Let’s Try The Sims 4 One Tile Box Challenge (Rules & Playthrough)

In The Sims 4, you can act out just about every scenario you imagine and create fantastical worlds to explore, but what if we put a limit on this? What if we could only build our Sims’ house one tile at a time? Well, the viral One Tile Box Challenge puts these questions and your savvy Simming abilities to the test.

Rules and Requirements

According to Simmer Felister Moraa, who scoured the internet and compiled a list of all the rules they could find for the challenge (thank you!), the standard rules for the One Tile Box Challenge in The Sims 4 are:

1. One Tile Box: Start with a one-tile box and build tile by tile until you have a fully functional home.
2. No Front Door: Your Sim must remain trapped in their box for the duration of the challenge, so they can’t have a front door. You can build a backdoor into a fenced-off backyard area.
3. Zero Funds: The maximum starting funds are zero. After entering the testingcheats on cheat, enter the cheat money 0 to empty your Sims’ household funds.
4. No Cheats: Except for the zero funds cheat mentioned above, you’re not allowed to use any other cheats for the duration of the challenge. 
5. No Outside Jobs: Your Sim is not allowed to take any outside jobs at any time. Your Sim is basically locked in a box and must work from home to earn money.
6. No Convenient Traits: Some creators state that you’re not allowed to use convenient traits, such as Loner. You do not have to add inconvenient traits, such as Overachiever.
7. One Sim: There may only be one Sim in the household for the duration of the challenge.

Moraa also states the following Building Guidelines for the One Tile Box Challenge:

1. Walls: You can adjust your walls to be any height. 
2. Restrictions: You can’t build a house with a second floor or an open outdoor area. However, a fenced-off outdoor area that fits the space and prohibits communication with other Sims is allowed.
3. Fully Functioning: “Some players state that the final home must be 32 tiles, while others say it must be 64 tiles. Since there isn’t any clear information about this, I recommend building a fully functional home with a kitchen, living area, bathroom, and bedroom, regardless of its size.” (Moraa, Must Have Mods)
4. Layout: As long as your box includes the essential rooms, you do not have to stick to a boring old cube layout.

One Tile Box Challenge Goals

The goals for the challenge are simple:

• Keep Your Sim Alive: First and foremost, ensure all your Sim’s needs are met without leaving the box or using cheats.
• Build a Fully Functional House: Build a fully functional house, complete with all the basics, such as a kitchen, living area, bedroom, and toilet.
• Become Successful: You must earn enough money from your work-from-home jobs to build a fully functional home.

Time to Set Up the Household

Unlike other challenges, the One Tile Box Challenge is pretty quick and easy to set up. I made my Sim, Roxie Jenkins, in Create A Sim and randomized her traits (making sure none of them were convenient for the challenge) just to challenge myself a little more. I moved her into the Twin Oracle Point lot in Newcrest, put her in a one tile box, set the household funds to zero, and hit play.

To start making Simoleons, I had my sim use the Camera on her Phone to use the Take Selfies and Take Photos interactions. Your Sim can take up to five photos at a time, and can sell them from their inventory. The amount your Sim will make varies based on the quality of the photos. Adding filters, changing poses, and changing the orientation are all ways you can try to increase the photo quality.

After selling enough pictures from her inventory, my Sim had enough money to expand her box by another tile. In The Sims 4, expanding a room costs 120 Simoleons.

Taking Care of Needs

The Take Photo and Take Selfie interactions require the game to pause while your Sim poses for the perfect shot. Pausing time in the game to take several batches of pictures worked in my favor for this challenge because I was able to make a good amount of money before my Sim even had a slight need decrease. Eventually, my Sim needed to go to the bathroom, though. I expanded the room with another 120 Simoleons, added a toilet, and the Like The Good Ol’ Times Classroom Desk with The Kindermaid Chair. At this point I’m thinking I’ll make the most of my money by writing books on a computer, so I’ll need a desk.

My Sim’s Social need started to decline as well, and (since her life has consisted of, like, four tiles and a toilet up to this point) she didn’t have any contacts to chat with. To solve this issue, I used the Phone and opened up the Cupid’s Corner app, available with The Sims 4 Lovestruck Expansion Pack. I set up a profile for my Sim and added a few of her matches to her contacts list. This let my Sim call and chat with other Sims and filled up her Social need.

Eventually, Roxie made enough money to add on to her then six-tile box and satisfy her basic needs. Unfortunately, I randomized her personalities, so Roxie is High Maintenance, and she is not a fan of The Ambassador toilet. She is constantly Uncomfortable. I made sure to add the In Wall Mailbox, so she can sell crafted items from home through Plopsy.

Making Simoleons from Home

Now that Roxie has saved up to get everything required to eat, sleep, and tend to all of her needs, she can finally start thinking about other ways to make money. First, I purchased the Beginner’s Yarn Basket for 55 Simoleons to make and sell knitted items. I also bought the Barely Better Digital Camera, so Roxie can take better quality pictures and make more profit from her photos.

It costs five Simoleons to list an item on Plopsy, but hopefully it will be worth it! Roxie knitted and listed four items to start. She sold another several batches of pictures in the meantime, and was able to not only expand the kitchen, but also create a separate bathroom with tile flooring.

Roxie also saved up and added the Tall Modernist Frame windows for 40 Simoleons as well as some candlelight throughout her boxy house. Yay, she’s not trapped in the dark anymore!

I also decided to utilize The Sims 4: Seasons Expansion Pack and purchased the Pile of Presents. With this, Roxie can use the Sneak a Present and Open Present interactions to get random items added to their personal or household inventory. These interactions are greyed out for a few hours after using them, but they’re a great way to make quick money.

By the Third Day, she was able to buy a Digitalistic and, using The Sims 4 Businesses and Hobbies Expansion Pack, began Designing Tattoos for 50 Simoleons each. These designs ended up being worth around 110 Simoleons each, so she sold them from her inventory instead of adding them to her Plopsy shop. She needed the instant cash.

Finally, Roxie was able to start writing the books she had always dreamed of because she was able to buy a computer! She spent a few hours of the day writing a children’s book and used the Self Publish interaction at the mailbox, so she can start making royalties.

Even though Roxie was working hard to make money other ways, her biggest financial win was when she got the Land-Coral Garden picture from the present pile. She sold this and was able to separate the bedroom, upgrade the kitchen, and started to decorate her home with wallpaper. While decorating isn’t necessary for the One Tile Box Challenge, it’s one of my favorite things to do in The Sims 4, so I couldn’t not decorate a little.

Finding the Right Business for the One Tile Box Challenge

At this point, I would like to point out that Roxie has only made about five Simoleons from her book royalties, and most of her knitted listings have expired. Those are not the quick money makers. On Day Five, Roxie had sold enough Tattoo Designs, pictures, and presents to expand the house again, adding the office and living room. I also separated the dining room from the kitchen. Roxie technically has all of the required rooms to complete the One Tile Box Challenge, but they are not fully functional, and the house is not finished. Making good progress, at least!

Roxie continued to write books and list her knitted crafts, but mainly focused on Photography and Tattooing to earn an income from home. After realizing Writing isn’t for her, and her crafts are a waste of wool, Roxie expanded her office and decided to try a different work-from-home business: floral arrangements.

Since she’s trapped inside, I added the A-OK-Bloomer Vertical Garden and a Garden Pot so she can grow and tend to her flowers. Roxie planted a few seeds and used the rest of the flowers from the Vertical Garden Flowers to make floral arrangements on the Violets Are Blue Flower Arranging Table.

Over the next two days, Roxie gives it her all and makes beautiful flower arrangements that she sells for a nice profit from her inventory. She continues her other money-making hobbies like Photography, Knitting, Tattoo designing, and Writing, and still sneaks presents from the pile to sell. On Day 10, I added a fenced-in outdoor area for Roxie to enjoy and did a bit more decorating around the house.

The exterior walls and roofing were finished, landscaping was added, and even a pathway was created to prepare for when Roxie finally gets her front door. I was just about to call it quits and say I finished the challenge, but I spent all of Roxie’s Simoleons on the recent upgrade, so I wanted to make sure she was set financially first.

Of course, Roxie isn’t the best cook, so she ends up setting herself and the backyard on fire trying to use the ChowBella Portable Pizza Oven. That set us back a bit. Roxie didn’t have the money to replace any of the burned items and was, understandably, not happy that she recently caught on fire.

Fortunately, on Day 11, luck was on Roxie’s side, and she got the InvisiView Flat-Screen HDTV from the present pile. After she sold that for 2,595 Simoleons, she was able to quickly replace her burned furniture and continue focusing on her floral arrangement business. With this money in the bank, a fully functional house, and a steady income, I completed the One Tile Box Challenge in The Sims 4.

Thoughts and Tips for the One Tile Box Challenge

The One Tile Box Challenge was a fun and different way to play and build in The Sims 4, for sure. It took a total of 11 Sims days to complete, and my house consisted of 222 tiles. It was satisfying to gradually expand the house and add the bare minimum items my Sim needed before being able to upgrade them and decorate the house.

As far as difficulty goes, it was not a very hard challenge. It’s pretty easy to make a lot of money by selling photographs and, eventually, things like paintings or tattoo designs. It would be more challenging if the challenge restricted income to more time-consuming or interesting ways. If I were to make my own change to the challenge, I would make selling pictures, paintings, and tattoo designs off-limits after your Sim has purchased a way to meet each of their needs, or sooner. I would also restrict the use of the Pile of Presents, since that was a very easy way to make quick cash that my Sim didn’t really earn.

If you are looking to complete the One Tile Box Challenge quickly, I recommend avoiding using Plopsy unless your Sim is highly skilled in their craft. It can take quite a while to make a sale on Plopsy in The Sims 4, and it can be expensive to make these crafts on top of the Plopsy listing fee. For a quick financial turnaround, I recommend making your craft and selling it directly from your Sim’s inventory.

Join Simmers around the world and try the viral One Tile Box Challenge! Do you think you can succeed? Have you already given this challenge a shot? Let us know your thoughts below!