The Sims, a life simulation series that has lasted for decades, is about to celebrate its 25th anniversary on February 4, 2025. From the very start, The Sims has always had a zany sense of humor. The first game in particular had a wilder feeling to it, with surprisingly scary and raunchy events sprinkled in between the day-to-day chess games and aquarium cleanings. For the 25th anniversary, The Sims 4 needs to bring back some of the most iconic items and features from the first game.

From art, furniture, neighborhoods, and strange themes, The Sims is a time capsule of late 1990s/Y2K culture. To celebrate the origins of The Sims best, EA and Maxis need to bring some of that nostalgia to The Sims 4. A huge range of items should come back from the earliest days of The Sims, including steamy hot tubs, inflatable furniture, CRT TVs, and useful kitchen appliances.

10 Food Processor

A Kitchen Appliance For Easy Meals

This countertop kitchen appliance is a relatively small item from The Sims, but it has actually featured in every game in the series except for The Sims 4. In the first game, the food processor made cooking faster and resulted better quality meals for Sims to enjoy, which made it a great item to purchase right off the bat for any new household. In fact, the food processor was a slightly overpowered item considering its compact size and relatively low price, but small balancing quirks are what make items from The Sims so nostalgic.

Adding the food processor to The Sims 4 would be a fun but small way to continue the tradition of the first game. While it wouldn’t have to be such a powerful kitchen item, having a cheap appliance for starter households to get dinner on the table faster would be a nice addition to the game for its anniversary.

9 Tyke Nyte Bed

The Perfect Kid's Room Centerpiece

Of all the iconic furniture from The Sims, the Tyke Nyte Bed may be the best representation of late 1990s/early 2000s design choices, especially for children. The bright primary colors, the blocky art style on the blanket, and the patterned sheets underneath are all a time capsule of that era. Additionally, the Tyke Nyte Bed makes an appearance in practically every child’s room in pre-built homes in the game, so its very presence makes a home more nostalgic.

8 Trash Compactor

Wealth Can Be Trashy Too

Like the food processor, the trash compactor is an item that has appeared in every entry in The Sims games except for The Sims 4. While technically the trash compactor is present in The Sims 4's Eco Lifestyle expansion, it’s more of a recycler that creates new items for other hobbies in the expansion. In The Sims, and its two sequels, the trash compactor is simply a large appliance that makes taking the trash out much less of a hassle.

For higher-end households in The Sims, adding the trash compactor was practically a necessity. Showing off your superior bank balance by taking out the trash less than your neighbors is a marker of high-end Sim society that should come back to the series in a 25th anniversary pack for The Sims 4.

7 Inflatable Chairs And Couches

The Perfect Piece Of Y2K Furniture

The inflatable chairs from The Sims are the very essence of Y2K nostalgia. This quintessential piece of turn-of-the-century furniture made every teenager's dream room happen, at least virtually. In The Sims, inflatable furniture came in both the form of chairs and couches, and they were a fairly cheap item for all Sims to enjoy.

The Sims 4 should bring the inflatable furniture back in all of its glorious shades of neon green, pink, and blue. The Sims 4 has invested so many packs and expansions into the young adult experience, especially in the university pack, so adding these dorm room essentials would be the right move for an anniversary pack.

6 Heart Hot Tub

The First Fancy Woohoo

Since the iconic Heart-shaped Bed was finally added to The Sims 4 in Lovestruck, it’s only fair that the heart-shaped hot tub first introduced in The Sims: Hot Date comes back to the series as well. This extremely pricey hot tub seated two Sims and let them WooHoo before WooHoo was first introduced into the series. In The Sims 4, Sims have been able to WooHoo in any hot tub they own, but it would be a fun call back to reintroduce the very first hot tub that allowed that option.

5 The Sims 1 Neighborhood

Sims Lane And All Of Its Lots

The Sims 4, after 10 years of expansions and packs, has a lot of varied neighborhoods to live in. However, it still lacks the original neighborhood from the very first base game. This quiet area is built around a single road, named Sim Lane, which loops around a few houses and a river in a large square. Two of the lots in The Sims’ first neighborhood are occupied by the Goth and Newbie families, while the rest are empty.

To celebrate its big anniversary, bringing back the original neighborhood and rebuilding the iconic houses would be a fun way to pay tribute to the first game in the series. While the neighborhood was expanded in The Sims: Unleashed, just bringing the small original area with its 10 lots back into the series would be a treat for longtime fans of the series.

4 Claire The Bear

A Strange Bear Or A Stranger Sim?

Claire the Bear is the epitome of the beloved weirdness of The Sims, which is exactly why she needs to come back in a bigger role in The Sims 4. Originally introduced in The Sims: Hot Date, Claire the Bear is an animal NPC that will randomly appear on a player’s lot and sift through trash cans. If any bear-themed items are laying around, Claire will react to them with slightly unsettling groans and various bear noises.

For example, spotting a bearskin rug in a house will cause Claire to sob and run full speed away from the lot, while seeing a stuffed animal bear elicits a friendly wave from her. Claire the Bear is one of the weirdest NPCs in the entire series, especially with her strange walk cycle and inhuman moans. Is she a real bear or is she a deranged Sim in a bear costume terrorizing the town? That’s the sort of question The Sims asks and never answers.

Claire the Bear is in The Sims 4, but only as a toy that can be crafted with the knitting skill from Nifty Knitting Stuff. For a fuller experience of the first game, The Sims 4 needs to bring back this bear menace as a full-fledged NPC, where she can snuffle through trash and honey for years to come.

3 CRT TV

A Staple Of Early 21st Century Homes

In early 2000s households, the gigantic CRT TV was a staple of many living rooms. The Sims naturally included this type of TV, specifically called the Trottco 27” Color Television B94U, as a mid-range set for a household to buy. In the two decades plus since the first game, television technology has come a long way and that’s been reflected in the type of TVs available in each entry in the series, as most are some sort of flat screen TV. Adding this very specific type of TV, a big bulky block of gray technology, to The Sims 4 would do a lot for any early 2000s throwback pack.

2 Cake Dancers

Male, Female, Or Clown Options Included

Of all the strange occurrences in The Sims, hiring a male or female entertainer for a party was definitely the raunchiest. These entertainers, also known as Sexy Dancers, could be hired by buying a large cake and placing it on the lot. Once purchased, one of five options would come out and dance for the attending Sims. Of course, one option for the cake was the tragic clown, who would promptly be booed away by the party after making his appearance.

The cake dancers are one of the wackiest items in a game rated T for Teen, and it should make a complete comeback in any celebration pack for the 25th anniversary of The Sims. This unique item and its accompanying NPCs are the perfect encapsulation of how bizarre the series could get in its earliest days.

1 Small Aquarium

The Quintessential Decoration Piece

The small aquarium may be the single most iconic item from The Sims. Its singularly unique design, with its 2000s style tank shape, colorful tropical fish, and ubiquitous presence in practically every house makes it a staple of the first game. Its relatively low price combined with how important decorations are for a Sim’s mood made this a popular purchase for a starter household full of new Sims.

Since the small aquarium is present in almost every single house in The Sims, it’s an item that most certainly deserves to be in any anniversary pack that EA and Maxis drop. One feature that should accompany the aquarium is the cleaning function. All players of the original game know that this particular fish tank needs to be constantly cleaned, lest the tropical fish inside all die immediately. That slightly obnoxious function is what makes The Sims so charming and so it deserves to make it into The Sims 4.