Top 5 The Sims Challenges - Let's Play Countdown!

Channel: Kpopp

So, awhile back we did “Top 5 Minecraft Challenges”, and while researching that, there was 1 theme that kept coming up over and over again: The Hunger Games. I mean, Minecraft seemed like the perfect setting: a huge open environment, plenty of ways to kill each other, enormous room for improvisation - it was a match made in fan-challenge heaven. But the Sims? That doesn’t seem like such a good fit. Well, that is, of course, unless you decide to use the term Hunger Games in the most literal sense.

Kpopp has set up a little game here that is part survivor, part big brother. In this challenge, her sims compete in various games, and are awarded food based on their performance. Those who do poorly, go hungry. If they go hungry for too long, then naturally they die. Maybe not as exciting as a death by bow and arrow in hostile dystopic futuristic gladiator arena, but still pretty neat.

As you can imagine, this gets pretty sick and twisted pretty fast. An early challenge in episode two has our unfortunate candidates treading water until one of them drowns. The upside of this is that contestant was named Justin Bieber, but that’s still a pretty harsh way to go. If you’re one to feel sympathy for your Sims, try not to think too hard about how Kpopp had a hard time keeping all the Sims in the pool as they desperately try to get out.

Of course some challenges work better than others. For the finale, Kpopp intended to have her remaining Sims fix broken televisions until one of them gets electrocuted, but unfortunately that didn’t work out so well...SO it’s back to the pool.
One of the strongest choices that Kpopp makes is modelling all the tributes after well known characters and people, and she continues this trend through all five (yes, five!) hunger games seasons she made.

Channel: Koffee

Okay so the asylum challenge goes something like this. Your Sim is locked in a building, which shall henceforth be called the asylum. You can only control and direct your “main” Sim, who unfortunately, has been given the insanity trait. The goal here is to “prove your sanity” by achieving your Sim’s aspirations. Of course, you aren’t the only inmate in this asylum, and everyone is equally stricken with insanity, so achieving those goals might be a tad bit difficult. For those of you that like to look at Disney’s branding with a cynical mindset, this probably seems too good to be true.

Whenever a player attempts a Sims challenge, or any quasi-roleplaying challenge in any game for that matter - there’s always a gap between what you set out to do, and what the game will actually accommodate for in terms of visuals and gameplay. Basically, most of these games aren’t meant to be played like this, so you gotta meet em’ half way. That said, this challenge is greatly helped by the inclusion of a pretty sweet lot-template from the workshop by one “purplecrafter15.” It really gives it that spooky nuthouse look, and is perfect for this challenge after a few quick adjustments are made.

The fact that all these Sims - I mean, princesses - seem cheerful and perky almost makes the whole thing feel authentic. Koffee has painstakingly recreated 6 of the classic characters, and the ability to project your own knowledge of the characters onto each one makes it seem more fun. It’s one thing to say that a princess broke loose and went for a jog around the block, it’s a different thing altogether to say that Pocahontas broke out and was found jogging cheerfully around the block. And when you look at the whole thing through the “insanity” lens, the smiles seem a lot less friendly and a lot more manic.

For her part, Koffee seems like she really loves these princesses, both the cartoon versions and the troubled Sims versions, which makes her honest and witty play by play all the more watchable.

Channel: Sofee

And now, a challenge with a little more edge to it. Yes, even more edge than the Hunger Games. You’re gonna have to bear with me on this one cause in order to follow, we’re gonna have to use our imaginations a little bit - Sofee certainly has.

Here we find our sims, Sara and Wilson. Sara seems to have found the perfect dream home with her new lover Wilson, but unbeknownst to her, he has a dark secret waiting below the house. [EP 1 show the “dungeon”] Don’t let that nice dining room table fool you, this room has a sinister purpose...hmmm, maybe those outhouses gave it away… In case you didn’t figure it out, Wilson has set up this room to trap people in - something that he insured by making sure the lock on the door only works for him. It’s a good thing too, since his wife almost catches him in there with his first victim.

What’s hilarious about this challenge is that it becomes harder and harder for “Wilson” to maintain this double life: keeping his domestic situation favorable while keeping his growing number of abductees in check proves to be quite a workload. This is ironic because, heck, it would be a handful in real life too, giving the absurd scenario an *almost* realistic flair. Of course that’s pretty much where the realism stops. I mean, the captives never try to make a rush for the door when Wilson comes downstairs.

Channel: Vixella

Here’s a relatively straight forward challenge for all you libertarians out there: the legacy challenge. Here, there are no government handouts to get your Sims off to a good, privileged start: no-ho, here you gotta bootstrap it if you want to succeed. The legacy challenge tasks you with starting off dirt poor, with not so much as a small loan of a million Simoleons. From there you gotta claw your way up the economic ladder in order to build a house and raise a family - with the final goal of passing through 10 generations of virtual descendants. Will your offspring be the next Rockefellers? Or will the end up like… well, I dunno, poor families don’t really get famous.

But, this is the Sims after all - so, before we can get down to the nitty gritty of gameplay, we have to have a little fashion show. [EP 1, Outfits] With that out of the way, Vixella has to figure out what kind of shelter she can make with the very, very limited funds she’s been allotted for the challenge. After constructing herself a minimalist shack and planting a few veggies (she chose to be a botanist after all) Vixella’s Sim sets about to find herself a man - no easy task when you’re foraging for good and peeing in bushes, but at least she still looks good doing it. [EP4]

But, by the time we reach episode 21, Vixella’s Sim has gotten herself hitched! While she did have to walk down the aisle pregnant, she certainly had come a long way since her bush squatting days. At the time of writing, this is still an ongoing challenge - so if you’re interested, you can catch up on the previously released episodes quickly and then follow as it continues to develop. Vixella is a fun and charming host, so going through the generations to come with her sounds like it a good investment of your time - at least as far as investing in Let’s Play videos goes.

Channel: BirdyBoots

If you like longer LP series, then Vixella may have been a good #1, but, for The Sims at least, we prefer bite-sized servings, and so this single, standalone video gets our top spot.

In this Kleptomaniac Challenge, two players create their own separate Kleptomaniac Sims - Sims who steal compulsively - and they then try to use this unfortunate affliction to turn a profit. Both sims have to set up a retail store, and can only sell items that they’ve stolen. It would be a risky gamble in real life, but it makes for a great setup in The Sims.

For this challenge, BirdyBoots has invited James from TheSimSupply to play remotely and be her competitor. So, it turns out that these two aren’t the very best of thieves, as they both get caught stealing within the first five minutes. To steal more valuable items, Sims need to raise their Mischief skill, so it’s pretty funny to watch the competitors compulsively troll NPCs with mischievous dialogue choices like “invite to a fake party,” “start preposterous rumor,” or something called “noxious cloud.” Basically, the bigger jerk you are, the more money you can make. Hey, this really is like real life!

BirdyBoots and James have a great rapport, and Birdy has edited out the dead air and tedious bits in the video so the hijinks and one liners come in quick succession. By the way, if you like this one, James, has some more fun Klepto challenge videos on his channel.

It all comes down to a tense final few minutes as Birdy has to hurry all the remaining customers out of her empty store in order to get back out there and steal something else in order to ensure a victory. This urgency is only slightly impeded by the fact that both retailers spend their remaining minute desperately trying to sweet talk customers into making a final sale - with the occasional pushup break - but regardless, it still makes for a close finish by the time the buzzer goes.

That’s it for today’s countdown. Let us know what other topics you’d like to see us cover, and for more great content published every day, be sure to subscribe to watchmojo.com!