Hi, I’m Jason Sterling. The holidays are here. It’s a time to enjoy meals and celebration with family and friends, expressing love, joy and togetherness. However, if you’re like me, you get tired of pretending to have fun, like that and instead want some REAL FUN in the Sims 4 with build contests!
Time off for the holidays is the perfect time to join your fellow Simmers in a build contest on the Sims Forums. I have my big three contests here. I think all of them can help you get into building if you’re a new builder. They can also challenge and expand your skills if you are an experienced builder. You can go to each challenge directly from the links below. As well, have you ever dreamed of getting a Maxis Fave for something you have built. This is a great way to pursue that. Often the favorites you see on the Gallery are culled directly from the contests on the Forums where they are easy for the Gurus to see and identify. All three of my Maxis faves have come from this source.
The Oldest- “Build-n-Share”: Build-n-Share Sims 4 / Build-n-Share Sims 3
This contest has been around a long time. It started with the Sims 3. In fact BnS continues to host Sims 3 challenges to this day. It was natural to create a Sims 4 version too. You play the part of an architect and designer. The challenge is to fulfill the wishes of the various clients of your practice. You have a budget, some design guidelines and often a backstory of who you are designing for. This holds true for most challenges. Further, this contest is cosmetics driven and relies entirely on the pictures you supply of your build. The judges do not download and play test these entries. Therefore, you are allowed to use Custom Content on these challenges. That’s a big appeal for some.
The Toughest- “Quality Control”: Quality Control Contest / Quality Control Create a Room / Quality Control Monthly Contest
It is a tougher contest and that’s why it’s great. I have learned more from these challenges than any other. That’s a big part of its appeal. It operates on far more than just cosmetics. The judges download and play test every room for play ability. Does everything work? Is a chair sticking through the wall? These things and more are investigated for scoring in this contest. Don’t worry however if you are a novice builder. They judge and score on three different levels- Intermediate (Novice)/ Experienced and Advanced. You can also enter unofficially to share your creations with others without being judged and considered for the contest. There are three versions of this contest. The first two links for this contest have a two week time frame. The monthly version is a non-judged just for fun entry. So, if you’re nervous, you can always try that one first.
The Nicest- Rosemow’s “One room, One week, One Theme”: One room, One week, One theme
Despite it’s reputation I find most everyone on the Sims Forum and certainly within the creative posts to be nice. However, there is one person that stands out in their exceptional ability to have a positive attitude and a helpful demeanor in all situations, Rosemow. She oversees the One Week/ One Theme/ One Room Contest. This can be a great challenge for beginners as the time frame is manageable and so is the size of the challenge. The themes are always delightful. So to are Rosemows reviews and always kind words. As well, if you have ever been afraid to approach the infamous forums and it’s unruly band of miscreants then start here. You’ll be pleasantly surprised by everyone you meet. The same can in fact be said of all the challenges shown.
I hope you’ll try one or all of these contests to add another dimension to your Sims play. Do you know of any other contests or challenges on the Forums, Facebook or anywhere else. Please feel free to share them in comments. I’d love to check them out. Visit me on Twitter @JasonSterling70
