15 challenges to try in The Sims 4

2 days ago 3

The Sims 4 is filled with endless customization options, worlds to explore, people to build relationships with, and virtual lives to live out. However, it’s easy to get bogged down in routine and grow restless, even in a virtual world.

Constantly coming up with new things to try is a daunting and tiring responsibility, and imagination burnout is an entirely real possibility. If you want something to combat the pressure of coming up with your own storylines or ideas, then other players have always got your back.

The Sims 4 community is filled with incredibly clever players who come up with challenges and share them for others to complete, providing the rules and structure that even the most laid-back of players sometimes desperately need. From legacy-based challenges to those that almost cross the line into too dark, here are 15 excellent challenges to try if you’re looking to break the monotony of life in The Sims.

Eras Legacy Challenge by Viniciusvill and Grenesims

Legacy challenges are nothing new to The Sims players. They were around long before The Sims 4 was released and remain the most popular and common type of challenge to this day. For the purposes of this list, I’ve tried to steer away from legacy-type challenges, but the Eras Legacy Challenge is just too good not to mention, especially for anyone who can even remotely describe themselves as a Swiftie.

The premise is simple and familiar: 10 generations of the same family, each with specific aspirations and traits, following rules designated for the specific generation. However, Viniciusvill and Grenesims have linked each generation to a Taylor Swift album, with all of the rules and guidelines reflecting the style and content of the album itself and the ‘era’ that Taylor was going through at the time.

Rags to Riches by James Turner

The Rags to Riches Challenge in The Sims 4

James Turner is a name that will be on this list more than once because he’s responsible for a large number of challenges that have appeared in The Sims for years now. He’s even done playthroughs of his own challenges on his YouTube channel, where you can also find very impressive speed builds to binge. There are no official “rules” for this one, but the idea is easy to grasp.

The concept of Rags to Riches is simple. You start out with nothing by emptying out your Sim’s money supply and demolishing their house, and then you use what you have available to build your riches. You start out by collecting things around the world and selling them, quickly working your way towards buying an easel or similar skill-building item, until you’ve worked your way to being wealthy. It’s harder than it sounds, but the challenge is what makes it fun, and rewarding.

Big Sister Challenge by Poballa

Remember when I said that some of these challenges border on being too dark? Well strap in, because the Big Sister Challenge is just the beginning. It’s extremely similar to the Rags to Riches Challenge, but it throws in a spot of murder and a couple of struggling children. To complete the challenge, you need to have a teenager and a child alone on a lot together, which is impossible to do if you don’t have mods to enable it, but that’s where the murder comes in.

You create a family with a parent, a teenager, and a child. Then, you kill the parent in whatever way you see fit and must have the teenager work to provide for and look after the child. The teenager cannot interact with adults until they become one themselves, they can’t go to school, and you have to start on a 20×15 bulldozed lot. I told you, this one is pretty dark, but it’s weirdly rewarding to see the teenager succeed.

Beach Chaos Challenge by Cometstales

The Beach Chaos Challenge does require you to have the Island Living expansion pack, but outside of that, the rules are simple. This challenge sees you living out an entire life as one Sim who never leaves Sulani, with specific actions that must be performed during each stage of life, such as creating a club during your childhood, or becoming estranged from your child during old age.

While none of this is particularly hard to complete on its own, you have to consider that your Sim could die at any moment in a bizarre, unforeseen accident. You also have to consider that Sims don’t always do as they’re told, and the life stages seem remarkably short when you have to complete certain things within their time frame. It’s easier said than done, but it’s fun to try.

Off the Grid Challenge

It’s unclear who originally came up with the concept of the Off the Grid Challenge, and it seems to have sprung up in light of the popularity of a poll from The Sims 4 themselves. However, even without someone to pin it on, the Off the Grid Challenge has become a hugely popular one, and it’s easy to see why. It tests your ability to live without electricity or other outside energy sources. You can play it with just the base game, but it is worth noting that the Eco Lifestyle and Cottage Living packs make it a lot easier thanks to their inclusion of lots of Off the Grid-specific items.

The challenge itself is simple, requiring you to begin with one sim and build up a community of people living entirely off the grid using items that don’t require outside energy, and toilets that aren’t connected to any form of outside waste disposal. There’s a long list of rules for this challenge, and it’s worth checking them fully to understand what you’re truly getting into before you dive in.

Every Occult Challenge by James Turner

The Every Occult Challenge in The Sims 4

I told you he’d be on this list a few times, and James Turner’s Every Occult Challenge definitely deserves to be here. There are seven different Occult Sims in The Sims 4, at least ones that you can actually live with, and this challenge calls for you to eventually end up living in a house shared with one Sim from each Occult.

You start out with just your Sim, and you cannot create any Occult Sims for your household. Instead, you need to go out into the world and complete the different tasks that unlock each Occult. Then, you need to get them living with you one way or another. Each Occult has its own requirements and methods, and you also need to abide by the other rules, such as temporary states, as well.

Alien Adoption Challenge by Pinstar

The Alien Adoption Challenge in The Sims 4

The Alien Adoption Challenge is unlike most other entries (aside from the next one) on this list, because it relies on your own willpower to prevent you from controlling the star of the challenge itself, an Alien toddler. The only input you ever get over the Aliens’ life comes when creating it, and then once it reaches Young Adulthood.

You’ll need three packs if you want to try this challenge for yourself: Parenthood, Get to Work, and City Living. If you have any form of control issues, this is definitely not the challenge for you. The Alien Toddler can never be your active sim, so you will have absolutely no idea what it needs or wants. All of the Aliens’ care must be carried out through the parent and sheer guesswork.

Seven Toddler Challenge by James Turner

The Seven Toddlers Challenge in The Sims 4

Back at it again, James Turner created this short but infuriating challenge back in 2017, and if you’re a parent or have any experience whatsoever with even one toddler, the name “Seven Toddlers Challenge” will already have you feeling on edge.

The saving grace of this challenge is that you can hire a Nanny and use money cheats, but that’s where the happiness ends. You create one adult sim and then use the randomize tool to create seven toddlers, each of which needs to have a different trait to the others. You can never control the toddlers, and everything must be done through the adult. It sounds like hell, and it is hell, but definitely worth a try if you’re looking for something to test your patience or parenting skills.

The Room Challenge by Katoregama

The Mansion Baron achievement is earned when a Sim has a house worth 350,000 Simoleons, and has purchased 20 columns. That’s pretty simple if you go at it without added rules, but The Room Challenge takes this requirement and makes it near impossible, although not completely so.

The Room Challenge calls for you to create a Sim with any trait except ‘Loner’, move them into an 8×8 room or house, and then remove the door. They’re now stuck in this tiny room, with no option to leave and zero contact with other Sims. Then, while in this room and without leaving, they must achieve the Mansion Baron Aspiration. Definitely a challenge, and fun to do it under such stringent limitations.

Breed out the Weird Challenge

As with the Off the Grid Challenge, it’s damn near impossible to figure out who first came up with this idea, but it’s been a constant presence in the list of popular challenges ever since. It’s all to do with creating the most bizarre-looking Sim you can, and then having children for generations until they start to look less crazy.

There have been many names for this challenge over the years, including both “Breed out the Ugly” and “Weird to Normal”, but the premise is exactly the same. It’s remarkably difficult to get rid of the less aesthetically pleasing aspects of your original Sim, and hard not to get attached to them in all their weirdness, but this challenge benefits from having no specific endpoint, simply ending when you’re happy with your eventual “normal” looking Sim.

Asylum Challenge by Simswithcheese

Although Simswithcheese rewrote the rules of the Asylum Challenge to make them compatible with The Sims 4, the original idea emerged for The Sims 2, created by Scout, was revamped for The Sims 3 by Black S5678, and then revamped again for The Sims 4 by Simswithcheese. Regardless, the rules are the same and the challenge remains both stressful and rewarding in equal measure.

To set up this challenge, you need to create eight Sims with the ‘Insane’ trait and then put them together on one lot, or Asylum, if you will. You only get to control one of them, designated the “main Sim”, and the others must not be clicked on at all. The aim of the challenge is to “fix” the main sim, and prove that they’re fit to rejoin society and escape the Asylum.

The No Buy Challenge by MissTrips

Like The Room Challenge, the No Buy Challenge also ends when you meet the requirements for the Mansion Baron Aspiration, but this one adds in the rule of not being able to use Buy Mode outside of buying the initial indoor and outdoor trash cans, and a mailbox. That’s it. No more furniture or items can be purchased. Ever.

From that point, you’re freely allowed to use Build Mode, but never Buy Mode. You’ll need to learn to build furniture, or use items in the world that are readily available to you, such as showers at the gym or benches that you can sleep on, to survive. You can befriend the Pancakes and use their Woodworking Bench, or earn items through careers, but you can never buy what you need. Tricky, but not impossible.

Black Widow Challenge by Simalot

I’ve purposefully saved the darkest couple of challenges for near the end of this list, starting with the Black Widow Challenge. Like the Black Widow spider kills its partner after mating, the Black Widow Challenge is all about killing off husbands, and you need to kill 10 of them in order to complete the challenge. The concept originated in The Sims 2, which had an achievement of the same name for killing 5 spouses.

There are multiple different difficulty levels you can choose for this challenge, including the Legendary difficulty that challenges you to complete the objectives before reaching the Adult life stage. We all know that Sims die accidentally all too easily, but killing them off on purpose? That’s easier said than done.

Serial Killer Challenge by Perihelion

The Serial Killer Challenge in The Sims 4

Perihelion actually designed the Serial Killer Challenge for The Sims 3, but it has transferred to The Sims 4 with ease and although it is incredibly dark, it’s one of the more fun challenges to complete because it comes with an entire points system. Killing multiple Sims at once will earn you bonus points, while escaped intended victims will lose you points from your overall score.

The aim of the challenge is to kill as many Sims as you can in a certain amount of time, and they can’t be Sims you’ve created, either. You’ll need to go out and lure your victims back to your lot, and then kill them there. Again, actively trying to kill Sims never goes as you plan, and this one is harder to complete with a high score than it first seems.

Random Challenge by James Turner

To save us from the darkness of the previous two challenges, James Turner has a page on his website dedicated to his Random Challenge Generator. If none of the challenges I’ve mentioned previously float your boat, or you’ve already completed something similar, you can always use this generator to come up with a challenge entirely unique to you.

You can pick specific types of challenges, such as a Tiny Lot challenge or Single Pack, choose which packs you own, and the generator will come up with something for you to try. These aren’t long-lasting or particularly hard to complete, but they are fun if you’re looking for something to break the monotony of your usual gameplay style, and they can kick-start your creativity in the case of burnout.

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