The Sims 4: All About Likes & Dislikes!

Today’s free base game update comes with some exciting new additions to the game, including a new likes and dislikes system! Now your Sims will have their own individual preferences for colours, activities, and music. These preferences will determine how your Sim reacts to various things in their day-to-day life and what they will prefer to do (or not do) when left to act autonomously.

In CAS, you’ll notice a new molecule branching off from the aspiration molecule. This is your likes and dislikes. Click it to open up a menu where you can select from three different categories: colour, music genre, and activities.

You can select what your Sims like and dislike in each category by clicking on either the happy face or sad face below each option. Sims can have multiple likes and dislikes in the same category but make sure you balance them out because they are limited to a total of 20 likes and dislikes combined across all three categories.

Here are all the current likes and dislikes from the base game and all DLC packs listed in the table below:

Even though you are free to max out the number of likes and dislikes your Sim has in CAS, players might want to consider leaving at least a few empty slots. Why? Well, likes and dislikes aren’t restricted to just CAS; Sims can develop new likes and dislikes through gameplay as they go about their lives. This can be a fun way to add some storytelling and variety to your gameplay. It can be a refreshing change of pace to let your Sims take the reins sometimes!

You can always see what your Sim’s likes and dislikes are by going to the Sim Info panel and hovering over the three categories. Don’t be scared of committing to new likes and dislikes; you can change them in CAS anytime you like at the click of a button.

Once you’ve selected your likes and dislikes and entered Live Mode, it won’t be long before you’ll start to notice your Sim’s likes and dislikes influencing what they do and how they react to things. My Simself here likes Wellness. When I had her do a yoga routine, she got a strong positive buff from it and increased fun; however, she also dislikes Electronica music. When I put some on, she made it very clear that this was not her jam and became Tense.

When Sims are doing something they like, they’ll enjoy positive buffs to improve their mood and gain Fun at a faster rate. When they are doing something they dislike, they will become Tense and lose Fun at a faster rate. The longer a Sim is forced to do something they dislike, the more miserable they’ll become. Sims will actively avoid doing activities they dislike as much as possible. For example, a Sim who hates cooking will prefer to grab quick meals and leftovers from the fridge if they can. Similarly, Sims who like an activity will choose to do it more often.

If your Sim still has some room for more likes and dislikes, there’s a chance they could discover a new like or dislike on their own. If a Sim is doing an activity while in a positive emotion, there’s a chance you may be asked if you want to select that activity as one of your Sim’s likes. Sims can discover new dislikes too in the same way if they are doing an activity while in a negative emotion. As mentioned previously, likes and dislikes can be changed in CAS at any time so don’t agonize over whether to pick yes or no. You can always change your mind later.

Sims can also talk about their likes and dislikes with other Sims. They can ask about other Sims’ likes and dislikes and enthuse or complain about their own likes and dislikes, respectively. The other Sim’s reaction will depend on their likes and dislikes as well. Sims with clashing likes and dislikes will suffer a hit to their relationship when discussing those likes and dislikes with each other.

Our final thoughts on likes & dislikes? We were happy to see this much-requested feature finally make its way to the game in a free update and even happier that they weigh more heavily on gameplay than we thought they would. Most of the buffs we saw related to likes and dislikes had a +2 modifier, which feels like a good middle ground. In most cases, that should be enough to override a lot of mundane, everyday buffs; however big life moments like the birth of a new baby or the death of a loved one will probably override the likes and dislikes buffs. That makes sense; most people probably wouldn’t stop in the middle of witnessing someone die to appreciate a good song on the radio, after all. Or at least we hope they wouldn’t.