Killing Sims is an enjoyable way to spend time in The Sims 4 for many. Random and increasingly bizarre deaths have been a staple of the series since the very first game, which had skydiving simulator, and toadification deaths, amongst the classics such as starvation, fire, and drowning.

This continued with Sims 2 which introduced deaths caused by falling satellites, running with scissors, and shouting too loudly. Sims 3 kept up the pattern with the door of life and death, meteors, and fatal jelly beans. The Sims 4 has also not disappointed us with regard to interesting deaths. Here we take a look at all the deaths in The Sims 4 so far and how you can cause them.

Some deaths link together, such as emotional or fire-based deaths, and have been listed under one category.

Updated On 12 December, 2023, By Helen Ashcroft: It's been a while but at last another new death has entered The Sims 4 with the release of For Rent. Take a look at our updated list for details of every death in The Sims 4.

Old Age

The most normal and natural death of all is old age. This frankly boring death is achieved when Sims naturally reach the end of their lives.

How To Kill A Sim By Old Age

Just simply let your Sims live out their lives in peace, keeping them safe from fire and other hazards.

Starvation

Starvation is a classic Sim death, present since the very first game. It happens when Sims are deprived of food for days on end.

How To Kill A Sim By Starvation

To starve a Sim you simply need to trap them somewhere with no fridge, cooler, or other sources of food and then wait it out.

Don't leave the lot with another Sim, otherwise, their hunger bar can be filled autonomously, even if no food is obviously available.

Fire

Death by fire is the most common Sim death to achieve by accident. Low cooking skills tend to be the biggest killer of new Sim families. Avoiding this can often be more problematic than causing it.

How To Kill A Sim By Fire

This death can be achieved in several ways. For those with the base game, the easiest way is by putting rugs in front of open fireplaces or cooking with a low skill level on a cheap stove.

If you want to get more obscure using the rocket can also end in a fiery demise if it crashes. Alternatively, players with Laundry Day Stuff can cause a fire by not cleaning the lint from the dryer, and leaving your house to get excessively dusty with Bust the Dust can also be a fire hazard. Those with Fitness Stuff can die from fire by attempting (and failing) the extreme rock wall climbing challenge. Fireworks can also be used to start a simple house fire and ghosts in Paranormal Stuff can also cause them.

Drowning

Drowning Sims in pools is a classic. It's not the quickest method of death, but it is one of the easiest and all you need is either a pool and a fence or the water garden from Get Famous.

How To Kill A Sim By Drowning

Back in the early days of The Sims you just had to remove the pool ladder, but now you need to block the edges of your pool with a fence. Sims will then slowly reduce their needs until they drown. Alternatively, those who don't feed the fish in their water garden can be pulled into its depths for a faster death by drowning.

Emotional Deaths

Emotional deaths are some of the most difficult to cause, although sometimes they will unexpectedly trigger. They are caused by prolonged extreme emotions of playfulness, embarrassment, or anger.

How To Kill A Sim With An Emotional Death

A long string of playful mood buffs gained by taking bubble baths, telling jokes, and watching comedy can cause death by Hysteria.

Death by Mortification is easier to trigger with a run of embrassed moodlets caused by removing bathroom doors, having awkward conversations, and soiling yourself in public.

Lastly, you need to rack up those anger debuffs by discovering affairs, betrayal, and other such events often results in Cardiac Explosion deaths.

Werewolves are especially prone to death by anger, since many live in a state of fury. When it comes to our occult friends, keeping control of that rage is harder than causing the death. Once the fury meter tops out and a rampage begins, you'll need to keep on top of it in order to avoid triggering a death in any werewolf not powerful enough to be protected from mortality.

Electrocution

Electrocution is a strange death as it can be caused by accident, especially if your Sims love to autonomously fix things, but when causing it deliberately there are two stages to follow.

How To Kill A Sim With An Electrocution Death

This death is easier to cause than you may think, but it happens in two stages. First, a Sim will become dazed and then a second jolt of electricity will finish them off. The dazed moodlet and subsequent death can be caused by repairing electrical items or being struck by lightning (for those with Seasons.) The fastest way to trigger this is to have a sim with low handiness skill attempt to repair a poor quality fridge with a puddle underneath it.

Overexertion (Elders Only)

The overexertion death is often referred to as death by woohoo, although that's not the only way to trigger it. It only works with elder Sims but is one of the easiest ways to skip the elder life stage and make it look like an accident.

How To Kill An Elder Sim By Overexcertion

You can overexert Sims by using any physical activity including jogging and using workout equipment, as well as Woohoo. Simply keep forcing your Sim to participate in physical activity, even after the debuff of exhaustion appears.

Cow Plant

Cow Plants first appeared in The Sims 2: University and have been taunting and killing Sims ever since. In The Sims 4, they were in the game right from the start.

How To Kill A Sim With A Cow Plant

The Cow Plant needs frequent feeding, otherwise, it holds out cake to tempt Sims. The first time they eat it, they are swallowed and spat out, gaining a debuff. If they get swallowed again while the debuff is still active then they will be killed. As a bonus, another sim can then milk the cow plant, and drink the milk, adding extra days to their life.

Meteor

The release of Werewolves also heralded a new way for Sims to meet Grim, the meteor death. This classic event was added to the base game, along with a reasonable-sized telescope you can use to trigger it.

How To Kill A Sim With A Meteor

Simply have your Sim do a lot of stargazing and moongazing and watch for the lighting change. You'll notice the area lighting up and a notification about a meteor coming your way. If you don't move your Sim in time, they'll end up underneath the rock.

Wishing Well (Romantic Garden Stuff)

The wishing well doesn't just grant wishes, it can also cause bad things to happen, including death.

How To Kill A Sim With A Wishing Well

Sims who wish when the well is in a bad mood can find themselves turned into a ghost. Just make sure your Sims needs are low, and they keep on wishing with the lowest possible offerings.

Sauna (Spa Day)

Sims who spend too long in the Spa Day sauna will end up never leaving, thanks to death by overheating.

How To Kill A Sim By Overheating

This death is easy to trigger. Just block the door of the sauna with your Sim inside and wait it out for a while. Soon they will aquire a debuff that turns deadly.

Puffer Fish (City Living)

Eating poor quality Puffer Fish Nigiri is a risky business and can lead to death by pufferfish, although eating it isn't a guaranteed trigger.

How To Trigger Death By Puffer Fish

You'll need a Sim to find a Japanese food stall in San Myshuno selling Puffer Fish, so they can buy one and eat it.

The best place to go is the Fashion District, where you'll find the stall pictured above outside the karaoke bar.

Eating the dish unlocks the recipe. Next, this Sim can cook it. Low cooking skills and a poor quality stove will help it come out as a poor quality dish. Then simply hand it over to your victim or tuck in.

Sunlight (Vampires)

Vampires don't like the sun. They can earn some traits to counteract this a little, but mostly keeping them outside during the day will end in death by sunlight.

How To Kill A Vampire With Sunlight

A vampire simply needs to stay out in the sun during daylight to burn up into a crisp. Remove any shade and stop them from entering their house, and you should find it happens quite easily.

Temperature (Seasons)

Temperature deaths are caused by wearing the wrong clothing outdoors. All Sims have a cold weather and hot weather outfit option, and they should change into these when they leave the house, otherwise, disaster will strike.

How To Kill A Sim With The Weather

It doesn't actually matter what the clothing options are, as the trigger for correct clothing is based on the category. Any form of regular clothing in harsh weather can cause Sims to freeze or overheat, as can swimming outdoors in extreme temperatures. You can hasten this by using warm weather clothes in winter and vice versa.

If these effects don't trigger, check your game options as temperature effects can be turned off.

Floral Arrangement (Elders Only, Seasons)

Another death that only affects elders, the flower arranging skill comes with dire consequences, as death flowers can cause death.

How To Kill An Elder With A Floral Arrangement

Skilled florists can craft a bouquet with death flowers in. If an elder smells this potent plant then they will die. It is also the only way you can age a vampire, although it will not kill a vampire, meaning elder vampires are unaffected.

Poison (Jungle Adventure)

Jungle Adventure contains many hazards in the dangerous jungles and temples of Selvadorada. They can be quite difficult to trigger but are entertaining and unique. Sims can be poisoned in a variety of ways and if they don't discover and purchase an antidote they die after a few Sim days.

How To Kill A Sim With Poison

Poisoning can happen in one of three ways. The first is if a ghost who died from poison infects your Sim by burping near them. You can also end up poisoned from poison arrows or gates found in the temples. The final and rarest way is by bugs found rarely on infested lots.

Once poisoned, simply wait it out, and make sure your Sim doesn't research or acquire a cure.

Rabid Rodent Fever (My First Pet Stuff)

Rabid rodent fever is the slightly less virulent return of the guinea pig disease from The Sims. It can be contracted from any small animal in My First Pet Stuff.

How To Kill A Sim With Rabid Rodent Fever

To trigger the disease, you'll need to have a bad relationship with your pet and leave the cage to get dirty. This then gives them a chance to bite you and pass on the disease, which is contagious. Soon you'll start to foam at the mouth and the end will be in sight.

If you've been near other Sims they are likely infected, because this Sim disease is highly infectious and cannot be cured. This is essentially The Sims 4 plague.

Night Wraith (Realm of Magic)

The Night Wraith death is a semi-hidden almost certain death trigger. It occurs when a Spellcaster ends up with the Night Wraith curse, which can be triggered automatically or forced.

How To Kill A Spellcaster Sim With The Night Wraith Curse

A night wraith will stalk your sim, scaring them and rendering them unable to sleep or function properly. While usually, they can just about eat and barely stay alive, all their needs will be very low very fast, meaning it's incredibly easy to trigger another death, even accidentally. For this reason, we've added it here, as it's a great way to keep Spellcasters on the brink of death before pushing them over.

Spellcaster Overload (Realm Of Magic)

Casting spells fills up a meter for spellcasters. If this meter gets too full, then a Spellcaster Sim will become overloaded and can die. It should be noted that Spellcaster ghosts are incredibly powerful beings.

How To Kill A Spellcaster With Overload

To ensure death, make sure all traits that reduce charge building are unselected and your spellcaster doesn't have a familiar out, as they will absorb the first fatal charge. Then just keep casting.

Murphy Bed (Tiny Living Stuff)

The classic murphy bed death makes a return with the Tiny Living Stuff Pack. Sims who aren't careful can end up trapped in the mechanisms and never return.

How To Kill A Sim With A Murphy Bed

If the bed is broken, the chance of being trapped increases drastically. Since the bed breaks quite often, sleeping in it can be a very dangerous endeavor. Keep your Sim's handiness low, don't repair the bed, and keep on using that mechanism.