A Case For The Sims 4 Forever World Play Style

Picture this:

It’s a quiet Saturday morning, maybe it’s raining outside, and you get the itch to boot up The Sims 4 for a cosy gaming session. You’ve not played for a little while, as life has just got in the way (as it has a habit of doing), but you feel inspired to dive into a new household in an entirely fresh save file because who doesn’t love that clean, ‘start-of-the-game’ feeling that faintly whiffs of 2014 nostalgia?

Skipping forward a few hours, you’re three cups of tea down and you’ve finally left CAS and Build/Buy mode having made the most gorgeous Sim and house to match. You press play in Live mode, and before you know it, you’ve closed the game and pulled up your favourite Sims streamer to watch them play instead.

Maybe you make it a few hours or even days of playing with this household, but because it doesn’t spark joy, it is ultimately tossed into the digital graveyard of abandoned save files.

As a Sims 4 player, does this sound familiar?

This (potentially toxic?) cycle is one that has become all too familiar to me more recently, which I don’t doubt has had something to do with the fact The Sims 4 is officially over ten years old.

After a few months of experimentation though, I think I have finally landed on the method that has helped me crawl out of the cycle.

And that has been starting a Forever World in The Sims 4.

So today, let’s explore:

What is a Forever World in The Sims 4?

Recently, the concept of a ‘Forever World’ has gained popularity over in the Minecraft community. The idea is simple: you create one world and stick with it. No restarting when boredom strikes or when a shiny new update drops. Instead, you commit to this single save file, returning to it after breaks and continuing your journey over time.

Transitioning this idea to The Sims 4, a Forever World takes the form of one single save file, where you rotate between as many households as you like. There is a huge amount of freedom in this as you could follow very strict rotation rules, or spend an in-game year in one household before deciding to make a new one.

Almost mirroring the classic legacy challenge’s ten-generation goal, a Forever World encourages consistency and dedication. It’s about seeing how far you can go when you get deeply immersed in your gameplay.

Like The Sims 4, Minecraft has been around for a long time (since 2009… somehow?!), and is similarly open-ended. Excuse the South Park reference, but the “punch the tree to get the wood, get the wood to build a cabin” … get bored and start again reflex is a deeply-engrained one.

So, the Forever World offers a different path: one that values deep exploration, creativity, and the opportunity to leave a lasting imprint on a save file.

Why You Need A Sims 4 Forever World…

As you can hopefully see, the idea of a Forever World isn’t just for Minecraft, but instead also makes perfect sense for The Sims 4. Here’s why committing to a single, long-term save file and playing rotationally could completely transform how you experience the game:

The game feels fresh again.

The Sims 4 was released back in 2014. After over a decade of playing, many of us long-time players are looking for new ways to engage with this game that we know inside and out. A Forever World gives that sense of freshness and continuity that many of us crave.

You curb the early game trap.

Just like in Minecraft, The Sims 4 hooks you with that exciting sense of early-game progression: starting from nothing, building up skills, climbing careers, etc. But often, once challenges appear or your interest dips, it’s tempting to just start over. A Forever World encourages you to push through and find new creative ways to stay engaged.

You’ll build a richer, more meaningful world over time.

In your Sims 4 Forever World, every new household you make deepens the history and sense of life in your save file, which is often missing when you boot up a brand new world for the first time. So, even if you get bored with the household you’re currently playing, you can absolutely start a new one in the same save. But right from the jump, they’ll share and contribute to a world with stories already in motion, adding layers of lore and connection that make gameplay more rewarding.

It gives you permission to progress slowly.

A popular pitfall which many players fall into when starting a new save file is that you can get so wrapped up in wanting to add a bunch of new sims, lots, and lore before getting to make your first household that you actually play with. With a Forever World though, you can play knowing that you’ll eventually get around to doing all of that ‘world admin’ work because you have all the time in the world.

A Sims 4 Forever World gives you permission to gradually get to these extra tasks as and when they feel relevant to your current gameplay, thus lessening the ‘start-up energy’ required to get into live mode. It doesn’t matter if everything isn’t perfect immediately, you know you’ll get to it over time.

How To Set Up Your Sims 4 Forever World

If you’ve read this far, I am going to assume that I’ve done an okay job of convincing you to start your own Sims 4 Forever World. But you’re next question is likely, ‘yeh, but how do we get started?’

So here is how you could set up your Sims 4 Forever World:

1. Load up Sims 4 and start a new game from the main menu.

You can start in any season you like if you have the Seasons pack installed.

2. Head straight into the options menu and check that you are happy with your aging settings.

I like to keep my game set to normal lifespan, and only have aging enabled for my active household. That way, my other households that I am rotating between don’t grow old and die when I am not playing them.

3. Similarly, check that you are happy with your Neighbourhood Stories settings.

I like to have mine entirely disabled as a save file can turn into a MESS if you are playing for a long time without keeping an eye on things. Forget to tweak Neighbourhood Stories or aging options early on, and you might find the Goth household have been evicted and now has ten dogs and five extra babies. The last thing you want is for your Sims 4 Forever World to be overrun with non-sensical households!

4. Consider getting started in one specific world or neighbourhood.

This step is optional, but if you are anything like me, you may get overwhelmed in this game very easily! To reduce these feelings, consider focusing all your energy on one world or neighbourhood to start with. You will be playing in this save for a long time, so there’s plenty of time to expand into new areas. You can of course visit other worlds, but you might not play in them consistently for now.

5. Consider adding any new NPC sims or community lots.

If you are a wizard in CAS or just fancy sprucing up the default save file, you may want to add in a few extra sims who you won’t directly play with, but that will pop up around the world. If you are only focusing on one world or neighbourhood, you’ll likely want to place those sims and lots here.

6. Design your first household!

Now that your world is in ship-shape, its finally time to make your first household! You may want to play with a household that already exists, create a new friend or family member of a pre-existing sim, or create your someone entirely new.

IMPORTANT NOTE!

The Sims 4 can be volatile at times, especially with the For Rent game-corrupting ghouls still at large for the time being. A critically important step with playing in a Sims 4 Forever World is to use the Save As function regularly an addition to the typical Save button.

This creates a brand new file, rather than over-riding the old one each time! That way, if you run into a corruption, you can easily go back to a previous file and pick up where you left off. Depending on how frequently you play, I would suggest doing this at the end of every play session or so.

What Sims 4 Forever World Progress Can Look Like…

If you are feeling a little overwhelmed by ideas when it comes to getting started with your own Sims 4 Forever World, let me give you a peek into mine.

When I started my Forever World a few months back, I decided to start in Willow Creek’s Foundry Cove neighbourhood. It’s basic, I know – but there’s a strong nostalgic charm to it that pulls me back every time.

I decided that I wanted to transform this area into a container home neighbourhood gradually, to fit in with the shipping district you can see behind Crick Cabana.

I started playing with Summer Holiday, having moved her out of the BFF household, and got to work with building her a home spa business using the Businesses & Hobbies pack. While I was having a great time with her, I decided to add an aged-up Cassandra Goth to the neighbourhood too. I had her join the science career, and I’ve had a great time turning her into an alien-obsessed lab tech who sells snake oil serum from her front yard in her free time.

While I’ve not played out his story a whole lot just yet, I have also added Bert Pancakes to this neighbourhood. This is Bob Pancakes’ more ambitious and outgoing brother who is determined to run a world-class waffle stall and eventually open a restaurant.

My last, and most recent addition has been Jade Sycamore, my founder for the Very Veggie challenge which Lilsimsie published this month. Due to their aligned hobbies and interests, Jade and Summer recently became a couple and moved in together!

While I have exclusively focused on this neighbourhood so far, I have so many ideas for what to do with the rest of my Sims 4 Forever World, but as I mentioned earlier, I feel content knowing that they can wait until I am ready to play them. Here’s a few pictures to show the progress I’ve made in Foundry Cove so far.

A week into my Sims 4 Forever World

Adding new households into my Sims 4 Forever World

Fall arrives in my Sims 4 Forever World

Adding my Very Veggie Legacy household to the neighbourhood!

If you want to see more from my Sims 4 Forever World, check out this video on YouTube.

I am quite loose with when I rotate between my households, my decision is almost entirely based on ‘who do I fancy playing with today’ and ‘how much time do I have this play session?’. But, if you want to find a much more comprehensive guide on playing rotationally in The Sims 4 – check out this article next!

In the meantime, let us know what you think of starting a Sims 4 Forever World below!