EA and Maxis’ long-running life sim game The Sims 4 just got a free update to the base game, which not only includes the usual bug fixes, but also a new feature.
The new feature, Scenarios, lets you create a household with a non-default start. From there, you will guide your Sims through the challenge to finish in one of the multiple outcomes. This can be accessed straight from the main menu under the new “New Scenario” button.
The first batch, as the game update notes found on the Sims site calls it, adds two scenarios: Making Money and Finding Love After A Breakup.
The former is a twist to the usual rags-to-riches gameplay available in base The Sims 4. The twist is that your household starts with 0 Simoleans. Exactly no money. The goal is to reach 1 million, in any way possible. If you start with an empty lot, prepare for a hobo life until you get enough dough.
The latter requires a household of two Sims, and they will start off with a recent breakup and a very bad relationship with each other. The scenario ends in three ways: get the two to become soulmates again, get the two to become best friends, or have them find new love with someone else entirely. How you steer the two Sims’ love life and which of three endings you reach is up to you.
As for now, scenarios will require you to create a new household, but the ability to start Scenarios in existing households will be coming in a future update.
You can choose to start a scenario in a new save, or play one in an already existing save. Scenarios can be abandoned.
These alternate starts should give existing players a new way to play The Sims 4. The Making Money one is rather on the safe side, honestly. But having Sims start off with different relationships sounds promising.
It would be interesting to see where this new feature will be expanded. So far, Scenarios are an alternate start option, but offer not much else. It would be cool to see in-game rewards for completing it (a trait or an in-game item should be nice), or stack multiple scenarios for a household to tackle harder or more unique challenges.
The new free update with Scenarios for The Sims 4 is now live on PS4, PC and Xbox One. It’s a base game update, so it is accessible for everyone. The full patch notes can be found here.