

In Island Paradise, you got Rocky Reef, Davy Jones’ Locker, Pearl’s Deep, and The Mermaid Grotto. You could explore caves that would uncover new parts of the island and even “woohoo” inside them. My favorite part of this expansion pack was not only getting a new world (the island) but four underwater maps to scuba dive through as a human or a mermaid. It really added to the real estate aspect of the existing Sims 3, as well. I’m not kidding when I say this was thought out in a way that felt like its own game. You finally had a resort finances report to keep track of your revenue and expenses. You then managed a maintenance crew though these were random NPCs outside of the usual custom characters you work within The Sims. You could manage resort staff, set uniforms or customize them, and even set shifts. The economic aspect of running a resort was pretty detailed. It’s a completely different sort of Sims gameplay when you run your own business. You also gained hotel perks and a bunch of moods.

After a while, the simoleons that poured in were just an added bonus. It was fun to read the guests complain in resort reviews and fulfill their every desire. Of course, you could simply build and buy the structures yourself if you wanted to customize your property to your taste. You could choose from a beach, Spanish, or “eco modern” themes. They had pre-made lobbies, gyms, dining areas, rooms, and more. The blueprints make improving your resort easy, too. You could build from scratch, improve, and renovate from premade blueprints. Island Paradis e added an incredible amount of content. Yet in my heart, Island Paradise blows Island Living out of its graphically enhanced water. In The Sims 3, we knew the tropical package as Island Paradise. Some expansion packs from The Sims 3 have proved popular enough to return in forms in The Sims 4.
