I’ve been playing the Sims for nearly 20 years now, and in that time, I’ve played tons of challenges. The 10 Sims 4 challenges on this list are my favorite building and gameplay challenges of all time for new and experienced Simmers alike. New Simmers looking for a unique way to learn the game and experienced Simmers who want to try something different are sure to find a Sims 4 challenge on this list to enjoy.
Random Legacy Challenge
The Random Legacy Challenge is an excellent way to get to know the various mechanics of The Sims 4 if you’re a new player. It’s also a fun way for experienced Simmers to break out of the rut of repeatedly playing the same kind of Sim.
In this challenge, your goal is to reach ten generations of one Sim family. You start by creating a founder Sim with any traits and personality you want, but from then on, it’s all up to the dice. You roll a die (or use a tool like this Random Legacy Roller) to determine the main details of that generation’s story – family structure, number of children, career, generational goal, etc.
When your founder’s first child reaches adulthood, the second generation begins, and you reroll to determine their details. The challenge ends when your 10th-generation heir reaches adulthood.
This long-running challenge takes many Simmers years to complete, so don’t plan on getting it all done in one sitting. But do expect to get unexpectedly attached to your Sims as each generation grows up. Check out the Random Legacy Challenge Rules.
Wonder Child Challenge
The Wonder Child Challenge makes the childhood years (normally my least favorite part of The Sims 4) much more rewarding. You start with two adult Sims in a romantic relationship. Before reaching the Elder stage, they must have at least one child together. Their first child is designated their Wonder Child, who will get all their time, attention, and energy. (Sorry, middle children.)
In this short-term challenge, you earn points by completing certain tasks before the Wonder Child becomes a Young Adult. For example, you earn one point for each skill point, 10 for each aspiration, and five for every gold-level birthday party they’ve had.
Once your Wonder Child reaches adulthood and you’ve calculated your score, you’re free to play with them as you like. Move them to their own lot and upload them to the Gallery to share your creation with the world, or start another challenge with them. Some challenges, like the Random Legacy Challenge and the Apocalypse Challenge, allow you to begin with a Wonder Child Sim as a founder, giving you a huge advantage from the start.
Check out the Wonder Child Challenge Rules.
Rags to Riches Challenge
Some Simmers like to live out their wildest dreams in The Sims, while others prefer an uncomfortable dose of reality. If you fall into the latter camp, you’ll love the Rags to Riches Challenge, where you start from the bottom and work your way up.
At first, your Sim starts with an empty lot, and you use cheats to reduce your household funds to §0. Your goal is to have your Sim build a house, start a family, have a successful career, and complete their aspiration during their lifetime. The challenge is that you must complete these steps in a specific order and only after completing certain other tasks first.
For example, before your Sim can get married, they have to have a starter home. But before they can even start building a home, they must have Handiness Level 5, Logic Level 3, and pay §500 for a permit for the noise disturbance.
The Rags to Riches Challenge is one of the more difficult ones, but even new Simmers can have fun with it. Read the official Rags to Riches Challenge Rules here.
Homeless Challenge
The Homeless Challenge is a shorter-term, more advanced version of the Rags to Riches Challenge. In the Homeless Challenge, your goal is to start your Sim with nothing and earn §5,000 to build a house. But you can’t even start building until you have all the money, and – here’s the sadistic part – you can’t get your Sim a traditional job because they don’t have a mailing address.
So, your Sim will collect, fish, craft, and do whatever else it takes to earn just enough money to get by. Meanwhile, without any of the comforts of home, they will need to take advantage of public amenities like showers at the gym, grills at the park, and generous friends’ couches to meet their basic needs.
Read the Homeless Challenge Rules here.
Micro Home Challenge
The Micro Home Challenge is a straightforward building challenge that is deceptively difficult. The challenge’s rules are simple – build a functional home for your Sims with a house footprint of only 25 tiles (5 x 5) and a landscape footprint of 75 tiles (10 x 10, with the house inside it).
Once you’ve completed your build, the challenge is complete. You can share your creations on the Sims Gallery or keep the bragging rights to yourself. With the Tiny Living Stuff Pack, you’ll get additional bonuses for having a micro home, such as increased relationship building, faster skill gain, and lower household bills.
Read the official Micro Home Challenge Rules here.
Dream Home Challenge
The Dream Home Challenge is sort of the opposite of the Micro Home Challenge. In this Sims 4 building challenge, you start by building the shell of a dream home for your Sim. You can either build your own from scratch or gut an existing mansion in the neighborhood. Your goal is to have about §16,000 of exterior drywall walls, concrete floors, and a roof.
Now, your single Young Adult Sim gets to turn this house shell into their dream home on their own income. They’ll build, furnish, and decorate their home in any way they like. They can’t get married, have children, or even move anyone in until they’ve fully built the home’s interior walls, at minimum.
This is a relatively easy challenge without too many complicated rules, which makes it great for new Simmers to get to know the game. Read the Official Dream Home Challenge Rules here.
Build a City Challenge
The Build a City Challenge is an in-depth building and gameplay challenge that impacts just about everything about how you play the game. You start with a Founder Sim in an empty neighborhood by moving into Newcrest or bulldozing lots in an existing neighborhood. Your goal is to build a bustling city full of residential and community lots and connect it to other local neighborhoods.
Your Sim has to complete certain tasks and fulfill certain requirements before they can build different types of lots, join specific careers, or travel to other neighborhoods. For example, no Sim can join the Doctor career until your city has at least five community lots. But you can only have one community lot for every four residential households, so getting there will take a while.
The Build a City Challenge is a great way for new Simmers to experience the many elements of The Sims 4, starting with the free-to-play base game. The rules and limitations get more complex the more expansion packs you own, so now is a great time for new Simmers to get started. Read the Build a City Challenge Rules here.
Asylum Challenge
The Asylum Challenge is a roleplaying challenge for new and experienced Simmers alike. The premise behind this challenge is that your Sim has been wrongfully locked up in an asylum with seven mentally ill Sims. Your goal is to help your Sim achieve two lifetime Aspirations, which is no easy task considering their current predicament.
You start with eight Sims, all of whom must have the Insane trait. One will be your player Sim, while the rest will be strangers who act as NPCs. You can build your asylum from scratch using a limited number of objects, only five skill-building items, and only the cheapest version of each item. Or, if you’d rather just dive in, you can download an asylum from the Gallery using the tag #AsylumChallenge.
Once you’ve got your Sim and their strange new roommates, you’re ready to begin the challenge. Read our guide to the Asylum Challenge here.
Black Widow Challenge
The Black Widow Challenge is more than a little twisted, but you must try it if you’re a little bit on the darker side. You start with a Sim with the following traits: Snob, Materialistic, and Romantic. Set their aspiration to Serial Romantic, and you’re ready to play.
Your Sim’s goal is to meet, marry, cheat on, and murder ten different Sims during their lifetime. Your Black Widow (or Widower) must host a spectacular dinner party to meet and seduce their next victim. When their current spouse catches them cheating, and a fight ensues, the Black Widow must murder them and remarry immediately.
With each new victim, the bodies pile up – quite literally, since you’re not allowed to delete the tombstones or put them in your Sim’s inventory. The Black Widow’s house grows larger and more lavish with every inheritance they collect – but it also grows increasingly haunted.
Murdering Sims is a time-honored tradition among experienced Simmers. Don’t worry; it’s all in good fun. I’m pretty sure it won’t get you sent to The Bad Place or anything. But probably don’t tell your non-Simmer friends that you’re playing this challenge unless you want to get some concerned looks, okay? Check out the Black Widow Challenge Rules.
Apocalypse Challenge
The Apocalypse Challenge is a multi-generational legacy challenge with a menacingly difficult twist. In this challenge, you control a founder Sim who has been given a sparsely furnished, 8-by-8 bunker and asked to help the few remaining Sims repopulate the devastated world.
At first, your Founder is severely limited in what they can do, where they can go, and items they can purchase. Your Sims can lift these restrictions by completing the relevant career track.
For example, due to the rationing of supplies, each household is limited to cooking one meal per day, hot dogs only, and leftovers can’t be refrigerated. A Sim can lift these restrictions by reaching the top of the Chef career track, but each Founder, Heir, or Spouse can only lift one set of constraints during their lifetime.
The Apocalypse Challenge is a fan favorite updated to include some of the more recent Sims 4 Expansion Packs, but it’s a lot easier to start if you’re a new Simmer playing the base game. It’s an extreme long-term challenge that more experienced Simmers can try to shake up their gameplay, too. Check out the updated rules by Florrie64.
Have you tried any of these Sims 4 challenges? Let us know in the comments! And before you go, be sure to check out our other Sims 4 content, including how to pay bills and neighborhood stories.
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(Images via iRiverAmerica)
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