hello!! the mods that change my gameplay the most rn are education overhaul and health redux by adeepindigo and relationship & pregnancy overhaul and first impressions by lumpinou! i also have mc command center and ui cheats which are both must-haves imo. i MUCH prefer mccc's story progression to neighbourhood stories so i always let mccc do it's thing and turn off neighbourhood stories lol

i also use a lot of small mods from littlemssam (like can i come over and simda). other small mods i have that are really good are lotharihoe's phonecall overhaul (changes phonecalls in the game in a way that feels way more realistic and fun) and grannie's cookbook (more recipes!!)

im also considering download lumpinou's lgbtqia mod...and their talents & weaknesses mod....imo basically anything by lumpinou and adeepindigo is really great and a good place to start. they update pretty regularly too so u dont have to worry about their mods being broken for too long after every new patch. ANYWAY lmk if u want links or help or anything for any of these <3