The Sims 2: Holiday Party Pack was the first stuff pack released for The Sims 2, arriving on November 17, 2005. It added over 40 holiday and winter-themed objects to the game, along with seasonal parties and a visit from Santa Claus himself.
In the UK, this pack was sold under the name The Sims 2: Christmas Party Pack.
What's in the pack
Holiday Party Pack is built around decorating and celebrating. Sims can fill their homes with stockings, mistletoe, snowmen, wreaths, and winter-themed paintings. Outside, there are Christmas lights, frosted windows, and reindeer lawn ornaments to complete the look.
A Christmas tree sits at the center of the holiday experience. Sims can dress up as Santa or Mrs. Claus, and Santa will arrive on Christmas Eve to visit celebrating households. The pack also includes a holiday feast and New Year's Eve parties with fireworks.
Beyond the Christmas content, the pack bundles in previously released seasonal favorites from Easter, Chanukah, Kwanzaa, and Halloween. Twelve of the included objects originally came from The Sims 2 Holiday Giveaway promotion.
Holiday Party Pack vs. Happy Holiday Stuff
EA later reissued this pack as The Sims 2: Happy Holiday Stuff, which included everything from Holiday Party Pack plus additional items. The original Holiday Party Pack shipped with The Sims 2 Holiday Edition (2005), while the Happy Holiday Stuff version was bundled into the 2006 Holiday Edition.
Players who own Happy Holiday Stuff already have the full Holiday Party Pack content and then some.
The killer reindeer
One object from this pack earned a reputation that outlasted the pack itself. The Reindeer Lawn Ornament can be petted by Sims, but doing so occasionally causes electric shocks. Those shocks can be fatal, making it one of the few decorative items in the entire game capable of killing a Sim.
The original US release also came packaged in a cardboard sleeve instead of a standard plastic DVD case, which makes surviving copies a minor collector's curiosity today.
More Sims 2 on SimGoodie
For more classic Sims 2 coverage, check out our Nostalgia Sunday: The Sims 2 University feature.
