The Sims 4: Lovestruck explores the scary world of dating apps

Finding love in The Sims has never been easy. There's the whole matter of making your Sim social, putting them out into the world, and hoping they don't overly embarrass themselves. What's a Sim to do if they aren't exactly appealing to anybody? In the real world, those folks usually resort to dating apps, which is just what Maxis is exploring for the next big Sims expansion, The Sims 4: Lovestruck.

The Sims 4: Lovestruck is all about finding love and the hilarious stories that can often stem from this journey. The first step to finding love comes through Create-A-Sim and involves recognizing one's own romantic boundaries. Romantic boundaries is a new feature that will be available across both Lovestruck and the base game. By going to the Identity panel on any Sim, players can answer four questions to set the parameters that cause a Sim to become jealous. This can help set the table for your Sim's romantic outings and can affect their relationships with new Sims they meet. Turn-Ons and Turn-Offs are another big new feature, which will help determine what attracts (or repulses) a particular Sim. Lastly, players can now set a Sim's Romantic Style, which helps provide a guide to a Sim's heart, whether it's through affectionate gestures, flirting, gift-giving, or something else.

People can be love-addled and have romance on the brain. For those folks, new Aspirations and Traits are available, all related to the pursuit of love and romance. For example, there's a Romantic Explorer aspiration that makes a Sim want to pursue love first and foremost, even if it means taking some daring risks with romantic partners. There's also a Paragon Partner aspiration that makes a Sim aspire to be the ideal romantic partner for at least two Sims. Polyamorous couples are couples too, you know. As for Traits, Maxis has taken several personality types into consideration when designing something like the Romantically Reseved trait for nervous daters and Lovebugs for those willing to give their hearts to just about anybody, even if it comes off as a little desperate.

With a fresh Sim ready to roll, players can set up shop in a new town called Ciudad Enamorada (Spanish for "The City of Love"), based loosely on Mexico City. It's a city with three distinct districts: Vista Hermosa is where Sims will find suburban romantic views, Nuevo Corazon is the uptown district that's home to trendier party sites, and Plaza Mariposa is the central square that houses more scenic dating spots. With a city as vast as Ciudad Enamorada, finding love can be daunting, which leads into Lovestruck's most interesting new feature: the Cupid's Corner app.

Cupid's Corner is designed similarly to real-world dating apps. That means players can set their Sim's profile, indicate what they're seeking in a romantic partner, and post a profile picture to help attract matches. Much like real life, the idea is to expedite the search for a date or a compatible romantic partner. Players can then browse through matches with the game helpfully labeling which traits appeal to your Sim specifically. For those who want to speed this process up even further, Cupid's Corner also has a blind date feature, which, if nothing else, can lead to some hilarious interactions.

After finding a potential love interest, players can jump into a new Event feature that lets them lay out their perfect date. Players can browse through available activities and pick multiple selections in order to craft the most enjoyable evening possible. This feature is for those serious about finding romance, as date nights will include several objectives for maximizing the evening experience, like making sure to socialize or hit the dance floor. Of course, this is life in The Sims 4. Things can always take a turn and the evening can sometimes end badly, like if a random Sim shows up and starts flirting with your date.

As is the case with every Sims 4 expansion, it's hard to go into detail about every addition simply because Maxis has gone such a long way to add numerous little details. Quality-of-life features can be found everywhere with some examples including new customization pieces, a more detailed in-game interface, new interactive objects, and new options for chatting with Sims. It's also worth noting that in basing Ciudad Enamorada on Mexico City, Maxis has also reached out to some native Mexican artists to design some of the city's architecture and mural artwork.

Love is a battlefield in The Sims 4 and players can enter the arena themselves when The Sims 4: Lovestruck releases on PC on Thursday, July 25. It will sell for $40 USD, though a separate patch will offer a few additions to the base game at no extra charge.

This preview is based on a developer presentation and an early preview build provided by the publisher. The final product is subject to change.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?