Having launched in the year 2000, who would have thought that seventeen years later The Sims would go on to become one of the bestselling video game franchises of all time after selling over 200 million copies worldwide. With the launch of one of The Sims 4’s most anticipated expansion packs to date – Cats & Dogs- the series is showing no signs of slowing down anytime soon as rumors of future content continue to swirl on a frequent basis.

Although The Sims 4 has suffered from a number of problems since its launch in 2014, it is safe to say that the series is slowly beginning to redeem itself and get back on track after recently releasing several successful expansions and stuff packs that have been well received among the community and critics.

However, despite The Sims 4 having sold over a staggering five million copies worldwide, you will be generally shocked at just how many of the games hidden features and items still remain relatively unknown by the majority of The Sims community.

From going to school, doing the dirty in public locations, discovering hidden areas, and even throwing slumber parties for your children, here are 25 awesome things that you didn’t know you could do in The Sims 4.

25 Give Your Sims Customized Traits

One thing that Maxis has done a fantastic job at is bringing our Sims to life as The Sims 4 has seen the introduction of realistic emotions and traits which really help set it apart from previous installments within series. However - as we are all aware - nobody is ever the same, which makes it quite difficult for those that are attempting to create a specific Sim that doesn’t match the standardized traits.

Thankfully, the modding community has come to the rescue as players can now choose from well over 100 customized traits that allow you to create your Sims as realistic and accurate as possible to real life.

Whether your Sim is silly, vain, a workaholic, Mr fix it, or one to simply zone out, there is a custom traits for almost everyone, making it easier than ever to tailor your Sims to exactly how you want them.

24 Bring Back Your Loved Ones From The Dead

We all know just how hard it can be to lose your favorite Sims, especially when it is from unexpected events such fire, electrocution, laughter, or even the Cow Plant. However, little do most players know, you can actually resurrect your Sims from the dead without the use of any cheats at all.

Thankfully, the Grim Reaper has a fondness for the Death Flower, meaning that players can use the flower to their advantage. Unfortunately though, obtaining the Death Flower in The Sims 4 can be a little bit tricky as the player will need a gardening level of 5 in order to graft a Pomegranate to an Orchid – creating a Death Flower for the player to harvest.

It should also be mentioned that Sims cannot use the Death Flower to bring themselves back to the dead, as another Sim must give the Grim Reaper the flower as he attempts to take the Sim’s soul – that is, unless the Sims possesses the Unlucky or Loser trait.

23 Control Your Children While They Are In School

We have all wished at some point that we could go to school with our children and teen Sims to see what they really get up to. Well, little did most players know, you can actually follow your children and teen Sims to school thanks to a well-known modder within the community – Zerbu – that has created a Go to School mod.

This mod allows you to follow your children to school – whether it is elementary or high school – where your Sims are required to complete a number of tasks each day such as painting, socializing, and even playing instruments. The hard you work to complete these tasks, the higher overall grade you will receive.

Not everything is work and no play though, as the Go to School mod even incorporates random school events such as field trips where students travel to a random park or museum around the neighborhood, and school dress-up days where students come to school in costumes. Students even have the opportunity to listen to guest speakers that attend the school to talk about careers as a doctor, detective, or scientist.

22 Uncover The Hidden VooDoo Doll

Got it out for another Sim and want to seek vengeance or manipulate a Sims emotions? Well the VooDoo Doll may very well be your new best friend, especially if you don’t want to get your hands dirty.

The VooDoo Doll can be found in three different ways: Using the dig interaction on certain rocks around your neighborhood, fishing for the Doll at Sylvan Glades or the Forgotten Grotto, or simply purchasing the Doll online once you have reached level 3 in the Mischief Skill.

Before you get too excited though, you can only bind the VooDoo Doll to Teens, Adults, and Elders. Whether you intend to use the Doll to manipulate a Sims emotions or to cause them harm, it’s easy to conclude that the VooDoo Doll is certainly not a toy to mess around with.

Don’t worry too much though if you decide to change your victims, as you can unbind a Sim once you have reached level 5 of the Mischief Skill.

21 Increase Your Sims Likely Hood Of Having Multiple Babies

If one baby isn’t enough for you, you’ll be happy to know that you can actually influence your chances of having twins or triplets during your Sims pregnancy. While – much like influencing your baby’s gender – this feature isn’t unique to The Sims 4 as previously players in The Sims 3 were able to watch the kids channel or listen to the kid’s music station to increase their chances.

However, things are a little bit different in The Sims 4 as the first method of increasing your chances of having twins or triplets is by using the Fertile Rewards that can be unlocked through the Rewards Store for a price of 3,000 satisfaction points.

Alternatively, players can also increase their chances of having multiple babies should they own the Spa Day Game Pack. It is within this pack that players can receive a Fertility Massage at the Spa or simply if they know a Sim that is practiced in the Wellness Skill and owns a massage table.

20 Influence Your Baby’s Gender

Being pregnant is an exciting event, however, there is no denying that everyone has their wish for a preferred gender – especially among families that have a track record of having one specific gender. Thankfully, unlike real life, players now influence their baby’s gender during their pregnancy.

While this particular feature isn’t necessarily unique to The Sims 4, it has remained as one of the more overlooked features due to their being no specific reference in-game as to what players need to do in order to influence your baby’s gender before its born.

In order to increase your chance of having a boy, your Sim will be required to eat carrots and listen to alternative music during their pregnancy. Whereas, eating strawberries and listening to pop music will increase your chances of having a baby girl.

So if you’re looking to create a specific family, this neat little trick will definitely come in handy.

19 Pets In The Sims 4 Are More Realistic Than Ever Before

The Cats & Dogs expansion pack has undoubtedly been one of the most highly requested expansion packs since the game's launch in 2014 as Pets have always been one of the biggest selling expansions in the series.

As the series continues to grow and expand, it’s no surprise that Maxis are always looking for ways to make the game more realistic and accurate to real-life as possible. However, as it seems, players do not truly realize just how just how different pets will be this time around in The Sims 4.

From random bouts of sickness (each with their own different symptoms), different reactions depending on how you treat your pet (especially when treated badly), and even the use of stress levels play a part in your pet's recovery. With that being said, it is quite clear that The Sims 4’s Cats & Dogs expansion pack brings a new level a realness that players weren’t really expecting from the series.

18 Throw A Slumber Party For Your Children

Growing up, some of our most memorable moments were spent with our friends, especially when it involved slumber parties and staying up until the early hours of the morning. However, you’ll be surprised to know that you can actually allow your children to throw a slumber party with their friends.

When it comes to parties within The Sims, I think we can all agree that sleepovers are arguably one of the most requested events within the series. Fortunately, thanks to brittpinkiesims you can now download the Sleepover Mod to allow your children to throw slumber parties with their friends. Much like normal parties, you’ll have goals to complete, custom rewards available, and children will even have sleepover specific whims.

To complete the entire slumber party, you can even download the Sleepover Stuff CC Set that allows you to unlock new items such as air mattresses, board games, coloring books, and even bean bags.

17 Grow The Strangest Plant You Have Ever Seen

Just when you thought The Sims couldn’t get any stranger, Maxis decided to introduce one of the strangest and scariest plants of all time – the Cow Plant! This elusive beast is arguably one of the most intriguing features within The Sims 4 as not only is it hard to grow, but it is also rather challenging track down.

If you think you have what it takes to handle a Cow Plant, you can find the Cow Plant Berry through fishing, space exploration, digging for treasure, or even harvesting from dragonfruit that has been grafted with a snapdragon.

Thankfully, for those that don’t like getting their hands dirty the Cow Plant can be grown at any gardening level. However, it is recommended that you at least have some gardening experience as the plant has three different growth stages – Horn, Steam, and Full-Grown Cow Plant.

You must remember though; the Cow Plant does require feeding every 12 hours - otherwise you may just become its next meal!

16 Reach An All New Level Of Fame & Popularity Within Your Neighborhood

We have all dreamt of being a celebrity, and while The Sims 4 does allow you to gain fame as a musician you don’t really get to experience whole celebrity ordeal. However, thanks to a recent mod called Road To Fame, players are finally able to fulfill their dream of being famous.

When it comes to fame though, the mod perfectly captures the life of real world celebrities as your Sim can often get involved in some pretty hectic situations as once spotted you will be followed by paparazzi as they snap your picture and fans will mob you as they ask you questions and beg for your autograph. You can even interact with fans through hugs, kisses, selfies, and even hosting huge meet and greet events.

In some cases, you can even choose how you want to respond to the fame as you can be rude to the paparazzi, which will ultimately have a negative impact on your followers who will choose to the leave. Otherwise, you can choose to be nice and sign autographs, answer questions, and even pose for photos.

15 Adventure Into The Forgotten Grotto

Hidden away within Oasis Springs is a hidden lot that many players don’t even know exists as not only is the area hard find, but it also has one rather challenging requirement that is needed to explore the area. In order to explore the Forgotten Grotto, players are required to have level 10 Handiness in order to pass each of the secret entrances.

The Forgotten Grotto isn’t just like every other lot, as it contains a large array of useful items for the player to collect as Onion, Sage, Lily, Potato, and even Mushroom plants which commonly frequent the area. That’s not all though, as players are also treated to some rather unique items such as mine-able rocks, a fishing spot that allows you to catch the ultra-rare Batfish, and even Frogs.

14 Use The Brindleton Bay Lighthouse For Some Rather Inappropriate Activities

Things are getting a little steamy in Brindleton Bay as your Sims can partake in some rather inappropriate activities while visiting the lighthouse.

While public woohoo isn’t anything new to the series - as previous instalments have often rewarded Sims for completing this activity off of their whims list – it will be the first time that this rather private activity makes a public appearance in The Sims 4.

We hope your Sims aren’t shy as doing the dirty within the lighthouse provides quite the light show for fellow Sims within the neighborhood.

13 Become A Disney Princess

For those that aren’t particularly caught up with The Sims community, you would be forgiven for missing one of the most popular challenges to have ever exist. That’s right, players have been following the storyline of several of Disney’s most popular princesses where they must adhere to a series of rules.

Your journey to becoming a Disney Princess will start with the fairest one of all – Snow White – where the player will start from humble beginnings as a teenager. Players also have the option (which is highly recommended) to create an evil stepmother, as let’s face, Snow White’s evil stepmother played an integral role in her story.

From there as each generation passes, the player will be required to complete a series of tasks for the following Disney princesses: Cinderella, Tiana, Aurora, Anna, Rapunzel, Belle, Mulan, Jasmine, Merida, Ariel, Pocahontas, and finally ending with Elsa.

Although the different challenges are always fun to complete, you should be warned that it isn’t for the faintest of heart as many of these tasks are not only time consuming, but also quite challenging to complete.

12 Say Goodbye To The Sim Cap Limit

Hidden amongst The Sims 4’s Cats & Dogs Expansion Pack is a brand-new feature that players have been asking for since the release of the base game in 2014. If you’re a frequent Sims 4 user, you will be well aware of the rather annoying issue dubbed “Sim Culling” which is the limit of Sims that you can have within each saved game.

At current, the limit of Sims that the player can have per saved world is 180, however, thanks to the brand-new tool – which can be found in the Game Settings – you will no longer be limited to a set amount of Sims – unless otherwise chosen. The free Cats & Dog’s update will see the following options for the Sims cap limit: 50, 100, 200, and unlimited

It should be known though, selecting the unlimited option could cause The Sims 4 to run into some rather unexpected issues as the more Sims you create, the longer and more stress it will place onto your computer.

11 Change The Size of Objects By Making Them Bigger Or Small

The Sims 4’s Cats & Dogs Expansion Pack is arguably one of the biggest updates to hit The Sims 4 since its launch in 2014, as players have been waiting years to finally experience pets within the game. However, little do most people know, Maxis has included one sneaky little feature that is sure to get many fans of the series very excited.

For those that love to decorate and design their own homes, you’ll be all too familiar with the limitations of The Sims building system as you can only make objects bigger, instead of smaller.

Well, today you’ll be happy to know that alongside the Cats & Dogs Expansion Pack free update, players can finally make objects smaller by using the “Shift +]” keys. The sheer possibilities of this particularly unknown feature is endless and we can’t wait to see what players decide to create.

10 The Most Useful Feature In The Game

Gone the days of queuing up interaction, after interaction as your Sim can now perform multiple tasks at once. While some may have already noticed this handy feature, many have still yet to realize its full potential, as multitasking is arguably one of the most useful features to be implemented into The Sims 4.

Multitasking can be used in a number of different ways such as; increasing your Sims social bar while eating a meal, watching the cooking channel while working out (allow you to train two skills at once), or even reading a book while emptying their bladder.

It’s quite obvious that Maxis wants to make The Sims 4 not only as realistic as possible but also simplifying the interaction process that has often been rather frustrating throughout the series.

9 Cheats Can Completely Alter How You Play

Let’s face it, we have all at some points used cheats within a game to give ourselves an advantage over others and while there is often a stigma against those that do choose to cheat within games, I must admit that by using cheats you can completely change the way that you play a game – especially within The Sims 4.

When it comes to certain video games, I think we can all admit that The Sims is a very challenging game to perfect – especially when managing large households – so it comes as no surprise that many do opt to use cheats to make the game easier, and arguably much more enjoyable to play.

From automatically fulfilling needs, gaining extra money to perform all your required purchases and renovations, setting your Sim up romantically without all of the hassle, and even maxing out skills without days of wasted time – I think we can all agree that using Cheats definitely does have its advantages and can even relight the spark for many that have since turned away from the series.

8 Discover The Secret Skills Within The Game

Hidden all throughout the series, The Sims has managed to hide a number of secret skills that many players don’t even know exists – with The Sims 4 being no exception. Hidden throughout the game players are able to unlock secrets skills such as Gaming, Reaping – only obtainable through cheating -, Work Ethic, Sales, and also Maintenance.

To no surprise, all of these secret skills offer the player a number of unique advantages that can significantly help your Sim as these skills all offer a way to help your Sim advance in their chosen career/hobby.

An example of this is that the gaming skill offers a better chance at winning tournaments, work ethic helps your Sims stay focused on their assigned task, and Sales and Maintenance offers Retail Employees better skills when talking to customers and even the ability to better clean up and restock sold out items.

7 Hidden Traits & Rewards

As we have already learned, Maxis loves to hide hidden features throughout their games. Well, it wasn’t just hidden areas and skills that were added to The Sims 4 as a number of hidden traits and rewards can also be earned throughout the game that were not included in the Create A Sim editor.

What makes these hidden traits and rewards so desirable, is the fact that they can significantly alter your Sims career or even their general day to day life.

Whether it’s traits that allow your Sims to live longer lives, the ability to not lose hygiene while exercising, or simply the fact that you can use connections to start a career several levels ahead – I think we can all agree that these hidden traits and rewards are definitely worth the time and effort to unlock.

6 Visit The Hidden Location Of Sylvan Glade

If you’re feeling adventurous or simply have a Sim that loves the outdoors, Sylvan Glade – located in Willow Creek - is one of those must explore locations within The Sims 4. What separates Sylvan Glade from most of the other hidden areas is that it has no special requirements for Sims that wish to enter the area.

Players can only access Sylvan Glade through the unique Sylvan Tree that is located in Foundry Cove in which players must interact with the tree in order to gain access to a portal. It is through this portal that players can marvel in the beauty of this secret lot as it contains Cherry Trees, Pear Trees, Snapdragon, Lily, Bluebell, Strawberry, Mushroom, and also Basil.

That’s not all though, as the secret area is home to some rather rare and unique wildlife such as frogs, and even the exclusive Treefish.