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  • The Sims 4 Bowling Night Stuff.

  • Of all the stuff packs nobody asked for, this is right near the top of the list, right next

  • to Broom Stuff and Deflated Football Stuff.

  • Okay, so sure, bowling has been in The Sims series since The Sims 2 Nightlife and was

  • revisited in The Sims 3 University Life expansion pack.

  • But those were expansions, complete with hundreds of other items and activities alongside bowling.

  • Is the activity of bowling alone really worth becoming the tenth stuff pack to the Sims 4?

  • Let's ask Ralph!

  • Oh...

  • Uh hey! Looks like they've added a new main menu through a recent patch at least,

  • seemingly with the goal of making it painfully obvious how much DLC you have.

  • Though I'm not sure whether having all of it or only a little of it is more shameful at this point.

  • Speaking of shame let's dive into the clothing, which in the bowling pack

  • is rather on the low side.

  • Kids get a paltry amount of stuff, with only a couple shirts and a pair of shoes, while older

  • sims get the same basic stuff in addition to some more shirts, pants, a glove or two, and a

  • hairstyle or few.

  • It's all classic bowling attire, and a bit of '50s chic thrown in for good measure,

  • so I've got no complaints other than the relative scarcity going on.

  • There are also some new objects, floor tiles, wallpapers, and unlockables, totaling just

  • shy of 40 new items.

  • And yes, among their number are a trio of chairs a pair of benches.

  • All of this stuff has a pretty excellent mid-century design that I am hugely fond of in real life,

  • so I can absolutely see myself going back for these items in the future.

  • But that's enough of that -- start polishing your balls and call up yourcahzeen,”

  • because bowling is the main course for the rest of the pack.

  • Plop down the pre-made bowling alley that it comes with, or create your own because

  • that's how this works!

  • You can also convert pre-existing bars, lounges, nightclubs, and general community lots to

  • a bowling alley, which makes sense seeing as the only thing that makes it a bowling

  • alley is the alley itself.

  • That's right, a lot of the other stuff is just non-functional set dressing.

  • You can't swap your shoes for bowling shoes using the rack, you can't choose a bowling

  • ball initially, and you can't even type in immature names into a scoreboard

  • (which is half the fun of bowling!)

  • Not that there even IS a scoreboard, that'd just be too much to ask for I guess.

  • Heck, your sims don't even bowl a full frame when it's their turn.

  • They only get one chance to do well per frame and if not, too bad, it resets the pins for

  • the next sim.

  • I guess they couldn't spare the time to add spares to the game, a decision that's

  • total balls if you ask me.

  • I know it's the same kinda thing we've seen in prior Sims games with bowling, but I really hoped

  • they would flesh it out this time seeing as bowling has it's own freakin' pack dedicated to it.

  • Getting my mind out of the gutter though, and there are a few things to dig about bowling.

  • For one thing, bowling is a minor skill now, meaning that sims get better at it the more

  • they play, up to level five.

  • Along the way they'll improve their odds of getting strikes, learn trick shots and

  • unlock new bowling balls, and break out in a geeky dance number when they succeed.

  • Midnight bowling is a thing as well, which does its part to liven up the atmosphere and

  • is a welcome aesthetic compared to the drab-looking, flat-lit lanes you see otherwise.

  • I would kinda like a true blacklight effect though, it'd be neat to see sims' clothing

  • light up and everyone's teeth look weird. Er, weirder than normal.

  • Also, this pack makes me really miss the copious arcade machines and pinball tables from previous

  • Sims games.

  • I don't know about you but to me, bowling alleys and arcade machines go hand in hand,

  • and while you do have this hulking ugly thing from the Get Together pack, there's a major

  • lack of anything else like this in The Sims 4 without mods.

  • Anyway back to smackin' balls against wood, where up to five total sims can bowl a lane

  • at once, competing for the best score and generally jerkin' around in-between.

  • Unfortunately you don't get to keep track of progress in real-time since as I mentioned

  • earlier there's no scoreboard, so all you get is a weak little message at the end saying

  • who got the most points.

  • Lame.

  • At least with the Get Together pack installed you can also create bowling clubs, which is a neat

  • idea in theory but it doesn't actually do much.

  • This just makes your sims earn club points for bowling, and it sadly doesn't let them

  • compete against other clubs for points or keep track of who's scored the most on the

  • team or anything like that.

  • But at least they're still adding new skills for these clubs, that's better than nothing.

  • And really, that sums up my feelings on The Sims 4 Bowling Stuff.

  • Better than nothing and ultimately harmless, but completely unnecessary

  • and not very inspiring either.

  • About what I expect for one of these $10 stuff packs at this point, but it still kinda...

  • ...you know, lets me down.

  • It has some nice touches here and there, like the NuDisco radio station,

  • augmenting everything with an appropriately groovy bowling mood.

  • *groovy bowling mood music plays*

  • And again, I really dig the retro furniture and objects

  • so I welcome that stuff wholeheartedly.

  • But like, the title of the pack is "bowling" and the actual bowling is just... meh.

  • You click on an alley and wait until the animations are done automatically playing

  • until a notification pops up, while earning skill points along the way to unlock a few

  • new automatic animations and ball textures.

  • I know it's a stuff pack and maybe I shouldn't expect much.

  • But I still find myself hoping because man, The Sims 4 needs some engaging

  • fun side activities in a major way!

  • This is just an okayish distraction if you're really into the aesthetic and atmosphere,

  • but when you're done playing with your balls, what's left?

  • Bowling absolutely could be worth having its own pack if it had more substance. But in

  • this pack I saw everything of note and maxed out the bowling skill in half an hour.

  • For that reason alone, I cannot say Bowling Stuff is worth 10 bucks whatsoever.

  • And my apologies if I sounded a little weird, I'm getting over some sickness at the moment

  • so, *cough cough* and all that.

  • But yeah, if you enjoyed this video why not check out some of my others. I've covered a lot of Sims stuff,

  • and do a bunch of retro tech things as well.

  • And as always, thank you for watching LGR!

The Sims 4 Bowling Night Stuff.

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