As we have previously discussed on this blog, playing video games is a good way to deal with/distract yourself from depression. I've been playing the Sims 4 and since I don't have any place else to share this, I am going to share some Sims 4 challenges that I have come up with. I don't know if any of my readers play the Sims or follow the Sims, but if you do, you probably know that it's a very open ended game and it's fun, for a while, but then if you don't have something to make your Sims do or cope with, it's not any kind of a challenge. The 100 baby challenge is very popular right now, where you make your Sim have as many babies as you can and then when she gets too old, you choose her youngest daughter and she has as many babies as she can. I like this one, but I've never made it very far. I get bored before I get anywhere near 100. So, on my own, I came up with the 26 baby challenge. Have 1 baby for each letter of the alphabet and name them that way, Archer, Becca, Caleb … etc. This would have the same rules as the 100 baby challenge otherwise.
Here are a few of my other ideas, not completely fleshed out as all the rules go, but the community can come up with those, I'm sure.
1.
Homeless challenge. This one has already been done, but the way I do it may be a little different. I get the Sim a lot, but no home. He or she has an aspiration of having a mansion. They can work or earn money by freelancing, gathering produce, fishing or whatever. They can invite themselves to picnics that other sims are having in the park and go to the gym to take a shower. As they earn money, they can build a home. The first home I usually build for them is just a little room with a toilet in it, because that seems like the most important thing. Then we progress to a toilet, a bed and a fridge. Before the bed, they have to sleep on park benches. When they get the mansion baron aspiration completed, you win.
Variation one: After they get a decent sized home, they can (if you want) have them run a homeless shelter, by taking in town Sims and giving them makeovers, getting them skills, maybe a 5 in 3 different skills and moving them out. It's a lot of fun giving these people makeovers. :-)
Variation two: They can start out as a homeless single parent, with a baby or toddler, child or teenager or they can have a partner and be an entire homeless family. You will need to have baby and toddler essentials.
Variation three: They inherit a mansion but no furniture or furnishings of any kind. They are penniless at the beginning but they can fish, work, garden, gather, freelance or anything to earn the furnishings of the home. Mansion baron aspiration.
Variation four: You do a 10 or 5 or 3 minute challenge build for them (depending on how good you are). All the house you can build in your limited minutes is what they get to live in. Then, take away all their remaining money and they have to figure out how to get by until they can get their house finished.
Gardener Challenge: Get one of every kind of plant that exists in the Sims 4 game version that you own (except the cowplant - you don' t have to go there). There's a list here.
https://www.carls-sims-4-guide.com/skills/gardening/#plant-list You could also just gather, say, 15 different types of plants and have them growing in your yard. Harvestable plants are growing all over the place. They sparkle so they're easy to find. You can eat them or plant them.
Dicey Decisions: Get a set of D&D dice and roll them to make ALL of your decisions. What hairstyle, what aspirations, what décor, etc. It's very fun and you may enjoy some of the choices you would have ordinarily made on your own.
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