The next expansion of The Sims 4 lets you play as the Grim Reaper

The Sims4The next expansion is scheduled for Halloween and, as is fitting for such a spooky season, the expansion is all about the specter of death. On Thursday, Electronic Arts released some more information about what players can expect Life and deatha new expansion featuring the city of Ravenwood, new mortality-related gameplay objectives, and a chance to become the Grim Reaper.

Sims have always been able to die – usually in ridiculous ways, like getting chewed by a cow plant, or crushed by a folding bed – but Life and death adds a lot more content around that tragic event. Sims can now write bucket lists and embark on a Soul’s Journey, a series of rewards earned by living the most fulfilling life possible. The ultimate reward is rebirth, where you come back into the world as a child Sim with milestones already unlocked.

Some Sims prefer the ghost life, and Life and death allows Sims to remain playable postmortem, as ghosts. A ghost Sim might be up for a spooky Woohoo with their living partner, while a crazier Sim might become more of a prankster.

There are also two new careers for Sims to pursue. Undertaker’s career includes digging graves, embalming bodies and helping families grieve alongside Sims. Funeral directors can eventually graduate to one of two branches: mortician or mortician. The second new career allows Sims to don the iconic mantle of the Grim Reaper. First they start out as Grimterns (a portmanteau of Grim and intern) in the Netherworld Department of Death. Longtime Sims players have probably had a fight with the Grim Reaper to try to save a beloved Sim. As the Grim Reaper, the player can choose who will come back to life and who will be taken to the afterlife.

The expansion pack is also packed with smaller features related to life and death: horror novels, ghost historians, a thanatology skill, wills, funeral events or death by murder of crows. More details can be found in Electronic Arts’ blog post, but overall it looks like the next Sims 4 expansion will fulfill some long-standing player fantasies surrounding death, rebirth, and soul harvesting.