Getting Cozy with lilsimsie for The Sims 4 Comfy Gamer Kit

As a longtime Simmer, streamer, and content creator, Kayla “lilsimsie” Sims is no stranger to Simmers worldwide. Known for her unmistakable blue suburban builds, entertaining challenge streams (featuring the one and only Stanley Humphrey) and heartfelt philanthropy, Kayla “lilsimsie” Sims has left a lasting mark on The Sims community. Her obsession with The Sims was ignited in 2008 when she received MySims Kingdom as a Christmas gift. “MySims Kingdom genuinely changed my life,” said Kayla.

This led her to discover The Sims 3, and the rest is history. Although building wasn’t her strong suit in the beginning, it has since become her favorite part of the game, even lending her talents to lot builds featured in The Sims 4 Snowy Escape and The Sims 4 Growing Together Expansion Packs.

We’re ecstatic to collaborate with Kayla to create the Comfy Gamer Kit, which features unique, cozy-themed items to bring softness and warmth to relaxing gaming setups that Gamer Sims will never want to leave. Kayla loves clutter, so this kit reflects her iconic room she streams from and brings some personalized items to reflect her space. We sat down with Kayla to learn more about her inspiration for the Kit and how it came to be.

THE SIMS TEAM: Tell us a bit about your history with The Sims franchise.

KAYLA: My grandparents bought me MySims Kingdom for Christmas in 2008 and it was the first The Sims game I had ever played. I was a little late to The Sims compared to a lot of other longtime players, but playing MySims Kingdom genuinely changed my life. I played that game for hours and hours, and it quickly sparked an obsession with The Sims. I eventually got my hands on The Sims 3, and I had never played a game like it before. I loved the idea of a legacy challenge, and I would constantly start new legacy challenges. I really loved the idea of starting from nothing and working towards a fancy house and massive family tree, but I never wanted my Sims to die so I would play until the first generation became an elder and then I would start over again. It's funny because I think I play the opposite way now. I still love legacy challenges, but now I play on Short Lifespan and I almost enjoy it when my Sims die….I probably shouldn't be admitting that here. 

THE SIMS TEAM: Is there a personal story or connection that influenced the theme of the Kit?

KAYLA: My love for MySims definitely influenced many of the swatches in this Kit. We've got the physical games and the posters, but there are also some little MySims references in the swatches of a couple other items. There's a new desk organizer with some notebooks and a calendar inside, and there are some fun nods to Sims characters on the calendar pages. My childhood enemy T.O.B.O.R. even makes an appearance. When I first pitched the concept, I was practically begging for MySims references, and I didn't even know about the MySims: Cozy Bundle! I was working with them behind the scenes on this Kit for months before they ever announced the new MySims games, and I couldn't believe they had kept it from me all that time! I don't know how they managed to make it through those calls with a straight face. 

We had a lot of fun with the swatches in this Kit, and there are quite a few The Sims references for longtime players. You'll see voidcritters, Bella Goth and even the Grim Reaper on an alarm clock. That'll make for quite the wake up call…

THE SIMS TEAM:  What was your favorite part of the creation process?

KAYLA: This has truly been the opportunity of a lifetime for me. I've been such a massive fan of this game for so long, and being able to collaborate with them on something like this has meant the world to me. I cried when The Sims team asked if I wanted to make this Kit with them, and I've been near tears at many points of this process. I've made pretend Kit pitches before where I made videos pitching ideas for items I'd like to see in future kits, but I never expected they would ask me to do it for real. It began with me making "mood boards” and presenting ideas for a few different Kit concepts. Then we chose a favorite and I dove deep into thinking about what that would look like. I gave the team item ideas, color schemes and long lists of references from old The Sims games that I wanted to try to incorporate. I knew that it would be released near the 25th birthday of The Sims franchise so I really wanted to pay homage to that and celebrate Simmers with this Kit. It's hard for me to pick a favorite part of the process because every aspect of this has been so exciting for me. We started working on this a very long time ago and it has been amazing to see my ideas go from being just an image in my head to an actual item in the game. 

THE SIMS TEAM: What does “cozy” mean to you? How does your definition of “cozy” shine through in the items for this Kit?

KAYLA: To me the ideal “cozy" day involves curling up with a really good game (or book!), lighting a candle, and getting comfy. This Kit includes all of those things and it gives you the tools to make a cozy room for Sims. I think a lot of what makes a space "cozy" relates to lighting and texture. Our new rug and new pouf item help add soft touches, and the candle and LED lights on the gaming items and sign add soft lighting to the room. 

THE SIMS TEAM: What’s your favorite item in the Kit?

KAYLA: My favorite item in the Kit is the stack of The Sims games. As a longtime fan, I was really excited to include nods to previous titles, and there are even matching posters! I think every Simmer has tried at least once to recreate their real house in the game, and many of us have quite a collection of physical The Sims games. We don't really have a ton of physical media anymore, but seeing those old CDs brings back so much nostalgia. I was especially excited about The Sims Medieval and the MySims Kingdom swatches.

THE SIMS TEAM: Were any of the items inspired by items in your own setup IRL?

KAYLA: I included photos of my real office in the original pitch and we ended up recreating a lot of elements of my real furniture in the game. Things like the desk, shelves, LED sign and computer are modeled after ones I own in real life.

I think I have a classic desk, with two drawers and a counter resting on top. So many people have this same setup, so I wanted to include something similar for our Sims. It seems like almost everybody has owned one of those classic cube shelving units before too, so I wanted to incorporate those. I also sent the team close-up photos of my rug as an example of the subtle pattern I hoped our rug would include and they managed to capture the inspiration perfectly. 

The computer is one of my favorite parts because it’s fairly different from a lot of the other ones in The Sims 4. It has a few more decorative touches, like the desk mat, shelf, microphone and extra monitor. It was important to me to include the desk mat because we don't actually have any mouse pads in The Sims! I thought it was a fun touch that made it seem more realistic. 

Not all of the Kit is inspired by my office though. I think a lot of the clutter is almost like a fantasy of what my dream office might include and I hope that it fits with other Simmers’ dream office spaces as well.  

THE SIMS TEAM: We love the grilled cheese bookends! How did you approach designing items that were unique while staying true to the cozy theme of the Kit?

KAYLA: Our Kit primarily features light, bright colors and "cutesy" decor. I wanted to have a lot of simple patterns, pretty pastels, and light wood tones on the larger items to give us a nice canvas and make room for fun clutter touches like those silly grilled cheese bookends. 

THE SIMS TEAM: What’s your favorite top tip for adding clutter to create a lived-in feel to your builds?

KAYLA: The "bb.moveobjects on" cheat is your friend for making overly cluttered spaces in The Sims 4! You can slot a surprising amount of clutter onto the shelf and desk in this Kit without cheats, but if you really want to step it up, you can turn that cheat on to add even more. You can check out the tutorial I posted for more tips and tricks.

THE SIMS TEAM: How has your community influenced the development of the kit?

KAYLA: We often talk about the kinds of things we'd like to see in The Sims on stream, and people in my Twitch chat throw out things they'd like to see added. The open book is one of them! I mentioned desperately wanting more book clutter and someone in my chat said it would be cool to have a book propped open. I know some of my fellow readers will view this as blasphemous, but I really like how it makes a space seem "messy" and lived in. 

When thinking about the items I wanted to include in this Kit, I was trying to imagine how other players would use them and how they would fit into their builds. My favorite Kits are always multifunctional, so even if this one is designed as a "gamer" kit, the items will hopefully fit seamlessly into other parts of Sims’ houses. I was also trying to be conscious of the swatches we were making and make sure that we had versatile options. 

THE SIMS TEAM: What do you hope Simmers will do with this Kit and what stories do you imagine being told with these items?

KAYLA: Many Sims players spend hours at their desks for both work and play. For many of us, our desk setup is our favorite space in our home. Beyond just gaming setups, lots of us have designated work-from-home spaces that we've carefully curated. Desks are cluttered “lived in” parts of our houses, and that is currently hard to achieve in The Sims 4. I hope the desk clutter and gaming-related items in this Kit allows players to create realistic desk spaces for their Sims, recreate their real-life spaces and tell more stories in the game. I can't wait to start using these items with the freelance careers to make nicer home offices, or to decorate bedrooms for game-obsessed teenagers. 

Most of the items are very "gamer" focused, like the controller or new computer, but there are also quite a few items that will fit in many different spaces. The rug has lots of neutral swatches that I think will tie in with many different build styles. There's a new Polaroid-style camera that both looks really cute as clutter, but is also functional and allows Sims to take physical photos. You'll see lots of pastel colors and funky references in this Kit, but we tried to make sure every item has a couple neutral swatches to make them usable in more spaces. For example, there's a plant pot with lots of silly face designs, but it also has a plain black and white swatch. 

THE SIMS TEAM: What has been one of the biggest lessons you’ve learned through this process?

KAYLA: It was really cool for me to get a peek behind the curtain and learn more about how The Sims 4 Kits are made. I've gained a new appreciation for little details about The Sims items. We incorporated a lot of special lighting into this Kit since so many of our gaming items light up. Even the tiny little game controller has special lights on it, along with the headphones, mouse, keyboard and the new PC case item. It's a small detail, but the lights move and change on those items much like you'd see in real life. I've also learned that The Sims team really likes the word "cozy."

THE SIMS TEAM: Tell us about your idea of a "gamer.”  How did this influence the Kit when thinking about Simmers as "gamers"?

KAYLA: I've always considered myself a gamer, but I mostly only play cozy games. Unfortunately, a lot of the wider gaming community tends to look down upon games like that. The classic "gamer" stereotype leaves out a lot of people who love video games, and I don't think it applies to the average Simmer. I like to think of this Kit as a love letter to Simmers. The goal was to give them the ability to recreate their gaming setups and their real spaces in the game.

The Sims 4 Comfy Gamer Kit is available for purchase for EA app™, Epic Games Store and Steam®, PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4, Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One systems.