If nothing else, you'll be doing some of your chores in adorable new raincoats. The changing seasons and weather definitely help stop the blur of days that can happen when you're powering your sims through life at fast forward speeds, and can make even your vanilla gameplay feel new.

He still stuck around for sugar cookies, but I feel like it's distinctly lowered my chances of getting a pony in my stocking next year. My evil sim followed all the traditions required for a jolly Winterfest, but let herself down by getting into an actual punch up with the seasonal visitor. Just be aware that depending on the sim you've cultivated, you could end up on the naughty list. You can build snowman, have snowball fights, decorate the tree and cook up a turkey or ham, ready for Father Winter to arrive with presents. Winter is probably the most satisfying of the seasons, just because snow and Christmas (or Winterfest) offer up so many new activities. It looked like a garden center had thrown up on my carpets. Even the gnomes I had placated seem to have left gifts, so my home was scattered with packets of seeds for days.

The developers love to throw in weird and wonderful surprises along with the realism and interior design options, and it means the perfect life you're planning for your mini me can go wrong at any moment. It's one of the best things about the Sims, things aren't always what they seem. At least, I think that what him being on actual fire signified - the other gnomes had halos by this point - and when I tried the 'plead for forgiveness' option I got struck by lightning.

Some I managed to appease with presents of pie or toys, but one stayed furious. One even looked like a little Death, complete with robes. But come Thanksgiving, an option opened to give them gifts, and more gnomes appeared, the group of them materialising in different rooms of the house in a sinister manner. One had a little bear suit, one was ghost themed, it was all very cute. I'd spotted some cute little gnomes in the Seasons special items and thrown some around the porch for the homey, Grandma won the lottery vibe.

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