This expansion pack introduces various activities that have potential to bring happiness, new friendships, and even a profit of cold hard Simoleans to Sims characters with idle hands. New pastime activities include sports such as basketball and soccer, dancing, hiking, and other physical activities, arts and crafts such as pottery or cooking, and even recreations such as stargazing or video gaming. A Sim's dedication to a chosen hobby can unlock new aspirations and life goals, reveal new "secret" lots in the neighborhood, and may even lead to new career paths. As with other Sims 2 skills and activities, part of the fun is in watching characters develop and improve. The first few tries at pottery may yield ugly, lopsided vessels, or the rookie hiker may accidentally wander into a patch of poison ivy, but such early setbacks only serve to make later successes sweeter. Accomplished artists and craftspeople can sell their works for good money, amateur chefs can enter their signature dishes in cook-off contests, and even dedicated video gamers can join tournaments to prove their pixelated prowess.