eco credentials on its sleeve quite so blatantly as Enchanted by Nature, the previous Sims 4 expansion pack – March’s Businesses & Hobbies – still quietly carries the theme.

Nordhaven – the world that shipped with the pack – draws its primary inspiration from a mixture of Stockholm and Copenhagen; and while the name of the city may be a little on-the-nose, EA deserves credit for avoiding the obvious one-note Ikea jokes in favour of a more authentic approach to designing a modern Scandinavian urban environment, both in terms of public areas and living spaces.

To prove the point, Businesses & Hobbies features some of Eva’s own work, in the form of two pre-made lots in Nordhaven: a neoclassical museum in the Gammelvik historic district and a converted foundry in Iverstad, the latter styled as a formerly industrial neighbourhood where defunct factory buildings are being repurposed as residential dwellings.

The builds are, as you might expect, very distinct from one another, demonstrating both the breadth of Eva’s design interests and the flexibility of what can be created in the game as it stands.

“Scandinavian mid-century is kind of my bread and butter to be honest, and industrial as well, so it was nice to create something that felt so realistic,” Eva says of her Iverstad build. “And every time I’m in [Nordhaven], I feel like I’m where the inspiration came from. I feel like I’m not in The Sims, I feel like I’m actually in Copenhagen or somewhere, which is really lovely.”

Nordhaven, where Eva’s builds are featured in-game, is far more down-to-earth than Innisgreen, but they share their eco-conscious themes. | Image credit: Maxis / Electronic Arts

All of this ties neatly into Eva’s overarching design philosophy: “I think the balance to strike in any design is always not to be one-sided,” she explains. “If you only focus on nature then that will come with challenges and limitations. And what I love doing (also in real life design) is combining natural materials with man-made materials. I think that kind of combination and contrast between the two is actually how you create something that’s really timeless.”

One final thing that strikes me about Eva’s Sims content is that, while you might expect her interests to be very grounded in aspirational design, she’s never afraid to let her more whimsical side show.

By her own admission, her favourite among her own builds is not a high-end mansion but a recreation of one of the post-apocalyptic fortresses seen in The Last of Us – which is, after all, nothing if not a defunct space being repurposed by humans and reclaimed by nature at the same time.

Whether it’s a luxurious mansion, a zombie-proof stronghold, or a fairytale cottage, Eva recognises that the unifying theme – the one thing that perhaps draws together most Simmers, despite being an incredibly diverse player base – is the wish fulfillment. “What I really like about The Sims is that you can do whatever you want,” she explains. “You might never be able to live in any of these houses in real life, but you can create your own little reality in The Sims and do it there.”

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