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Occult life states in The Sims have been around for as long as the series itself. Since the very first game, countless variations and re-imaginings of paranormal creatures of all kinds have graced our screens. All your classic movie monsters are present and accounted for across the series and The Sims 4 is no exception. These fearsome creatures aren’t just for aesthetics though; occult life states have impacted game mechanics in exciting and dynamic ways, with each state offering tangible benefits.

Related: Things From The Sims 3 Supernatural That We Want In The Sims 4

In The Sims 4, you have a few occult life states to choose from. Accessible in Create-A-Sim are vampires, werewolves, aliens, spellcasters, and mermaids. These are complimented by ghosts. Of course, each has its upsides and downsides, but if you want to spice up your sim’s life with fangs or a tail and give yourself a new play experience, you can’t go wrong with making things a little more supernatural.

6 Ghosts (Base Game)

The Sims 4 Drowned Ghosts

Ghosts are precisely what you think they are. The spirits of your dearly departed Sims, returning from the netherworld to possess your electronics and plumbing. Ghosts are the only permanent occult that doesn’t come in Create-A-Sim; if you have a Sim you think should be a ghost, you’re going to have to make them the old-fashioned way - that is to say, you’re going to have to take those ladders out of the pool.

Related: Things We Loved About The Sims 4 Paranormal

After that, you have to befriend them and invite them to join your household. If that seems too long, you can temporarily become a ghost using the seance table from the Paranormal stuff pack, provided your skills as a medium are high enough.

Besides ghosts’ ability to possess items, scare other sims, and talk about their deaths, they don’t offer much in the way of gameplay or storytelling. At best, the ghost life state is a way to make your game slightly spookier. Slightly.

5 Aliens (Get To Work)

The Sims 4 Alien Family

Aliens walk among your Sims and aren’t even subtle about it. Unfortunately, that’s about as exciting as they get. Alien sims are like normal Sims, with a few key differences. These differences manifest as special abilities that regular Sims just don’t have and can’t acquire. For example, your alien Sims can read minds, detect personalities, and use an empathy power to mirror another Sim’s mood. These are helpful additions to your social menu, but beyond that, alien Sims are basic.

They do what normal Sims do, with disguises to help them blend into the neighborhood. Not that that matters too much; when you get exposed as an alien, most Sims get over their initial shock without lasting consequences. Of all the occults in the Sims 4, aliens are the easiest to manage. So it’s best to use them as a primer on how occult Sims impact social menus and Sim relationships.

4 Mermaids (Island Living)

Sims 4 mermaid floating in the water

Life as a mermaid, the state introduced in Island Living, proves that it’s not necessarily better down where it’s wetter. They have some benefits, especially if you’re living on Sulani, but outside that tropical paradise, mermaids are more aesthetic than substance. They do have a few fun abilities, though. Mermaids can free-dive without equipment, change the weather (provided you have Seasons installed), summon ocean threats to scare sims they don’t like, and befriend dolphins, among others.

Related: Island Living: Things You Need To Know About Mermaids In The Sims 4

Unlike most other occults, there are no real consequences to your Sim’s social life if they’re a mermaid, nor are there any tangible bonuses. No Sim bats an eye at your colorful tail or speedy swimming, and your fish-out-of-water mermaid will deny being a mermaid if asked. Even if they are, at that moment, swimming in the ocean, their tail visible. Mermaids have so much potential, but they feel under-utilized at best, tacked-on at worst.

3 Spellcasters (Realm Of Magic)

Sims 4 Realm Of Magic Spellcaster Duel

Spellcasters, the magic users of the sim world, are a bewitching addition to your Sim neighborhoods. Not only do they have the ability to improve the lives of your Sims through quick, magical repairs or botanical encouragement, but they’re also able to duel one another or perform mischievous magic, all in the name of becoming the best spellcaster around. Spellcasters use their trusty spellbook to log progress and have a skill tree that allows them to specialize in different forms of magic.

Your Sims have many options available to them, and they can travel to the magical realm to gather the items they need for potion brewing, to buy magical transportation, or to duel with other spellcasters. But, in the end, they are just Sims with magic. The system you use them in is intriguing, but they lack a certain charm that the more monstrous occults have.

2 Vampires (Vampires)

A vampiric Sim appears to be casting some sort of spell—or at least, preparing to cast something

The classic movie monster, the plasma-sucking vampire, lets you live out your undead dreams. Perhaps the best thing about them is that their powers come at a cost, some that may negatively affect their relationships with other Sims. A vampire may be able to walk in the daylight without worry, but the trade-off is that they must sleep in coffins, uncontrollably hiss at other Sims, or perhaps vomit every time they eat regular food. Everything comes at a price, and if you want to roleplay as the apex predator, be prepared to pay for it.

Related: From The Sims To The Sims 4: Evolution Of Vampires Throughout The Entire Game Franchise

The balancing act between weaknesses and powers make vampires one of the most compelling occult life states in The Sims 4. Every vampire in your game is unique, tailored to whatever story you want to tell. You can make a friendly neighborhood vampire, or a midnight menace to any Sim without garlic over their doors. The choice is up to you.

1 Werewolves (Werewolves)

Sims 4 werewolves transformations

Werewolves are the most dynamic occult Sims, period. They offer a ton of customization and the skill tree is robust, with numerous abilities to pick from, each carrying its own gameplay advantage. Werewolves also have dormant abilities, which can be unlocked through specific actions, making werewolves very hands-on and responsive to player input. They also have particular traits that develop over time, not unlike the lifestyles feature from Snowy Escape, which can speed up their “Fury” meter - when Fury is full, expect to see a nigh-uncontrollable werewolf rampage around the neighborhood.

Occult status never really felt that important with mermaids, ghosts or even vampires. But werewolves are different. Being a werewolf feels like a core part of their idenitity, and the game treats it as such. Their social interactions place a lot more emphasis on their wolfish nature. Even outside their world, Moonwood Mill, werewolves don’t feel like add-ons. Instead, they feel as natural as the woods they thrive in.

Next: Sims 4: All The Worlds, Ranked