There are a variety of lot traits and challenges available in The Sims 4 that can change a player’s experience with the game. Depending on the chosen traits and challenges, a Sim can build certain skills quicker, experience interesting random events, or gain different moodlets. However, lot traits and challenges don’t always have positive effects.
As the name suggests, challenges offer players the chance to create a more challenging Sims experience, but the lot traits associated with challenges are often pretty terrible. They can create negative moodlets, unpleasant surroundings, or even cause death if not dealt with. Here’s what players need to know about them.
Related
27 Challenges To Make Playing The Sims 4 More Interesting
If you’re looking for a way to make The Sims 4 more entertaining and difficult, try these awesome challenges.
8 Quake Zone
Shake It Up
- Game Pack: City Living
- In-Game Description: “Occasionally there’s a minor termor here. Probably nothing to worry about…”
Quake Zone is a challenge that can be applied to a lot, but it is also automatically applied to certain homes in the City Living game pack. Random earthquakes are pretty cool to see in The Sims 4, as the whole screen will shake. However, it will apply a Scared or Tense moodlet to any Sims in the vicinity, while also breaking various household appliances.
It isn’t the worst trait to have, and it does have some positives thanks to the cool earthquake effect. Still, it is an inconvenience for players trying to maintain positive moodlets for their Sims.
7 Volcanic Activity
A Stressful Vacation
- Game Pack:Island Living
- In-Game Description: “This lot is near an active volcano! Beware of earthquakes, steam vents, and occasional lava bombs.”
This lot challenge is similar to the Quake Zone trait, but it goes much further than a simple tremor that will freak out a player’s Sims. As well as eruptions that will randomly rattle, steam vents will rise from cracks in the ground and lava bombs will rain down from the sky. Lava bombs can destroy anything that you have placed outside, and if a Sim touches one before it cools down, they can die by fire. Sims will also get Tense moodlets when they feel the tremors from the volcanic activity.
There are positives to be had from Volcanic Activity, as Sims can collect the lava bombs once they have cooled down and make decorations out of them. However, the negative moodlets and the possibility of death and destruction make this a stressful lot trait.
6 Creepy Crawlies
Bugged Out
- Game Pack: Jungle Adventure
- In-Game Description: “It seems that some creepy pests have taken up residence here. Be prepared; when they hit you’ll never see them coming!
This trait that randomly cause swarms of bees, bats, or spiders to descend upon the Sims in the lot. This can be dealt with if the Sim in question has repellent sprays in their inventory, as they will automatically defend themselves. This will lead to a positive moodlet too, which is always a good thing.
If a Sim doesn’t have the necessary items, then they get negative moodlets instead, including moodlets that make them Tense or Uncomfortable. Creepy Crawlies is a nuisance of a lot challenge, not to mention one that might freak out players that aren’t too fond of random bugs appearing in their home.
5 Grody
Vomit Inducing
- Game Pack: City Living
- In-Game Description: “Sims have a chance to get nauseous when eating, drinking, or using the bathroom.”
This next lot trait will give any Sims on the lot a 33% chance of gaining the Nauseous moodlet when drinking, eating, or using the toilet. Even if the lot itself is as clean as a whistle, this trait will make nausea a common occurrence among the Sims in the area.
There’s not much else to this trait, with no positives to be had. All players will get here are nauseous Sims, making it one of the worst traits a lot can have (unless there are players who are particularly fond of watching their Sims suffer with a bad stomach).
4 Gremlins
Chaotic Critters
- Game Pack: City Living
- In-Game Description: “Stuff breaks here a lot. It’s like there are tiny goblins that come out at night and smash things…but that’s ridiculous, right?”
With this challenge, items on the lot will break at midnight every night. Even if a Sim has a high Handiness skill, it can be incredibly frustrating to have to keep fixing all the broken plumbing and appliances that these naughty little monsters destroy.
This trait would at least be a little amusing if there was some kind of animation that showed the gremlins causing problems, but unfortunately, this isn’t the case. It could be an interesting trait for players who want to put their handiness skills into practice or level them quickly. But otherwise, there isn’t much to this challenge other than being a constant source of frustration.
3 Filthy
Ya Filthy Animal
- Game Pack: City Living
- In-Game Description: “From clogged sewers to grimy counters, this place seems to get dirty really quickly.”
Having to clean in The Sims 4 can be annoying and time-consuming, just like in real life. Most of us play games to avoid doing those kinds of tasks, so why would we want to spend gaming time doing them too? The Filthy lot challenge makes cleaning ten times more irritating, as every cleanable item in the game will become dirty twice as quickly.
Players can hire maids or butlers to help them out, but it’s going to cost hard-earned Simoleons. Sims will start to get negative moodlets when they are surrounded by too much dirt and grime, so it will be more difficult to keep them happy with this challenge. There’s nothing positive to be had here, unless there are players out there who enjoy the cleaning aspect of The Sims 4.
2 Mold
Moldy Mayhem
- Game Pack:For Rent
- In-Game Description: “There is a dampness in the air here that just doesn’t feel right. Keep puddles mopped, trash from overflowing and plumbing objects clean or mold piles will start to appear, and beware of the deadly black mold pile!”
Mold narrowly beats out Filthy due to it being potentially deadly if left untreated. Two kinds of mold can appear if players don’t regularly clean or take out the trash: Black Mold and Allergenic Mold. Allergenic Mold is green and has a speckled texture. It can cause Sims to become Dazed when exposed to it for too long, and they develop a condition called Sporeosis. When Sims are Dazed, they can’t focus and are likely to fail when trying to complete tasks. Sporeosis can last a long time if the Allergenic Mold isn’t dealt with.
Related
The Unwritten Rules of The Sims 4 Explained
he Sims 4 has had a dedicated player base for nearly a decade and what might come naturally to them may not be so intuitive to newcomers.
Black Mold is where the deadly aspect of the Mold lot challenge comes in. If a Sim is exposed to too much Black Mold, they will start to grow mushrooms on their body and eventually die. But the Mold’s effects don’t end there. The deceased Sim can then become a Mold Ghost, spreading the mushrooms and spores from beyond the grave. Keeping Mold in check can be a stressful situation and can lead to multiple deaths, making it one of the worst lot challenges.
1 Cursed
Who Do You Voodoo
- Game Pack:City Living
- In-Game Description: “Lots of things seem to go wrong here.”
Last but not least is the Cursed lot trait. With this challenge, everything that can go wrong is likely to go wrong. Sims have a chance to become voodoo’d when they are on a Cursed lot, meaning they will constantly have Tense and Uncomfortable moodlets that can last a lot longer than usual. Their needs will decay much faster, and they have a greater chance of dying from fire, exhaustion, or electrocution.
Not only does this lot trait make Sims miserable, but it’s also guaranteed to make the player miserable as they struggle to keep their Sims from dying, be it from random fires or a decayed hunger meter. Only the bravest, or the cruelest, of players would be willing to inflict their lot with the Cursed challenge.
Sims 4
- Released
- September 2, 2014
