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An island nestled in the Simuyan Sea, Barnacle Bay is a vibrant vacation getaway with stunning beaches, campgrounds, parks, and a curiously modern downtown. First settled by pirates, fisherman, and artists – the world’s inhabitants now enjoy relaxing at Smuggler’s Beach and letting loose at The Wanderer’s Watering Hole. Will Your trip be a vacation or a staycation?
This is how Barnacle Bay is described on the Barnacle Bay page of the official The Sims 3 website.
But is it really a lovely and beautiful island for The Sims 3?
Is it worth your 1650 Simpoints you have to pay in order to get it?
(This review is based on the Dutch version of Barnacle Bay so most familynames, streetnames, names of the lots and so on are in Dutch.)
Like we already said: Barnacle Bay is an island in the middle of the sea, the screen above shows you that the island contains of two parts.
At the bottom of the island, next to the Barnacle Bay beach, you can find the town part.
Surrounding this there is a big environmental area with a lot of green.
When you buy Barnacle Bay you will also receive some clothing, build items and objects. Every items is of course linked to the Pirate theme.
You have to pay 1650 Simpoints for Barnacle Bay, in euro’s this means you have to pay € 16,50.
THE TOWN
In the middle of the town there is a square: ‘Plezierboot Plaza’ and like any other central square in The Sims 3, it is pretty big.
On the left of the square you can find the ‘Verkuyl Openbaar Theater’, ‘Divisadero Budget Boeken’, ‘de Goudbaards Sporthal’ and the Policestation. ‘Goudbaards Sporthal’ really is one of the most ugliest buildings I have ever seen in The Sims 3.
On the right some of the buildings are the ‘Immerverse Lekkernijen Supermarkt’, ‘Bistro Klein Corsica’, and the ‘Zeeschuimers Kroeg’. This ‘Zeeschuimers Kroeg’ is open for visitors, although it looks a bit unfinished.
Next to the ‘Plezierboot Plaza’ there is the ‘Gemeentehuis’, the ‘Dubbelduo Kantoortorens’, the ‘Openbare School voor Hoogbegaafden’, the ‘Heilige Hart Ziekenhuis’ and the ‘Lama Stadion’. I think we all know these public places of the other neighborhoods.
The other workplaces form a big cirkel, this contains: the ‘Wetenschapslab Landgraaf B.V.’, the ‘Brave Burgers Pakhuis’ and ‘Legerbasis Fort Kabouter’.
Under the ‘Plezierboot Plaza’ there is the Barnacle Beach with the Hogan’s Deep Sea Diner shaped like a pirate ship. It is a beautiful restaurant and this also takes us to the minus point of this part of the island: The pirate ship is the most beautiful place of the town.
The whole town part is a failed mix and match and it looks like it has been made really quickly and noone paid attention to the details. Some buildings are ugly like the ‘Goudbaards Sporthal’, and it looks as if the team which created this neighborhood didn’t feel like making this part fun and exciting. There hasn’t been paid attention to the details of the plants, streets, warningsigns, and so on.
This is really a waste because the rest of the island, which we will discuss later on, is beautiful and with a lot of nice details.
THE COUNTRYSIDE
The more country like part of Barnacle Bay can be found on the other side of the island, it surrounds the ‘Goudsbaards Galerie’ which you can see on the screenshot above, in the middle. The gallery itself is a bit disappointing but on the inside there is enough space to place more art.
All of the houses look a bit country and there is so there is a home for anyone. There are some farms with lots of ground surrounding it, for example.
Of course there a few big houses: the one more beautiful than the other, although modern still lovely to see. You can find houses for different kinds of families, for different prices and enough space to build something yourself.
PARKS, CEMETERIES AND BEACHES
Barnacle Bay isn’t a place to be if your Sims like to party, it’s more a neighborhood for families with growing up children or elderly Sims who wants to have a calm life. Je can find beautiful parks, cemeteries, beaches, fishing spots and your Sims can’t, if they want, encounter neighbors for days.
One of the most beautiful spots is probably the cemeterie: ‘Dode Mannen Zeggen Niets’. You need to find out if there are only men buried there yourself. But the ‘Kraaiennest Camping’ and the ‘Uitkijkpark’ are nice places where your Sims can come to peace and the children have enough space to play.
Another nice area, which we have seen many times on screens before you could buy Barnacle Bay, is the ‘Plundervijver’ with its huge waterfall.
There are pretty much public lots with nice name as ‘Het Jutters Strans’, ‘Landrotten Bank’, ‘Piraten Schuilplaats’ and ‘Tuin der Vergetenen’.
All of these houses and public places can be found in streets which also have pirate names like ‘Zeeschuimerweg’, ‘Oude Visserpas’, ‘Harington’, ‘Kielhaal Park’, ‘Zeeroversnest’, ‘Goudbaard Kruising’, ‘Zoutwater Pier’ and the somewhat strange square ‘Krekwakwou Plein’. Is ‘Krekwakwou’ the scream of an old parrot which had too much rum?
THE HOUSEHOLDS OF BARNACLE BAY
In every neighborhood of The Sims 3 there are a few households to be found, and in Barnacle Bay there is no exception. There are around 25 till 30 households to be found and there is a lot of varation: every one can pick the one he or she likes. There a single Sims, friends who live together, families with or without children, elderly singles, couples and so on.
Not all the families have names which has to do with pirates, or living on an island, but a lot of them do. Here are a few of them: Inkbeard, ‘Hens’, ‘Vloot’, ‘Landrot’, ‘laMer’, Goldbeard, ‘Zeebodem’ en Coastal family.
I will discuss two family in short: There rest, 25-30, other households you need to discover yourself.
The Goldbeard family lives in Villa El Pirato at 438 Tidal Terrace and contains 7 Sims. Eleanor lives there with her brother Minty and her much younger sister Marabel. Eleanor has two children, Tobias a son and Anne her daughter. Tobias has children too, Coral and Kidd.
While most of the families are waiting outside their house if you start this neighborhood, is this Household reading a book at the ‘Plezierboot Plaza’.
The description of the Goldbeard family:
Not only are The Goldbeards the wealthiest family for nautical miles, they are also the most socially and politically connected. Most people overlook how they built their family wealth.
This is a family for the more experienced Simmers, because this household has 7 Sims and will be a challenge.
~ – ~ – ~
A lot easier to play with is the Household of Rose Rome, she lives at 18 Wanderer’s Way. She lives alone and although she is a elderly lady, she still is very interesting: Not only because her appearance but also because of her criminal career
The description of the Rome family:
Rose is somewhat of a gypsy in how she dresses and acts. Her small cottage is crammed with all kinds of odd knick knacks, some of which she claims she “found” on the beach.
And she also has a boyfriend: Willie McKellar who is a real heartbreaker. Is there love in the air?
THE SECRETS OF BARNACLE BAY
Barnacle Bay also has a few secrets: no huge ones, more a few ‘hidden’ basements. We are willing to share one of those places with you: you can find it at the ‘Piraten Schuilplaats’, take the stairs down and there you find the basement. Perhaps it is a good idea to visit it by day because there are a lot of urns down there. There is a chest to be found, but do not expect a lot of pirate treasure, you can only find some old toys.
OUR VERDICT OF BARNACLE BAY
LotsOfNothing
I haven’t bought Barnacle Bay because I think it’s way to expensive, and I think the neighborhood looks a lot like Sunset Valley. The pirate theme isn’t really my cup of tea but the lots look nice. At least, as far as I can judge from what I have seen. I think this neighborhood will give nice screenshots. I would perhaps buy it if it was cheaper.
FranSor
I didn’t buy the new town, but I do like the idea of a pirate city a lot. But we only have to wait a little bit longer and then we will get another new town with Late Night. I think I would like to play as a pirate, but only for a while. After 5 times I would like to play the ‘normal’ wat again.
I_mJimmy
I believe Barnacle Bay a beautiful town, but to expensive if we look at what it adds to your game. There are tons of worlds created by gamers, some of them even nicer than this one. And above all, they are free. I also don’t really like the pirate theme, that is why I didn’t buy this neighborhood.
Snateraar
First I have to discover Twinbrook, because I often select Riverview as neighborhood. That is the reason I won’t buy this town. (And I agree with Jimmy, other players make beautiful neighborhoods)
Bakie
I also did not buy it. The reason is that I don’t really ‘play’ the game, I only create and build. And I don’t think I should pay for those few extra items. I also think it doesn’t look very special, on the clips I saw.
hiki
It seems like I am the only member of the S3N Team who purchased the neigborhood and, except for the center, I like it. But at the moment I play with a family which wants to live a calm life and wants to save money for the next generation who will live in Bridgeport in a big penthouse. And, although it could be a bug, there are almost no minerals and butterflies/bugs to find. For me this neighborhood is just a place to be until Late Night is released: then I will be out of here. It’s too bad that EA didn’t include the Bucaneer’s Bounty items. It would match perfectly and perhaps more people would have bought the neighborhood because Barnacle Bay really is expansive.