Theme

Each content pack for The Sims is centered around one or more themes. The listed themes in this article are sorted by alphabetical order.

Bathroom
The enhancement in bathroom design appears in The Sims 2: Kitchen and Bath Interior Design Stuff and The Sims 3: Master Suite Stuff.

Brands
Real life-branded stuff is featured in The Sims 2: H&M Fashion Stuff, The Sims 2: IKEA Home Stuff and The Sims 3: Diesel Stuff.

City
A neighborhood called Belladonna Cove appears in The Sims 2: Apartment Life, which features several apartment buildings as well as an urban-themed atmosphere. The Sims 3: Late Night features the city world Bridgeport, home to penthouses and dance clubs, and a big aspect of the pack is city life. The Sims 4: City Living reintroduces the concept, along with a new city world named San Myshuno.

College
The college theme is featured in The Sims 2: University and The Sims 3: University Life, where Sims can seek and pursue further education at college. While at college, Sims will also encounter and experience the college life: throwing parties, joining a Greek house and studying.

Dating
Dating is the main theme of The Sims: Hot Date, as well as one of the themes that come in The Sims 2: Nightlife, and again, The Sims 3: Generations. The dating feature enables two paired Sims to spend their time together doing romantic activities. The Sims 4: Romantic Garden Stuff features decors and interactive objects to build a romantic garden. The Sims 4: Dine Out also features romantic dinners.

Fame
Fame is the main theme in The Sims: Superstar, The Sims 3: Showtime and The Sims 4: Get Famous, as well as one of the themes in The Sims 3: Late Night. Sims are able to work in the Fame career, become celebrities or performers, and pursue their dreams in general in order to get famous. The Sims 3: Movie Stuff adds various themed items and outfits from popular Hollywood film genres.

Family
Family is the main theme of The Sims: Livin' Large and The Sims 3: Generations. While Livin' Large doesn't primarily focus on the interaction between families, it introduced several new features at a time when the series was new. Meanwhile, the main focus of Generations is on the family, where family time is made more elaborate, and Sims are meant to "Live the Life to the Fullest". The Sims 2: Family Fun Stuff adds items related to family and children into The Sims 2. The Sims 4: Kids Room Stuff adds more items for kids, puppet theatre and Voidcritter Battle Station. Family is also the main theme of The Sims 4: Parenthood and The Sims 4: Toddler Stuff.

Festivals and holidays
Festivals and Holidays is a theme that appears in The Sims 3: Seasons, The Sims 4: City Living and The Sims 4: Seasons. Holiday-themed items also appear in The Sims 2: Holiday Party Pack, The Sims 2: Happy Holiday Stuff, The Sims 4: Holiday Celebration Pack and The Sims 4: Spooky Stuff.

Hobby
In The Sims 2: FreeTime, Sims can pursue their hobbies and have preferences between different types of activities, building hobby enthusiasm as a result. Hobbies are also somewhat present in The Sims 3: Ambitions, and different hobby related activities are included in The Sims 4: Get Together and The Sims 4: Seasons.

Kitchen
A set of kitchen furniture and appliances that improves or enriches the atmosphere of the cooking and dining experience with The Sims 2: Kitchen & Bath Interior Design Stuff and The Sims 4: Cool Kitchen Stuff.

Luxury
Luxury is a theme based on the stuff appearing in The Sims 2: Glamour Life Stuff, The Sims 2: Mansion and Garden Stuff, The Sims 3: High End Loft Stuff, The Sims 4: Luxury Party Stuff, The Sims 4: Perfect Patio Stuff, The Sims 4: Vintage Glamour Stuff and The Sims 4: Get Famous.

Magic
Magic appears as the main theme in The Sims: Makin' Magic, and is a theme in The Sims 2: Apartment Life. Magic is reintroduced in the The Sims 3: Supernatural, along with fairies, witches and wizards. Magic returns in some form in The Sims 4: Vampires with vampires.

Movie
Movies form a central theme in The Sims 3: Movie Stuff and The Sims 4: Movie Hangout Stuff, and to a lesser extent in The Sims 4: Get Famous. The movie theme typically revolves around movie sets, props, and costumes for the big screen, or on objects relating to cinematic enjoyment and home theaters.

Nightlife
Nightlife is the main theme of The Sims 2: Nightlife and one of the main themes in The Sims 3: Late Night. The theme of nightlife focuses on after-dark activities that involve visiting downtown or going to various clubs and lounges in the city, along with other vital roles of these expansion packs, such as vampires. Nightlife was reintroduced in The Sims 4: Get Together, although additional aspects were also added in subsequent expansion packs, such as nighttime festivals and karaoke bars in The Sims 4: City Living, bowling at night in The Sims 4: Bowling Night Stuff, and nighttime talent shows in The Sims 4: Get Famous.

Outdoor
Outdoor is a theme that mostly focuses on outdoor stuff and is appearing in The Sims 2: Mansion & Garden Stuff, The Sims 3: Outdoor Living Stuff, The Sims 3: Town Life Stuff, The Sims 4: Outdoor Retreat, The Sims 4: Perfect Patio Stuff, The Sims 4: Romantic Garden Stuff and The Sims 4: Backyard Stuff.

Party
Parties are the main focus of The Sims: House Party, in which the ability to throw a party was introduced for the first time. Parties are also enhanced in The Sims 3: Generations, where there are even more types of parties. The Sims 2: Celebration! Stuff, The Sims 4: Luxury Party Stuff and The Sims 4: Spooky Stuff provided more party objects for The Sims 2 and The Sims 4, respectively. More varieties of parties were released with The Sims 4: Get Together. While the main focus of The Sims 4: Movie Hangout Stuff isn't partying, Sims can invite a few friends over to watch a movie together.

Pets
Pets is a theme used in many games throughout The Sims series. Sims can keep pets as part of their life in The Sims: Unleashed, The Sims 2: Pets, The Sims 3: Pets, The Sims 4: Cats & Dogs, and The Sims 4: My First Pet Stuff. Pets are also featured in many console games; as seen here.

Professions and businesses
In addition to going to work in careers, Sims can run businesses or perform jobs in a profession. These features enable Sims to earn money in ways other than just going to work with adequate skills. Sims can now be seen and controlled, as they perform the work in their profession or business. This theme is present in The Sims 2: Open for Business, The Sims 3: Ambitions, The Sims 3: Showtime, The Sims 4: Get to Work, The Sims 4: Dine Out, The Sims 4: Cats & Dogs and The Sims 4: Get Famous.

Retro
Décor and fashion from yesteryear are the main theme of The Sims 3: 70s, 80s, & 90s Stuff and The Sims 4: Vintage Glamour Stuff.

Social life
With the addition of reputation and social class, Sims don't just interact with each other and do things unnoticed. What Sims do towards others gets noticed as part of the Social Life theme in The Sims 2: Apartment Life. Social groups, a similar feature to social class, returned in The Sims 3: University Life. Social life was heavily revamped in The Sims 4: Get Together, while the reputation system returned in The Sims 4: Get Famous.

Sports
Sports and fitness related content are featured in The Sims 4: Spa Day, The Sims 4: Bowling Night Stuff and The Sims 4: Fitness Stuff.

Time travel
Time Travel is a theme that was introduced in The Sims 3: Into the Future, where Sims could use a time portal to travel to the far future world Oasis Landing. In addition, it is a small part of The Sims 3: Ambitions with the introduction of the time machine.

Vacation
The Vacation feature is introduced in The Sims: Vacation, and is the main theme in The Sims 2: Bon Voyage, The Sims 3: World Adventures, The Sims 3: Island Paradise, The Sims 4: Outdoor Retreat, and in The Sims 4: Jungle Adventure. The main purpose of this theme is to show Sims other parts of the world in their respective games, and to give them ways to spend their time and relax while on vacation. The Sims 3: World Adventures and The Sims 4: Jungle Adventure primarily focus on exploration and adventuring while The Sims 3: Island Paradise primarily focuses on relaxation and vacations. The Sims 4: Outdoor Retreat focuses on camping, similar to vacationing in Three Lakes in The Sims 2: Bon Voyage.

Weather
Seasons and seasonal activities are introduced for the first time in The Sims 2: Seasons, where weather mechanics, such as rain and snow, will occur. A weather theme for The Sims 3 and The Sims 4 was introduced in The Sims 3: Seasons and The Sims 4: Seasons, respectively. Basic precipitation such as rain or rain with thunder are also present in other games: The Sims 2: Pets (console), The Sims 2: Castaway and The Sims Castaway Stories.