The Sims 4 has been free to play for a few years now, meaning anyone can pick up the game and start deg Sims and builds. While the full Sims 4 game, including all DLC Expansion Packs, Game Packs, Stuff Packs, and Kits, can be highly and prohibitively costly, some of the community still make the game completely accessible to everyone by building and sharing homes and venues made exclusively out of Base Game items via the Sims 4 Gallery.
While it's likely a majority of Sims 4 players by now will own at least a few DLC packs or have ed mod. The number of these DLCs can make choosing a build from the Gallery challenging if a Simmer has chosen to furnish the build with items you aren't guaranteed to have installed. Thankfully, even in 2024, many Sims 4 builders are using exclusively Base Game items to create unique lots with themes ranging from futuristic to rustic to even Victorian. These builds are freely available for anyone regardless of the DLC you own, but fit well with many existing packs and mods.
For this list, the build must be an original and ed in 2024. It cannot be an iteration of another Simmer's creation (though it can have been inspired by one). To qualify, it must not include any Sims 4 DLC packs or custom content. It can, however, use Debug items or free reward items that are unlockable via the free event es.
10 Midtown Meadows Hotel by fancypants28
Run A Swanky Hotel
Simmers have been clamoring for hotels for a long time, especially given the somewhat lackluster Vacation Rental system. While playable hotels and B & Bs still need to be technically available, Midtown Meadows Hotel by fancypants28 is the closest available Base Game offering. Built for Newcrest, it features a pool, gym, buffet, and conference room. It has nine bedrooms and seven bathrooms.
10 Most Impressive Sims 4 Builds That Will Inspire Your Next Project
The Sims 4 offers players a wide range of resources when it comes to building houses, allowing some players to create very impressive lots.
This build can be turned into a functional hotel venue when placed worldwide, as long as you have installed proper mods. It's sleek and modern and gives some character to Newcrest, the one existing sandbox world in Sims 4. Without realistic venues like these, Newcrest can often look rather empty and neglected.
One of the best and most consistently updated hotel mods for Sims 4 is Suite Life - Hotels and Resorts by Lot 51 CC.
9 Oak Alcove Office Suites by FemaleEnigmaX
Find Some New Office Space
There are many Freelance Careers available in Sims 4, and for those Sims needing office space to expand their career ventures, Oak Alcove Office Suites by FemaleEnigmaX could be the perfect spot. The build features four 4x4 office suites, a break room, a conference room, and reception spaces. The exterior is interesting, with two staircases leading up to the second floor so multiple businesses can call the lot home.
Oak Alcove Office Suites is great for interior designers and would pair well with several existing Sims 4 DLC, including the Dream Home Decorator Game Pack and Get To Work. It could also pair well with Health and Personal Care activity mods, especially those that introduce Dentistry or Mental Health Services to Sims 4, as the office suites seem ideally suited for specialist practitioners. Most of the rooms in the building are unfurnished apart from the bathroom and break room, meaning Simmers can add their personal touches to the building to help tell their own stories.
8 Twin Oak Towers Multi by NectereSim
Build A Multipurpose High-Rise Anywhere
Simmers enjoy making and using multipurpose lots, and Twin Oak Towers Multi by NectereSim is one of the best new builds that doesn't use any pack-specific content. The towers can be residential, including two furnished studio apartments and an unfurnished penthouse suite that will best fit your Sim or story. However, they also include a Bar, Café, Gym, Library, Lounge, Museum, Night Club, Spa, Police Station, and basement Jail, giving the place a true multipurpose, urban feel.
The Twin Oak Towers Multi Build is only 30x20, making it a great fit for worlds with many smaller lots and limited venue space. For best results, change the Lot Type to the venue for which you most want to use the build.
Based on the build's multiple apartments and high-rise tower style, Twin Oak Towers Multi would, of course, paired best with For Rent and City Living expansions. However, it could also be great with Get To Work for the police station, Get Together for the café, and realistic gameplay mods like LittleMissSam's Live-In Business to use the multiple floors better. This build really does have it all and in an incredibly limited amount of space.
7 La Petite Dance Academy by ManicNixxi
Give Creative Sims A New Place To Practice
Built to replace the Movers and Shakers Gym in Willow Creek and better fit the historical architecture seen in that world, La Petite Dance Academy by ManicNixxi offers an alternative kind of communal exercise space for budding performers. This dance academy/studio combination offers space for Sims to work out and socialize, including a performance space on the top floor. It's a unique take on a community gym that introduces something seemingly missing from Sims 4: a community center focused on the Arts.
10 Best Sims 4 Content Packs, Ranked
The Sims 4 has largely been defined by its post-release content additions, but there are a handful of DLCs that are a cut above the rest.
The build includes a green room for performers to get ready, two computer labs, a prop storage space, an orchestra "pit," a café, locker rooms, a mirrored dance studio, and several rooms with workout equipment. There is even a back patio for Sims to hang out after rehearsals.
La Petite Dance Academy would pair well with Get Famous, which focuses exclusively on gaining celebrity through acting, comedy, and music.
6 BG Salvage Yard by Khaleesi4200
Go Dumpster Diving In A New Place
One of the key features of Sims 4 is that Sims can explore the world and dig around on lots and in trash piles to find valuable and useful items, both for repairing appliances around the house and creating emotional auras in their spaces. The BG Salvage Yard by Khaleesi4200 builds upon this mechanic by adding a neighborhood venue where Sims can rummage, dumpster dive, and go home with interesting treasures.
A Salvage Yard may not be something Simmers have on their radar to round out a neighborhood, and that's what makes the BG Salvage Yard such an interesting find. It's interactive, unique, and can still work with DLC content, particularly Eco Lifestyles for Sims living off the grid and taking recycling very seriously, and Werewolves as a hangout for a pack. Simmers are endlessly creative when it comes to adding realism to their games, and this build is just one more example of that.
5 Pier Seafood Grill & Shop by OhBribriOG
Do Something Unique With Fishing
Fishing is an often-ignored Sims 4 mechanic that takes center stage in the Pier Seafood Grill & Shop by OhBribriOG. Literally built on stilts over a creek that doubles as a fishing spot, Pier Seafood Grill & Shop is built in the style of an English chippy with an outdoor service window, industrial kitchen, and both indoor and outdoor seating. There is a back room featuring tanks with fresh fish and a giant fishbowl in the center of the venue where live specimens can be kept. The walls are lined with mounted fish, all available to catch in Sims 4 and presumably for sale as decorations.
Naturally, the Pier Seafood Grill & Shop would pair best with Get To Work for its retail features and Dine Out for its restaurant features. It would also look great with some of the more European tavern assets from Get Together. However, even without these or other DLC, Pier Seafood Grill & Shop offers Simmers something more interesting to do with the often overlooked Fishing mechanic in Sims 4 and showcases some of the amazing things that can be done just with Base Game items.
4 Arid Ridge Science Center by 76FroggiesWOO
Revamp Tired Museums
Arid Ridge Science Center by 76FroggiesWOO was specially built to fit into Oasis Springs on the Arid Ridge lot, and it may be one of the most unique build ideas to come out of the Sims 4 in 2024. As an overhaul of the lackluster museums in several of the Base Game worlds, the Arid Ridge Science Center includes all the Collectibles Sims can find by exploring the world. Sims can visit the Center to view its specimens, including Space Rocks, live fish, frogs, and plants.
One Sims 4 Life State Is Still Incredibly Shallow, But There’s A Fix Thanks To A Player
The Sims 4 has a lot of content, but not all of it has the level of depth it should. Luckily, the modding community steps in to help add to the game.
This build includes an open laboratory area for hands-on learning and a closed laboratory with a microscope and two Cow Plant specimens, one alive and one skeletal. In the back of the Science Center, Sims can stargaze at the Observatory or use the Rocket Ship to explore Deep Space, a hidden world in Sims 4.
This build would work especially well with other Sims 4 DLC, including Get to Work and Discover University, for more diverse scientific offerings like engineering and further space exploration. However, it stands up incredibly well on its own as an alternative kind of Museum and an excellent venue for Family players to have their Sims visit on the weekends or for teen Sims to gather and study.
3 Pool Bar by bethowen111
Place A Cool New Nightly Hangout
Nearly every world in Sims 4 has a bar, but the Pool Bar by bethowen111 might be one of the most interesting and well-designed bars available in the Gallery. As the name suggests, Pool Bar is both a pool and a bar, but far from simply being an outdoor Tiki-style bar, this build sports a cool, modern clubhouse feel with indoor and outdoor options for a night out.
The Pool Bar includes a hot tub, a fish-shaped in-ground pool, a deep blue and neon bar space that gives the impression of being underwater, a clubby VIP floor with bar games like Darts, and a rooftop deck. This venue would be great for parties, dates, and even the odd club meeting with Get Together installed. There's even a telescope for stargazing and a Poolside Gnome to watch over the lot.
This build focuses on aesthetics, with much coordination in the cool colors, bright neons, and curved lines. It's also great that the Pool Bar serves two functions: a Bar venue and a public pool, something sorely lacking across Sims 4 worlds.
2 Victorian "Treehouse" by PickaPeach
Live Your Dark Academia Dreams Sims Style
Victorian "Treehouse" by PickaPeach is the best Sims 4 residential build of 2024. The house is both whimsical and practical, combining traditional style with modern amenities for maximum comfort for any Sims 4 family.
The main draw of the Victorian "Treehouse" is that it looks like it was built out of a tree. The branches of a massive oak swallow the roof, and the house appears to rise out of a rocky plateau. The build includes gorgeous, lush gardens and expert landscaping that would look especially dynamic when paired with the Seasons Expansion Pack.
This building has three bedrooms and three bathrooms, including a teen bedroom on the first floor, a toddler or kid's room, and the main bedroom on the second floor. There is even a "hidden" home office behind a bookshelf on the first floor. The lot has been playtested and would fit a more rustic Victorian or Dark Academia Sims 4 game theme.
How Supernatural Expansion Packs Enhance The Sims 4
The Sims 4's Life & Death Expansion Pack is just the latest in a long line of supernatural content that keeps Sims (and players) Invested.
While this build was made exclusively with Base Game and Debug items, it can synergize with Sims 4 DLC and mods for several gameplay styles. The Victorian "Treehouse" would work especially well with Realm of Magic or Cottage Living and possibly with Horse Ranch to add to the Victorian vibe.
1 Elven Wedding Venue BG by Kaotik-Insanity
Get Married In Another Realm
Elven Wedding Venue BG by Kaotik-Insanity is the best Sims 4 build of 2024. It is stunning, with incredible attention to detail and aesthetics. It can transport Sims from any neighborhood or world to an enchanted forest fit for Elven royalty, all without the aid of DLC or mods. The best thing about this build is that it is fully functional. Sims can walk through the winding, overgrown paths, enter all the buildings and gazebos, and use all the items on the lot.
The Elven Wedding Venue BG features suites for the couple to get ready, a gorgeous central wedding arch and seating area, a fully stocked kitchen, multiple bathrooms, and a reception area with a bar and tables for guests. It even includes an easel for a live wedding painter.
This build is made entirely of Base Game and Debug items, as well as items that could be won by completing the Sims 4 event es, but it also has excellent synergy potential with a plethora of mods and other packs. My Wedding Stories, Realm of Magic, and even Lovestruck would pair perfectly with this build and any mods that allow you to turn standard Sims into fairytale creatures like Elves or Fairies.
