The Sims dev team has kicked 2024 off with a bang by releasing two new Kits in January: Castle Estate and Goth Galore. Both have their own unique content offering, but are they worth it?

The two Kits were showcased as part of a community vote that Simmers could pick between back in 2023, coming out on top ahead of the High Tech Futurism and Rainbow Core Style themes.

As their names suggest, one brings goth fashion for Sims to deck themselves out in, and the other adds grand medieval architecture to the game – and as someone who loved The Sims Medieval and Dragon Valley from The Sims 3, you bet that I voted for it (and the goth fashion theme too, so I’m over the moon these won).

Gloriously gothic

If you’re a fan of chains, fishnets, leather, and chunky boots, it’s a no-brainer to pick up Goth Galore. For the price tag (£4.99/$4.99), there’s a good chunk of content to add to your Sims’ wardrobe.

Available for Teens and up, the items look great on both Feminine and Masculine-framed Sims, with a nice array of colour swatches – including some pastel options. What’s particularly great about this Kit, though, is that while there’s a very clear theme going on here, some of the Pack’s content can be used outside of the goth aesthetic.

For example, there’s a new lipstick that comes alongside a new heavy eyeshadow and a facepaint that has some great multipurpose shades, with a more nude-hued shade (shown in the fourth and fifth looks in the above image) that will work nicely on plenty of Sims, regardless of their style.

One of my favourite items has to be the new earring set, which features a chunkier piece on one ear and a statement dagger through the other – and there’s a gold swatch for it too (yay!), which means I’ll be using it plenty on my Sims.

In total, all of the items I counted that you’ll get in this Kit are:

• A new lipstick, eyeshadow, and facepaint
• Eight tops
• Five bottoms
• One bracelet, one pair of gloves, one set of earrings and a new necklace
• Two pairs of boots
• Two full-body outfits

Return of the Medi-eval

On the other hand, we’ve got Castle Estate, and if you’re a builder – or just a fan of all things Medieval or high fantasy in general – it absolutely deserves a place in your game.

The 25 new items with the medieval theming of the Kit fits right in with worlds like Cottage Living’s Henford-on-Bagley and Get Together’s Windenburg, and if you’re someone who likes to download lots off of The Gallery rather than build (like I do), I have a feeling that there’ll be some great creations popping up that use them.

With some gorgeous swatches, particularly for the windows shown below that include a couple of beautiful stained glass options; there are masonry textures for the floor and walls with varying degrees of weathering; and a set of new fences, doors, and stairs to match it all.

If you’re a fan of creating Vampires in your game, all of this fits in brilliantly as well, and the styled room which ships with the Kit is a nice jumping-off point if you want to dive into building and need a bit of inspiration.

There are already plenty of furnishings and decorations in the base game and throughout The Sims 4’s many Expansion Packs and DLCs that work with Castle Estate, but I can’t say that I haven’t been left wanting more from it all as there are no new Buy Mode items. I’d particularly have loved to have seen a huge stone fireplace, for example.

Oh well, I guess I’ll just have to keep daydreaming about a Game or Expansion Pack that lets me create Sims that live in a high fantasy world free of technological bells and whistles. 

The Verdict

The Castle Estate and Goth Galore Kits are great little content offerings for Simmers, but for them to be truly worth it, you’ll need to want to build to ye olde heart’s content or be a fan of chunky boots (and lots of leather).

Reviewed on PC. Codes provided by the publisher.