The legendary life simulator series The Sims is quite possibly the most popular video game franchise ever made. The virtual dollhouse intrigued casual and hardcore gamers alike. Having total control over every aspect of the virtual avatars’ lives allowed players the freedom to experiment with different interactions and scenarios. However, this freedom came with some unexpected results. It also gave players the ability to construct some of their most twisted ideas and fantasies. While the game was designed to create fairly ordinary life occurrences like getting fired from a job, or falling love, it didn’t take long for players to create some truly bizarre scenarios that the developers may not have thought about. Some fans of The Sims have forced their Sims into heinous situations; as the series continues to release new games, the dark experimentation has only gotten more elaborate. With each new release, some of the game's more creative fans immediately begin tweaking the game mechanics and within days, every single possible way to end your Sim is posted online. This list is dedicated to those “imaginative” fans. Those fans that have stared into the eye of the beast that is The Sims, taking things entirely too far.
Below you’ll find some of the most intense and just plain weird stories from fans of The Sims. If you find yourself getting inspired by any of these ideas just remember to keep it strictly to the game.
20 The Garden Party
All Sims have basic needs, and much of the gameplay relies on satisfying these needs to keep your Sim in a good mood. But what happens when you take away those needs? Just about everyone who’s played the game has done it at least once.
You lure a Sim into a room and as soon as they enter, you delete the door.
Without the ability to satisfy their hunger or hygienic needs, you’ll watch as the Sim goes mad. It’s sadly realistic in some ways too. Not only does your Sim collapse from exhaustion without a toilet or bed nearby, but they’ll begin to go mad from the lack of social interaction. It really drives home the isolation that you’re forcing the Sim to endure.
“Adopted a kid, built a room in the middle of the garden, locked him in there and put floor-to-ceiling windows all around so he could look at Mother Nature while he starved and everyone could watch him too. I had a pool party whilst he was still in his glass box so he could enjoy watching all the neighbours eat and drink and have fun while he was ending.”-/u/blondehog78
19 The Evil Woman
Being able to live vicariously through The Sims can be extremely therapeutic. You’re able to take control of situations you may not have had in real life.
You're able to dispense justice and decide what is fair, and what deserves punishment.
Sims are much like real people in that they aren’t always faithful to significant other. The player decided that they had absolutely no tolerance for anyone like that in their town. Like the Sirens from the Odyssey, this user created a flirtatious Sim to interact with the married men of the neighbourhood and dispensed justice when necessary.
“I created a "cheater's graveyard". Built a female character who lived in a small house. The girl often hosted parties and invited couples over. Then she would try seduce the husbands and if they fell for her trap, they would have a slow death in a doorless room. Their tombstone would be later added in the graveyard. I was 12 at the time but apparently had very specific relationship ethics.”-/u/bloomingflorence
18 The Real World: Political Edition
World politics and diplomacy are incredibly complicated. It can be difficult to grasp the idea that, to a certain extent, our well-being relies on the decisions made by a few leaders. With such monumental influence and power, it can be hard to imagine these individuals as real people.
That is where the Sims comes in!
Nothing makes them seem more human than watching them all live in a house together: “Real World” style. But to turn a dictator into a romance novel writer, inspired by Harry Potter? That’s a whole new level of weird.
“The first time I played The Sims 4, I made a family of 4 iconic leaders: Stalin, Obama, Churchill, and Hitler. I transformed the old bathroom into a Harry Potter cupboard for the latter. The deal was that for every novel he wrote I would drag a meal into his room so he could eat. So I would play the game normally with the other three leaders just goofing around while he sat back writing romantic novels entitled "Please Let Me Out."’ - /u/wareagle3000
17 Baby Crazy For The Reaper
Starting from scratch, having a baby in the Sims is a pretty long process. After making sure your needs are satisfied and you’re in a good mood, you have to successfully interact with another Sim until they are willing to “Woo-Hoo” with you. It can be a time-consuming process as the other Sim may not be in the mood to be romanced themselves, and can end up taking days.
Then there’s Death, the Sim who appears to usher Fate’s next victim into afterlife. However just like any other Sim, he’s quite chatty when he appears, and even susceptible to seduction. But getting him to appear can be tricky. He’ll only arrive if an active household Sim is near someone who has ended. To romance the ghastly guy is a trick indeed. But as reddit user /u/XLVXR shows, sometimes you can lose track.
“I wanted my female Sim to have a child with the Grim Reaper, so I [REDACTED] off like half the town to get him to show up enough times for their relationship to get high enough for it.”-/u/XLVXR
16 An Intense Vengeance
Players can easily get attached to their Sim families. The time-consuming process of giving them the exact life the player planned for builds a kind of familiarity with the avatars. So when the occasional accidental end does occur, it can actually be kind of sad. The Sim you watched grow from toddler to young adult just got electrocuted trying to fix a television and all the hard work you put into him means nothing now.
Some fans can really feel the absence of their beloved Sims, which gives the game some of its heart and soul. And like anything with a heart and soul, some players abuse it to their advantage.
“Well, my little sister loved The Sims and she always teased me. So I loaded my sister's save game, put her whole beloved family inside a room, started a fire, and I would save the game over her save file. She completely lost it when she loaded her game just to see her whole family end in a crispy way. Despite all the crying my parents really never understood what I had done, because "its just a computer game."’ -sondrebbakken
15 The Fireworks Tragedy
Accidents are a part of life so, of course, a life simulator is going to demonstrate accidents. Some of them are planned, like falling off a treadmill when a Sim doesn’t have an athletic bone in their body, or starting a house fire when you leave the waffles in the oven too long. Usually these accidents are containable, but sometimes just the right variables are in play, where a Sim can’t escape a dangerous situation and they meet their untimely demise.
When the victim is based off your real-life child, it’s all the more tragic.
“Not intentionally evil here. Made a Sims version of my IRL family and gave my 7-year-old son a toy rocket set. Instructed him to "play" with it, expecting him to take it outside for the launch. Nope, he lit it up right there in his bedroom, discarding the rocket's packaging in the doorway. Of course it instantly started a fire and the Fire Department was immediately summoned. The fireman stood in the doorway trying to get in but couldn't cross the threshold because of the packaging. The whole family watched as he was immolated in his bedroom.”-/u/ehrenzoner
14 The Black Widower
Money can very much can buy happiness in the Sims. So, if you want a happy comfortable Sim, you’ll need to get them money. The normal route is to get a job and keep your moods happy so you do a good job and get promoted.
This can take a long time.
It takes weeks to complete the challenges and tasks that help advance you on your professional journey. So it’s of no surprise that many fans want to acquire huge wealth in the game without putting in the work. Most gamers have full time jobs, so why should their Sim have to have one too? Players like /u/willowgardener got creative and used some tactics from real life bad guys.
“Before I learned the cheat code for infinite money, I would gather funds by creating a new Sim in the neighbourhood, having my Sim marry her (and thus gain her cash), and then [REDACTED] her. I did this perhaps a dozen times, so my Sim never had to work. Literally made my guy an ender for money.” - /u/willowgardener
13 You’re Playing The Game Wrong
The Sims is first and foremost a sandbox game, setting up intricate game mechanics and physics that let players decide how they want to interact with them. This means that there’s no “right” way to play. While the game sets up goals depending on the choices the player makes, the user is free to try and accomplish them or not.
This freedom inevitably piques the interest of our darker sides.
It’s really not surprising that fans of The Sims use the game to commit atrocious acts. While it would be unthinkable to do some of these things in real life, The Sims allows players to see how some the darkest scenarios would play out. But just because there is no “right” way to play the game, it doesn’t mean there isn’t a “wrong” way. After sending scores of Sims to their end, the game may begin to worry about you as this Reddit user found out.
“I [REDACTED] enough Sims in a short enough period of time that I got a pop-up telling me the Sims was a life simulator, not an end simulator, and asked me if I wanted to restart my current game without saving.”-veronica_deetz
12 Destruction Of A Family
Sometimes the cruelest experiment is taking a picture perfect happy family and shattering them into millions of pieces. Watching their personalities change after experiencing tragedy after tragedy is a spectacle as they hysterically grasp for meaning in their dark virtual lives. From a cheating spouse, to a gone loved one, to a child being taken away from child services, there’s no end to the emotional heck that fans have put their Sims through. However this account may just take the cake.
“Played a normal generation, two beautiful sims fall in love. They have 2 sons and a daughter who is the middle child. Sons grow up normal, and the daughter...becomes ill as an adolescent. I role-played her life, complete with stressful doctors visits and stressed parents. In the end the daughter could no longer live. The bereaved family then began to fall apart. First the mother ended herself, and then the father went insane and burned the entire house down with the remaining two sons in it.”-/u/73508
11 The Witch Next Door
The Sims is famous for the massive amounts of expansion packs that augment the gameplay. One the most popular ever to be release was Supernatural for The Sims 3. It gave fans the opportunity to have their Sims meet and live out their days as a classic supernatural beings.
Witches, Werewolves, Zombies, and Vampires were all playable with them a whole new selection of ways to wreak havoc on the neighbourhoods of the Sims. From cozying up to hypnotized victims to casting curses, no Sims were safe from the new monsters that occupied their towns.
“I made a witch Sim and had her visit a family's house and use her powers to make fires in the house, then left and watched them all freak out. The parents both had crispy ends and the child was left crying, was eventually picked up and the house was unoccupied.”-Nicolemetallica
10 The Skeevy Genie
Another Sims expansion gave the Sims the ability to hypnotize other Sims. Once they were entranced, they were much more susceptible to any suggestion your Sim gave them. While this could be convenient for turning them into your personal chef or maid, it was only a matter of time before some creepy experiments would begin.
“I like to play as male genies in The Sims 3 (mind you, I'm a female player), and I like to use the "ensorcel" ability to give me control of women. I then make the woman come to my house, and relax in the bed and initiate "try for baby" with my genie. Then when the 4 hour in-game control time is up, I kick her out of the house and my genie man-stud goes about his day.”-/u/Shukie_bunfox
9 The Artist And His Muse
In The Sims 3, a game mechanic was added that let players take a picture from their Sim’s cell phone. Once a picture was taken, if the Sim had a high enough skill as an artist, they’d be able to paint the screenshot as a still life painting. It was the perfect way to decorate homes without having to repeatedly use the stock painting in “Buy” mode.
But with the right timing and a bit of imagination, player can end up having their Sims paint some truly sultry situations.
Fortunately for this Sim, the artists paint the blurred out portion of the screenshot as well.
“One of my Sims had the desire to sleep with ten people. She had a husband who was an artist. He was always in his studio endlessly painting, he had a bed in there, he was completely dedicated. Every time she had a lover over I had him paint the scene in the bedroom. He never caught her as he rarely left his studio but all the time he was obviously painting her infidelity. Obviously I hung these paintings all over the house.”-/u/badcollin
8 Toilet Difficulty
Do you ever get bathroom-shy? You’re out in public and need to use the bathroom, but the stalls are too close together and you can hear someone breathing heavily in the stall next to you. Despite needing to go, you suddenly find yourself unable to.
The idea of using the bathroom in public makes a lot of people uncomfortable and the game captures that awkwardness completely.
If a toilet is in view a bunch of Sims, they’ll get too embarrassed to use it, and if they have no other option, they can sometimes piss themselves. This user took this interaction to a whole other level.
“Inside the house there was one refrigerator and, right in the center of the house, a single toilet. I wanted to see which Sims would unashamedly use the toilet in full view of everyone else. Slowly I would shrink the walls as people moved away from them forcing everyone closer and closer to that one, lone toilet. The whole neighborhood were nearly too ashamed to use it in a confined space, all staring at the toilet longingly. Many were standing in puddles.”-/u/connain
7 The Midas Touch
Sims love shiny things. If you set up certain nicknacks, your characters will begin to inspect them. Some these interactions will lead to great things for your Sims, with a new skill or a new reward.
Others will bring terrible misfortune to your Sims.
In The Sims Supernatural DLC, Sims could purchase the Philosopher's stone. They could take any portable item they had turn it into a gold ingot with with the stone. However, if the Sim used to the stone too much, the transmutation could backfire with grave consequences.
“They would go into the basement and be "prompted" to play with the Philosopher's Stone until they turned to gold statues. These statues were then tastefully spread around the mansion and grounds, professionally lit with red spotlights so that at night, the statues would glow with a demonic red and gold light, each in a horrific final pose of terror or agony as they realized they were doomed.” -/u/SeraphStarchild
6 The Alien Invasion
As mentioned earlier, The Sims frequently adds new characters to their game world. Vampires, Robots, Ghosts, and Aliens are just a few that players could take the role of. And while it was fun to discover the new abilities each different group had, the real experimentation began with crossing. Having a Sims of two different groups mate created interesting hybrids with traits from both the parents.
Like something out of the Island Of Dr. Moreau, neighbourhoods can become populated with dozens of "mixed" citizens.
And then there’s the players that make it their personal mission to take over the entire Sims neighbourhood.
“My friend and I created a new neighbourhood with just one family - two men and a woman. We decided we were going to populate the town with their descendants, so we used cheats to constantly get them alien pregnant, age the babies, and have them move out. We ended up with a huge colony of alien-human hybrids.”-/u/diemoviestars
5 Early Signs
The Sims can let you live out desires you may not be able to in real life. Other times, you’ll find your Sims are living the life you didn’t even know you wanted. It can suddenly make you question your own identity as you watch your Sim bask in the world you created for them.
Why didn’t you build this world for yourself?
Playing The Sims is like looking into a mirror. It’s a great indicator of what's going on in your head, conscious and subconscious alike. That being said, it can make your learn something about yourself. Reddit user, /u/paradoxicalme, was surprised she missed some signs in her own gameplay.
“Except for one guy. Imagine this: you're a perfectly attractive young man who moves to the center of Clungeville, but because your malevolent Sapphic creator is working out her issues all [REDACTED] is off-limits. I'm sorry, Greg. I'm so sorry.” - /u/paradoxicalme
4 The Amazonian Challenge
Wonder Woman was an incredible film, so it is no surprise that afterwards, fans of the film wanted to created their own woman-only Amazonian society. In film, the Amazonians are created by the gods, without a clear reproductive process, so players had to come up with their own means of keeping their warrior woman society alive.
“My friend and I did a challenge in Sims 4 called the Amazonian Challenge. We had to buy the biggest lot, we needed to make 4 girls. The challenge, in short, was to lure guys in to make a baby, and then keep them around. If the baby the female sim had was a male, you would have to end it.”-/u/wolfgirl7777
3 Birthday Party From Heck
Imagine you’re at large birthday party for little kids, with guest and children everywhere. It’s a picture perfect moment as you watch the loving father light the birthday candles on the children’s cake… and then catch fire. Nothing brings the mood down at a birthday party more than a blazing inferno tearing through the kitchen.
“The first was the worst-- two of the characters had the "surrounded by family" aspiration, so they had so many babies. I kept being bothered to throw birthday parties for them, so I did like three of them at once. Invited a ton of people over, and then dad goes to light the candles on the cake. And he starts a fire. Mom, meanwhile, is freaking out and trying to bring over the fire extinguisher, but dad is surrounded by screaming, crying children. The kitchen is too narrow, and mom can't get through the crowd. Meanwhile the guests all start booing because of the crying children filling the room, and start leaving the party, complaining about the noise. Dad was ended.” - /u/Dr_Emmet_Brown
2 The Graveyard
Death is a part of life. So it was integral for the creators of the Sims series to make the end of life a part of their simulation of life. When a Sim ended, The Death Sim appears, ushers them into the afterlife, leaving a tombstone behind.
However, just because the Sims is gone doesn't mean their presence has completely disappeared.
"It's not too sadistic per-se, but it involved a lot of ends. I wanted to make a church with a full, complete graveyard. So I built a small, simple structure and moved in a family of 8, get them all inside, removed the door and: Yay, 8 new tombstones! Then I built the church and moved in a priest. Unfortunately for the priest, the grounds had been tainted by the dark rituals of the past. Tormented by the crowds of spectres, he himself ended three days later due to never being able to sleep."-/u/brianwantstruth
1 Walled-Off
Some of the most intense stories to come from The Sims don’t come from the players, but from their loved ones, who don’t quite understand their motives. They watch as their partner controls and abuses their virtual dolls to their whims.
They worry why their partner has a Sim that looks suspicious like them, swimming in a pool with no ladder.
For those not used to living out their dark intentions through the virtual world, it can be very worrisome, hoping that they won’t lose their grip on what’s reality and what’s the game.
“My wife in real life used to play a lot, she was addicted so she made an extra wide wall and let them walk in and then sealed it off so they starved. So she was literally a serial ender and the bodies of all her victims were in the walls of the house. And she laughed while doing it. We have two kids in real life now and I'm afraid we are getting too big as a family and I'm going to be walled in soon.”-/u/Dr_Emmet_Brown