Since The Sims 4 released two months ago, there have been many who have been eagerly awaiting the return of pools. Maxis announced last month that we’d receive three free game updates: ghosts, pools and careers. We received ghosts last month and now it’s November (or should I say Poolvember) and pools are just around the corner!

Yep, pools are returning to The Sims 4 this week in a free game update! Until then we’re here to provide you with a little preview to wet your appetite, so be sure to read on…

Create A Sim

The game update brings back the much-loved swimwear category so you can pick the outfit you want your Sims to wear in the pool. Like all other categories, you can unselect the ‘Swimwear’ tag and allow your Sims to wear anything the pool (bunny slippers and dressing gown anyone?!).

Some of the new CAS items include:

  • Speedos and board shorts for men – there’s even a leopard print one!
  • Three full body outfits, three tops and eight bottoms for women.
  • New tops and bottoms for children.
  • New styled looks for adults and children.
  • New accessories including sunscreen!

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Build Mode

This is where you’ll get down and dirty with creating your pools. A new pool icon has been added to build mode and you can create rectangle, triangle, octagonal, square and diagonal pools. There all merge together like rooms when you plop them on top of each other. You can also pick up, move and rotate a whole pool whenever you want.

Pools can now be placed on foundations or on any floor within the house, and you can still keep windows on the walls too! If you place a pool on the ground while you have a foundation then it will become a terrain pool, but you can use a neat trick and place the pool against a wall with foundation if you want it to be on a foundation in the middle of your Sims’ garden. You can also adjust the depth of pools the same way you change the height of walls and this can be changed at any time.

New pool accessories have also been introduced in the update. You can place pool ladders, lights and accessories such as floor mosaics (patterns and turtles). Ladders can now be placed diagonally if you wish. Much like The Sims 3 until Seasons came along, there are no diving boards are in the update at present but we’ve been told to not rule them out in the future.

A new gnome arrives with the update too! Say hello to an all new female poolside gnome, make sure you keep an eye out for her. When asked about pre-built pool lots, the SimGuru’s confirmed that they’re working on some to put into the gallery. In addition to all of these new features, you can also place lily pads etc in the pool and build walls/fences against the edge of the pool.

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Live Mode

New interactions arrive Emotions can affect the way your Sims swim in pools. These emotional swims come with unique animations and consist of things such as an angry swim or a playful swim. You can also swim here where the Sim swims to a location but they can also swim laps which lasts longer. To begin swimming, your Sims can jump in or use the ladder.

One interaction new to The Sims franchise I’m sure you’ll all love is the ability to sit on the edge of the pool! Sims in the pool can swim up to those on the edge and splash them, so there’s a lot of socialising going on while your Sims swim and hang out together.

When swimming, Sims work on their fitness and kids level up their motor skills in the process. Something slightly disgusting yet funny is the ability for Sims to pee in the pool when their bladder is low. You’ll see it happen… and they’ll even get a unique moodlet called “Secretly Relaxed” 😉

Death enthusiasts can rejoice with this game update as there are new ways to kill your Sims. Death by drowning makes a triumphant return and the dead Sim will sink to the bottom of the pool until the Grim Reaper takes them away. There is a new ghost as a result of death by pool which is blue and drips with water. As they move about the lot, they’ll leave a trail of puddles! Children can also drown too, if that’s more your thing.

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We are very excited about the upcoming game update and we hope you are too! You can tune into the live stream TONIGHT to get a look at pools before they release this week. Remember it’s completely free and the update will automatically install via. Origin once it’s out.