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Season of Selves: Discovering My Playstyles in The Sims 4

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Season of Selves: Discovering My Playstyles in The Sims 4

Hello everyone!

In case you don’t know me – I’m Jovan, and I’ve been running the Sims Community website since 2013! Truth be told, I have been obsessed with The Sims way before that. My first ever Sims Game was The Sims 2 on PS2 that I played at my friend’s house. I was captivated by how much control I have over a video game, which only inspired me to pursue my interest in The Sims Franchise more. I fully indulged in all of The Sims 2 and The Sims 3 games, and after The Sims 4 was announced I knew I had to take it to the next level. Just days after the announcement of the game I started this website out of multiple passions I pursued – video games, journalism, graphic design and English language.

I’m celebrating the Season of Selves for multiple reasons, but the main one being that I discovered a lot about myself through this game. Just about a year ago I marked all the amazing self-discoveries and friendships I’ve made with a Plumbob tattoo. You could say that The Sims follows me wherever I go…in every meaning of that sentence.

But enough about me or my inked right leg. Let’s dive deeper into my personal playstyle!

My Playstyles

There are various playstyles that I’ve dabbled with in The Sims 4 and that I still like to play with from time to time. One of those being a builder. would I consider myself to be a builder? Most definitely not. I’m not ashamed to admit that most of my builds that I’ve made in this game are every architect and interior designer’s worst nightmare. Still, it’s fun to let my creativity let loose with builds that just wouldn’t make any sense in real life. This is The Sims after all!

 

I will always be the first to vouch for, promote and use builds created by the community instead. The Gallery is a perfect gold mine of amazing talented creators who keep pushing the boundaries of what you can do with Build Mode tools.

Instead, most of my time playing The Sims 4 is spent in Live Mode. (and it’s pronounced live as in living, not live as in going live! this is a hill I’m willing to die on)

When I’m playing this game I usually sway into these 3 different playstyles, including:

The Achiever (who doesn’t cheat!)

It’s a tale old as time. You start out as a single Sim with a primary goal to become wealthy, successful and find love so you can pass all of your achievements onto future generations. Being an achiever in The Sims 4 doesn’t mean solving all of that in a matter of seconds through Shift + Control + C and entering motherlode. And no, that doesn’t include just plopping down the wishing well from the Romantic Garden Stuff Pack and wishing for simoleons until you’re rich. Trust me, I’ve tried many easy ways to become successful in the game but the final outcome never turns out to be fully satisfying.

wishingwell

To me, being an achiever means taking all the slow steps in the game that you’d also probably take in real life in order to learn skills, become successful and earn money. That includes graduating in a University, finding a job and eventually finding your Sim the perfect spouse so you can splurge all of that hard-earned Simoleons onto a big mansion that you’ve oh-so rightfully earned.

For this type of playstyle I would recommend the Discover University Expansion Pack, as it’s one of the most rewarding prospects in this game for the long road. Your Sim will get a huge jump in a Career that’s related to their Degree and ensure their bright future. Good luck chasing that diploma though, as the road to graduation is full of spikes and thorns – or in the case of The Sims – bladder failures and passing out in public from sleep deprivation.

uni

The Manager

There’s something about managing multiple live beings with a mind of their own in this game that just keeps me coming back for more. Whether it’s a house full of needy toddlers, farm full of animals or a restaurant filled with hungry customers. Making sure that everyone’s needs and requirements are met is nerve-wrecking – but I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Having multiple toddlers is all fun and games until you have to let each one out of their high chairs.

 

If you also like to play the game on Normal Speed without having to fast-forward the time (because that would just be disasterous for all the living Sims and animals involved) I suggest packs such as Get to Work (for its retail system), Dine Out (which lets you own a restaurant) and Cottage Living (cute, sometimes chaotic animals). Choosing to go down the farmer’s route in Cottage Living is an interesting experience from the The Manager’s perspective – especially if you add an extra layer of complexity with the Wild Foxes Lot Challenge.

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Cleaning up the Chicken Coops and Animal Stalls, making sure all animals on the lot are well-fed and socialized while earning Simoleons through their produce and excess wool is one of the finer examples of what being The Manager in The Sims is all about. That’s of course if you choose to solely survive off of what Animals give you in return.

The Chaos Provoker

seasons1

Okay, maybe not exactly the type of chaos you see in the screenshot above (don’t worry – I’ve used cheats to replicate that one) but still. Seasons is probably one of my favorite Expansion Packs that I find essential when it comes to causing chaos and mayhem in the game. Not specifically because of the lighting strikes, but more because of how much control you get over the worlds themselves.

The ability to customize each day to your liking with activities you want to be surrounded with is exactly the type of behavior I want to see as a Chaos Provoker. Just maybe don’t go overboard like I did with the number of “Holidays” as seen below…

Season of Selves: Discovering My Playstyles in The Sims 4

Nudity day? Sure, why not!

nude

As a Chaos Provoker if I find myself to go down the path of The Achiever playstyle, I always tend to mix things up with the unexpected. Such as cheating on my husband with the scarecrow. Don’t worry – he doesn’t mind…because he doesn’t know.

scarecrow

Going down the path of The Chaos Provoker and breaking down the same old path that I would take as an Achiever always brings in unexpected, but often worthy results.

Being a Chaos Provoker in The Sims 4 doesn’t necessarily mean it should be chaotic for your own household but rather the households surrounding you.

By the way – that’s a good looking couch, mind if I steal it? It’s all fair game when your Sim is a Mischevious Kleptomaniac. If you play your cards right and don’t let your neighbor notice you’re definitely looking at profit! Just make sure you play it right by making sure that the Sims in the house you’re visiting aren’t there…or awake.

swipeobj

I’ve found that being a master kleptomaniac in The Sims 4 definitely works out as a side career – especially if you have multiple Sims in your household who are Kleptos.

You can turn up the mischief with Realm of Magic through the Burgliate Spell that allows you to steal without being a Kleptomaniac. The chances of getting caught stealing through a Spell are much lower – at least from what I’ve noticed. If you do get caught just distract the surrounding Sims with a flame through the Inferniate Spell. They will be too caught up anyways to catch you again…


That about sums up my playstyles when playing The Sims 4!

On Sims Community we cover a lot more playstyles than what I like to play with in my spare time. If you’d like to stay updated on the latest from both The Sims and The Community (and the ways they play) check us out on these outlets:

Sul Sul!

About the author

Jovan

Reticulating splines as a webmaster for Sims Community over the last 11 years. You can find me here writing articles and doing reports on your favorite life sim games, among other things!

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