First playthrough: With DLCs or without?

[bobbycopter]

First time player here. I bought the base game and went trough all available jobs and resold my first couple of houses. I'm wondering if I should purchase all DLCs to enhance the gameplay, while in general I would prefer to add a DLC only after completing the base game. I'm wondering if that makes sense with this game...like, when I resold all of the remaining houses and then buy the DLC, will I have missed out on additional mechanics that would have enhanced the fun of the initial playthrough?

[Teddy_lebt]

At this point, I would advice you, to play through the game and sell every house without the DLCs. After you've done this, you will be able to repurchase all the houses and the houses from the DLCs are just added, so you can purchase all of them as well. Although you still have to unlock the houses from HGTV, Luxury, Pets and Farm by doing the missions first. But that's a tomorrow-problem.
By playing throgh without the DLCs, you can accelerate this process.

[MizMeow1]

I have the base game, of course, and all of the DLCs except for the latest one. I haven't purchased the Farm DLC because of.....well, you can read all of the posts. When the last one (Pets) was released, I held off a bit on getting it so the Devs had a chance to fix any or, at least, most of the issues that appeared with it. Honestly, I initially waited to find out if there were spiders in the DLC and, if so, if they could be avoided. Then, because of the issues (which wasn't near as big of an issue, if I remember correctly, as the one just released. Anyway, because of that, I'm putting off the Farm DLC until things calm down a bit.

That being said, as to your question, I'm not sure that it matters if you get the DLCs now or later for the most part. Each DLC gives you several new jobs which, in turn, means a few new houses to flip and sell. There is also more items to use in the houses. That, though, may be a good reason (at least for me it was) to get the DLCs.

The Garden DLC might be the one you'd use the most. With it, you can cut the grass in the game. I don't know about you, but the houses never felt finished with all of that long grass. I could never see selling a house with grass like that in real life. This DLC also lets you decorate the yard and install pools. So, this might be a good one to start with.

The Pets DLC allows you to have a pet! You can take your dog or cat with you to work on jobs. Of course, you won't be able to take your other pets with you to work. Depending on the type of dog that you have, they will hold a paint can or, from what I've heard, dig a hole for you when you plant something. You'll have to wait for the dog to grow into an adult, though, before it will "help" you at work. I have two dogs. I got them both free at jobs. The first one won't hold the paint can. I would keep getting a message saying something like, "I can't do that," when I would try to have him do it. The other one does hold the paint can which comes in handy when you are painting a larger room. I still haven't figured out how to get him to help with the planting, though. I keep meaning to look up how to get him to dig a hole for the plant, but I keep forgetting until I'm back in the game and, then, I don't want to get out of it just to look that up. LOL Having your cat or dog go with you to work can make it a bit more enjoyable (in my opinion). However, there are times when the dog just is in the way when he is following you around. You do have an opportunity to make him stay in one spot so you can do the job without him being too close to what you are doing. If he's too close, you will have trouble placing things (like furniture). This is especially an issue if you're working in a smaller room. When that happens, I just have him stay in the other room until I finish with the room I'm working on and then have him start following me again.

The Luxury DLC allows you to put pools inside the house. I don't know that any of them would fit too well in many of the houses from the base game. There might be one or two of them that have a basement that might work. You do have the new luxury houses, though. Also with the Luxury DLC comes furniture renovation. Personally, I don't know why they put *that* into the game. I did enjoy renovating the furniture and I think it would be great if you could purchase some furniture to renovate to put into houses, but you can't. There is less than a handful of pieces of furniture that you can actually renovate and they only appear in certain luxury houses. To me, that seemed like a lot or work for the Devs to put into the game for what little we can actually do with it. I honestly didn't see the point. Maybe that's just me, though.

I just woke up, so I might not be thinking correctly. However, I think those are the only new real mechanics added to the game. As I said, the DLCs add new houses and items in the store. I have been playing the game for quite awhile (1800+ hrs), so it possible that I'm blending things together or forgetting something at the moment. I don't think so, though.

As for the Farm DLC, I can't speak to that except to say that I'd hold off purchasing it until the Devs get things fixed in it as it sounds like there are quite a few issues going on with it. I believe with this DLC, you'll be able to do some additions to the houses in the base game and there are a couple of empty lots where you can build your own house. That's what I've gathered from reading the PR from the Devs and the posts from players since the DLCs release just the other day. I think this DLC may be the one with the most new mechanics in it, but that is just a guess.

It really is up to you as to when you get the DLCs. I don't think you could go wrong if you get them now or if you wait. Getting them now gives you more options in houses and items in the store. Remember, though, that each DLC has a certain number of jobs. Like in the base game, each job introduces you to new items in the store. Unlike the base game, each job unlocks a new house. The game allows you to purchase each house just one time. Once you have flipped and sold each house one time, you will then be able to purchase the houses as often as you can afford to purchase them. This includes, though, the houses in the DLCs. That doesn't really change much in the game, but I did want to make note of it.

Personally, I'm glad that I bought all of the DLCs. When I initially purchased the game, it was just the base game. Honestly, I don't remember if the Garden DLC was out yet or came out not too long after I started playing. I know that I hadn't been playing long when I purchased that DLC mainly because the long grass was driving me crazy and I wanted to be able to cut it. The other DLCs all came out after I had finished the base game. As I said, I don't think you would be making a mistake to get the DLCs now or wait until later. It is really up to you. I do think that they are worth getting, though, at some point.

[bobbycopter]

Originally posted by MizMeow1:

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Wow, that was a very in-depth answer! Thank you very much!

[tatiana]

In addition to what Teddy_lebt already said:

Every small game-enhancing mechanic introduced in previous DLCs that could be helpful in the base game - changing external doors and windows, painting ceilings, sleeping in beds, etc - has already been integrated into the base game.

The Luxury-exclusive furniture renovation mechanic only applies to specific pieces of furniture in the missions, not the Browser houses you get after completing them. The Architect tool from the Farm DLC is fun, but the missions introduce a lot of new mechanics, so there's a bit of a learning curve. The farming skills require large plots of land, which some properties don't have

The only paid DLC that you Could consider before finishing the base game is the Garden DLC. It lets you do up the gardens and enter your properties into garden competitions, which increases their sale price by between 10 and 50%. However, the requirements for each garden type are unclear, the information in the many Steam guides on the subject has been figured out by trial and error, and the requirements for the top score in each garden type are so specific, they might kill the fun. That's why I ignore gardens and competitions completely. However, if you like the idea of designing your own gardens, it could be worth it for you.

Tldr - unless you like virtual gardening, get the Game Over achievement before purchasing any DLCs. You get it by selling every Browser house other than your current office.

Edit: I also agree with nearly everything MsMeow said. The only exception is - I don't mind the long grass at all! I think it looks more natural. It's a matter of taste though :)

[Teddy_lebt]

Originally posted by tatiana:

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Yes, this is basically, what I was trying to say. Thanks for elaborating!

[bobbycopter]

Originally posted by tatiana:

In addition to what Teddy_lebt already said

Thank you for your additional input!