50 Fun Facts About The Sims 4

Which hidden alien planet in The Sims 4: Get to Work is the developer's name spelled backwards?

Sixam is Maxis in reverse, and Sims reach it with a wormhole generator unlocked at level 10 of the Scientist career.

What major change did The Sims 4 base game make in October 2022, eight years after its launch?

The Sims 4 became free-to-play on every platform on October 18, 2022, funded by its paid add-on packs. It gained 31 million more players by May 2024.

Which life stage was missing from The Sims 4 at launch and only arrived in a free 2017 update?

Toddlers were cut for lack of development time, a decision that drew a backlash from players before release. They came back free in 2017, and babies were later split into newborns and infants.

Which film franchise got a The Sims 4 game pack in 2020 despite finishing last in a fan poll?

Star Wars came bottom of 21 themes in a Digital Spy poll, behind even veganism. Journey to Batuu was announced eight months later anyway, to an overwhelmingly negative first reaction.

Which classic cheat code adds §50,000 to a household's funds in The Sims 4?

Typing motherlode pays out §50,000 at a stroke, while rosebud and kaching hand over just §1,000 each. All three cheats were carried over from earlier games in the series.

A Sim who becomes Hysterical in The Sims 4 can die from too much of what?

Laughing can be fatal once a Sim's playful mood tips over into Hysterical and they keep clowning around. Calming down in front of a mirror saves them.

Which carnivorous plant in The Sims 4 lures Sims with a slice of cake before swallowing them whole?

Cowplant owners grow it from a rare berry and must keep it fed with meat, or it dangles a cake on its tongue as bait. After it eats a Sim, it can be milked for a drink that adds days to a life.

Zedd, Tori Kelly and Carly Rae Jepsen re-recorded songs for The Sims 4 in which fictional language?

Simlish is the gibberish every Sim speaks, and real artists re-record their hits in it for the game's soundtrack. Jepsen's "Run Away with Me" and Zedd's "Beautiful Now" came with the Get Together expansion.

Which iconic Sim in a red dress, missing in The Sims 2, lives with husband Mortimer in The Sims 4?

Bella Goth has appeared in nearly every major game since the 2000 original and is widely seen as the face of the series. Her fourth outing is an alternate continuity, with Bella a young adult again.

Which Italian luxury fashion house got its own The Sims 4 stuff pack in 2019?

Moschino paired its pack with a real clothing collection covered in pixel art from the games. Coach, an American fashion house, had its designs added in a free 2026 update.

Which gloomy world, where nights last longer than anywhere else, arrived with The Sims 4: Vampires?

Forgotten Hollow stretches its nights so vampires can stay outdoors longer without risking the sun. It is a tiny place, with just five lots set around a central plaza.

Which centuries-old count is the Grand Master vampire who lives alone in The Sims 4: Vampires?

Vladislaus Straud poses as the fourth count of his line, but the local vampires know he is the same man who founded the town 200 years ago. Its statue of his "great-grandfather" is really him.

What can vampires grow and eat in The Sims 4: Vampires to feed without biting another Sim?

Plasma Fruit looks like a bright pink onion and can be raised in the garden, giving vampires a guilt-free meal. It can even be mixed into a cocktail called a Plasma Jane.

Which instrument got its own skill in The Sims 4: Vampires, as a gothic cousin of the piano?

Pipe organ is one of the pack's two new skills, alongside Vampire Lore, and it works just like the piano skill on a far spookier instrument.

What is the customizable second look that vampires adopt to feed in The Sims 4: Vampires called?

Dark Form reveals a vampire's true nature and unlocks powers such as feeding and turning others. Players design it separately from the everyday look, so a vampire can pass as an ordinary Sim.

Which need replaces hunger for vampire Sims in The Sims 4: Vampires?

Thirst takes the place of hunger, and a vampire's energy bar is stretched out and renamed Vampiric Energy. Vampires never need the bathroom at all.

Which siblings in The Sims 4: Vampires, Caleb and Lilith, refuse to feed on Sims without consent?

The Vatores are the pack's good vampires, recent arrivals who are on poor terms with the town's ancient ruling count over their gentler tastes.

A Sim bitten in The Sims 4: Vampires does not change at once but first gets which moodlet?

Strangely Hungry makes the victim's hunger drain away while the change takes hold. The vampire bites first, then offers its own blood for the Sim to drink.

Which gift-giving visitor stands in for Santa Claus during the holidays in The Sims 4: Seasons?

Father Winter wears a blue robe and an ushanka hat instead of Santa's red suit, and arrives by the fireplace with presents. Bold Sims can even fight him for the gifts.

Which famous figure can Sims work for in an active career added to The Sims 4 in 2024?

The Grim Reaper takes on staff in a 2024 expansion built around funerals, bucket lists and ghosts. On release it became the best-reviewed expansion the game had seen.

In The Sims 4: Discover University, which modern campus rivals the University of Britechester?

Foxbury Institute is billed as the premier place of higher learning, and its distinguished degrees lean scientific: biology, physics, economics and computer science.

Which robot life state returned in The Sims 4: Discover University, built with the Robotics skill?

Servo began in The Sims: Livin' Large as a household robot that players simply bought. In Discover University a Sim has to build one, and once switched on it joins the household as a playable member.

Which of these is a real degree that Sims can earn in The Sims 4: Discover University?

Villainy is a genuine major whose courses boost the Fitness, Logic and Mischief skills. Its catalogue blurb promises success "as long as honesty and morals aren't a priority."

Darby the Dragon is one mascot in The Sims 4: Discover University; what sea creature is rival Larry?

Lobster Larry is the bright red mascot of the pack's modern campus, while Darby is green. Either costume can turn up with a man or a woman inside.

Which secret society in The Sims 4: Discover University recruits students who leave it offerings?

The Order of Enchantment exists to appease mysterious sprites, and its members gather for rituals between 10 PM and 2 AM. Only a high-quality gift left at a campus monument gets a student noticed.

Which vehicle can students ride around campus in The Sims 4: Discover University?

Bicycles arrived with the pack as the way to explore its college town, alongside dorm staples such as ping-pong tables, juice kegs and mini-fridges.

Which unhappily married husband was the star of The Sims 4's official "Stay Weirder" trailer?

Bob Pancakes was sold in the trailer as the least interesting Sim in the world. He and his wife Eliza have clashing traits and appear to sleep in separate bedrooms.

Which wealthy family in The Sims 4 disowned Johnny Zest for dropping out to be an entertainer?

The Landgraabs cut Johnny off for chasing a life on stage. With no family trees in the game at launch, his rich relatives did not even recognise him.

What do cousins Agnes and Agatha Crumplebottom run together in The Sims 4: Cottage Living?

A garden stall in the village square keeps the cousins busy selling produce. Agnes is permanently angry and, as in earlier games, beats Sims with her purse when they flirt near her.

Which villain lurks in a secret underground lab and possesses locals in The Sims 4: StrangerVille?

The Mother Plant grows bizarre fruit that infects the locals and leaves them possessed. Beating her takes a home-brewed vaccine and three vaccinated allies.

What is the name of the currency, written with a § sign, that households spend in The Sims 4?

Simoleons are mostly earned by holding down a job, and building skills is what wins promotions: a Sim in the Culinary career has to work on both Cooking and Mixology.

What is the green crystal called that hovers over the selected Sim's head in The Sims 4?

Plumbob colours track a Sim's mood, running from green when all is well through yellow and orange to red when a need is critically low.

The troubled 2013 launch of which online-only sister game led The Sims 4 to drop multiplayer?

SimCity demanded a constant connection and was plagued by technical problems at launch. Later that year the studio confirmed its next life simulator would be a single-player, offline game.

Which feature of earlier games was missing when The Sims 4 launched, sparking a Change.org petition?

Swimming pools were left out to save development time for the new engine and smarter Sims. After the outcry they were restored in a free update.

What is the name of The Sims 4's in-game service for sharing Sims, households and buildings online?

The Gallery lets players upload their creations and download other people's without leaving the game. One reviewer singled out its supply of lookalike celebrity Sims.

Which of these is one of the six basic needs every Sim must manage in The Sims 4?

Bladder joins hunger, hygiene, social, fun and energy, and all six drain through the in-game day until a Sim uses furniture or appliances to top them up.

What are the smallest paid packs for The Sims 4 called, ranked below stuff packs?

Kits sit at the bottom of four tiers of paid extras, below stuff packs, game packs and the big expansion packs that add major new features.

Roommates Travis Scott, Liberty Lee and Summer Holiday share a home in which The Sims 4 world?

Willow Creek is a lush bayou of marshy riverways that shipped with the base game. The three friends are listed in the game as the BFF household, short for best friends forever.

Which real city inspired Del Sol Valley, a world added to The Sims 4 in 2018?

Los Angeles, and Hollywood in particular, shaped the world where Sims chase stardom as actors. The best of them are honoured at an awards night called the Starlight Accolades.

Which of these is one of the three active careers added by The Sims 4: Get to Work?

Detective joins Doctor and Scientist as jobs the player can follow a Sim to. Detectives gather clues at crime scenes, then interrogate a suspect and send them to jail.

The Sims 4's orchestral soundtrack by Ilan Eshkeri was recorded at which famous London studio?

Abbey Road hosted the London Metropolitan Orchestra for the sessions. Eshkeri also wrote more than 140 tiny cues for moments such as a first kiss, a wedding or a toilet breaking.

Under which mythological codename was The Sims 4 first developed as an online multiplayer game?

Olympus began as an online project because the publisher wanted every title connected. One executive boasted in 2012 that he had not approved a single game as a single-player experience.

The Sims 4: My Wedding Stories was at first withheld from which country, before a reversal?

Russia has laws against games that present homosexuality as normal, so the studio planned to skip the country. After a backlash from players there, the pack was released with nothing changed.

Which real novelty holiday can pop up as a surprise on calendars in The Sims 4: Seasons?

Talk Like a Pirate Day is one of the surprise holidays that appear on the calendar a few days ahead. Players can also invent their own holidays, each with up to five traditions.

In The Sims 4: Eco Lifestyle, an Eco Footprint can be green, neutral or which third state?

Industrial is the dirty end of the scale, and the footprint decides how polluted a neighborhood becomes. Residents also get to vote on Neighborhood Action Plans.

Mt. Komorebi in The Sims 4: Snowy Escape takes its name from a Japanese word meaning what?

Sunlight through trees, or komorebi, names a snowy world modelled on the islands of Honshu and Hokkaido. Every lot in it was built by a popular player of the game.

Which of these is one of the five festivals held around San Myshuno in The Sims 4: City Living?

Spice Festival shares the city's calendar with Geekcon, the Romance Festival, the Flea Market and the Humor and Hijinks Festival, which rotate through its districts on a two-week cycle.

Which skill from The Sims 4: Outdoor Retreat lets campers identify plants and make insect repellent?

Herbalism is picked up on trips to Granite Falls, a holiday world that Sims can visit but never move to. Campers there can also roast bugs over the fire.

In The Sims 4: Werewolves, which meter fills up until a werewolf goes on an uncontrollable rampage?

Fury builds on its own over time and climbs dramatically faster under a full moon, so the lunar cycle decides when a werewolf is most likely to lose control.

In The Sims 4: Realm of Magic, what are the dragons and phoenixes bound to spellcasters called?

Familiars can be bound in unlimited numbers, though only one may be summoned at a time. With Cats & Dogs installed, an ordinary pet can serve as one too.