The Sims 4 Apocalypse Challenge Rules

Date: February 11th, 21XX

Location: The City of Glassbolt

Program: The Apocalypse Challenge

Project: RRR (Phase 2)

Briefing

Greetings citizen. No doubt you have heard of the devastation. Much of the media reports coming out of the City of Glassbolt has been white washed to gloss over what happened there. We know that approximately 5 minutes after half time of the super bowl, the nuclear power plant of Glassbolt melted down, devastating the entire region. The army core of engineers cites that a simultaneous flush of every toilet in the city caused a massive drop in water pressure, thus causing the plant to lose coolant and melt down. This isn’t your ordinary meltdown. That plant was experimental! The fallout is causing strange and odd problems in the region and we have very little detail about what is going on in there.

What we DO know is that we need a leader, a hero to willingly go in there, establish themselves in the region and help restore the region back to normal. We have one other bit of declassified information. This actually happened 20 years ago. We’ve lost contact with the region. You, citizen, have graduated from our Wonder Child project. You were specially created to be able to solve these issues. So get in there and show us what you are made of! The lost city of Glassbolt is depending on you!

Jump to:

The Challenge

The Apocalypse Challenge has many restrictions and is, by design, extremely difficult in the very beginning. The way you

make life easier for yourself is by having Sims reach the tops of careers. Each career branch has its own set of restrictions tied to it. You must abide by all of those restrictions.

However, once a Sim reaches the top of a career branch, the restrictions related to that career branch are lifted. You no longer have to obey them. Even if that Sim quits their job, the act of reaching the top level of a career will permanently lift that career branch’s restrictions.

There is a catch, however. Only one set of restrictions may be lifted per Sim. Even if you can get them to the top of more than one career in their lifetime, only the first one counts towards completing this challenge. This includes teenage careers. If a Sim reaches the top of a teenage career, they are unable to lift any restrictions related to a future adult career.

The challenge ends when every set of restrictions has been lifted. Your “Score” is the number of Sim days it takes you to accomplish this feat, with the fewer days taken being a better score (like Golf).

Universal Rules

These rules are always in effect and are not tied to any careers. These rules cannot be ‘lifted’ and must

be followed during the entire challenge.

1. No cheats, custom content, or mods that would give you an unfair advantage over someone who didn’t have them. The Move Objects cheat is allowed, but restricted by a career-specific restriction that must be lifted before you can use it.

2. You may not age up sims early.

3. You may not adopt infants or children.

4. Play on normal lifespans.

5. You must follow all career-specific restrictions until a Sim reaches the top of that career, at which point the actions and objects previously forbidden by the restriction are now allowed for all sims in the household.

6. You may only play your Apocalypse family in the neighborhood and they may not move to new lots during the challenge.

Getting Started

You start with a single founder Sim. Unlike the Legacy Challenge, this may be ANY sim, young adult or older. This may be a previously played sim with skill points, perks and other advantages. You may download this Sim from the gallery or use your own. In fact, if you’re looking for some very well bred sims, I would suggest downloading a #WonderChild. If a downloaded sim comes as part of a larger household, simply split them off.

Your founder must be moved into an empty lot, but you may choose any empty lot you want in any neighborhood. You may demolish a pre-existing house if you happen to want the lot it was sitting on. (Oasis Springs is suggested as it fits with the theme of the challenge better, but there is no rule requiring it)

Once moved into the lot, your Sim must quit any job they were previously part of. If they were at the top of a career, it does not lift the restrictions associated with that career, nor does it bar them from re-taking that same job. Once a sim has no career and is the only sim on the empty lot, the challenge begins and all of the career-specific restrictions go into effect.

The Career Specific Restrictions

Tech Guru – Startup

The world has pretty much given up on the city as a lost cause. A few humanitarian suppliers risk the journey in, but they only offer the most basic and meager of furnishings. The region used to be host to some high tech industry, but all of that is abandoned. The little luxuries in life are the last thing on everyone’s list.

Only the worst version of any item class may be purchased or used. For the purposes of this restriction, single and double beds are two different item classes. If another restriction outright restricts an entire item class, that restriction takes priority until it is lifted, even if you lift this restriction.

(Essentially, you can only use the item of each category with the worst stats. If more than one item shares the equally low stats you may choose between them. If an item class has no stats at all (Like doors) You may use any item in that class.

Completion

With a little legal maneuvering and some keen technical know-how, your Sim buys up and revives the previously abandoned high-tech factories in the area. Items made of better materials and constructed using advanced engineering techniques now become available in the region.

Tech Guru – eSport Gamer

The backbone servers and fiber optic cables that used to bring the internet to the region were fried during the meltdown. Now power is scarce, electronics are faulty and computers are crippled in their functionality. Cell phone towers were taken out too, crippling phone functionality to the region.

The computer may *only* be used for daily tasks required by a Sim’s job (if said daily task requires use of a computer) and nothing else. The cell phone may only be used to take or quit a job and cannot be used to play games, chat, text, prank, or invite other sims. TVs and electronic notebooks may not be purchased or used either.

Completion

Fed up with their jury-rigged connection to the outside world, your Sim takes their network connectivity know-how and leads a community effort to restore servers, cell towers, and reconnects the fiber optics. Suddenly, internet speeds are 10 times that of the rest of Sim Nation. Handy not having an ISP monopoly.

Business – Investor

Commerce and trade used to be a cornerstone of the Glassbolt region. All of that is in shambles now. While there are some companies importing some basic survival items into the region, nobody is bothering to try and export anything. The assumption that there is nothing of value to export and that whatever is exported might be tainted with the lingering radiation means that nothing of value is leaving the region, and very little money is flowing back in.

You cannot sell Buy/Build mode items or collected/harvested items. Cannot do any interactions with the Geo Council for found items. Cannot publish books (You may self-publish) or songs. Cannot write and sell Jingles.

Completion

The region is ripe with opportunity and your Sim sees this. Flush with cash and strong with clout, your sim convinces a major shipping company to invest in the region, publishing the stories of the survivors, buying excess goods to re-sell as “Survivor Vintage”, and to labs for scientific study. While the new company makes a mint on this new opportunity, it also opens the door for some much needed cash to flow into the pockets of those living there. A true win/win for everyone involved.

Business – Management



It is amazing that some companies have remained in the region. But it soon becomes clear that most of them are taking advantage of the situation and labor standards are being ignored to the detriment of the workers. With unemployment so high, bosses feel free to use and abuse their workers and fire them on a whim knowing they can be easily replaced.

You may not take any days off, either as vacation OR family leave. If your Sim misses work, is late for work or leaves work early they must quit the job and may not re-take the same career ever. If a Sim voluntarily quits their job, or switches to a new job, that Sim may never re-take their old job. Elder Sims may not retire. Sims cannot ‘play hookey’. These restrictions do not apply to the grade school or high school “careers” but DO apply to any after-school teenage careers taken. While at work, you must choose either work normally or “Work Hard” as your Sim’s work mode and may not choose any other work modes.

Note: Sims who have the “Professional Slacker” trait are exempt from this restriction

Completion

Haven risen through the ranks of the business world, your Sim declares that the practice of mistreating workers must end. Your sim’s company has enough business and legal connections to other businesses in the region and pressures other businesses in the region to do the same. Working conditions for everyone improve overnight.

Culinary – Chef

The destruction in the region has cut gas lines and made the electricity grid very unstable. As a result, gas and electrical appliances can’t be relied on to cook and preserve food. The citizens of the area are forced to resort to more primitive cooking methods and living off the land to stave off starvation.



You may not purchase, place, or use any refrigerators, stoves, ovens, or microwave ovens or coolers. Non-fish items may not be cooked on grilled on fire pits. If you do not have the Outdoor Retreat game pack, you may make non-fish items on the grill, but must move a fish in your inventory to the family inventory each time you cook a meal.

Completion

After breaking the Simmish Book of World Records for hosting the largest soup kitchen for the region, your culinary master Sim attracts the attention of the world’s most famous chefs. Seeing the plight of the region they form the global food fund to ship truckloads of fresh food to the region as well as repair the gas lines and electrical infrastructure, allowing the people of the region to once again make and eat good food.

Culinary – Mixologist

There is something in the water. In fact, there is something in all liquids that are made in the region. The radiation in the air seems to easily trickle into liquids making drinking anything a risky and unhealthy affair. Only the juices and liquids locked in fresh food seem to be safe, which is just enough to stave off total dehydration.

Sims may not drink any drinks made at a bar. They may not drink any Lifetime Happiness reward potions. They may not have drinks from a fridge or cooler and cannot brush their teeth at a sink. Newborns may not be bottle-fed. Your Sim may make drinks to practice, but you must throw them out.

Completion

After ages spent mixing drinks, trying to make something drinkable, your master Mixologist sim stumbles on a genius drink mix that, when added to any liquid, neutralizes the radiation and renders the liquid safe to drink. Cheap and easy to make, your Sim distributes this miracle drink mix to the whole region, allowing Sims everywhere to raise a glass and drink to their health.

Astronaut – Space Ranger

The radiation cloud released by the meltdown has taken the form of a dark and grim cloud, blocking out much of the sky and sunlight. The presence of the cloud makes sleeping outdoors unsafe and the lack of sunlight sets the entire region on edge, unable to appreciate the beauty of many objects around them.

All objects must be covered by four walls and a roof and sims may not sleep outdoors. Sims may not travel to or vacation in Granite Falls (If you have the Outdoor Retreat Pack). Sims may not stargaze or cloud watch or use the telescope to watch the sky. You may not enable the mood auras on any mood aura objects. Tents may not be used. Mailboxes, Outdoor trash cans and rocket ships are all exempt from the “Must be covered by 4 walls and a roof” rule.

Completion

With a heroic mission in low orbit, your brave space ranger sim is able to harness the power of the solar winds to pull the radioactive cloud out of the atmosphere and send it into space, clearing the sky and letting the region breathe a little easier and actually see the sun once in a while.

Astronaut – Interstellar Smuggler

The prototype designs for the next generation of objects was stolen from the region’s high tech industrial sector during the chaos and confusion of the meltdown. The knowledge of how to make those unique and special objects has been lost. Worse still, the blueprints for do-it-yourself improvements are missing, rendering the handysims of the region clueless on how to improve the functionality.

Cannot place, sell, or use career reward objects. May not upgrade any objects other than rockets.

Completion

While your Interstellar Smuggler went on an epic quest to steal back the stolen plans, their efforts were ultimately in vain as the thieves were found dead and the laptop with the stolen plans broken beyond repair. Luckily all the gadgets, trinkets and high tech modifications your Sim developed while preparing for their mission were more than enough to replace the knowledge lost. Your Sim releases the plans to the region for all to use.

Painter – Master of the Real

Art has taken a back seat to survival. Who wants to look at drawings when one doesn’t know where their next meal will come from? Anyone who had artistic talent in the region has forgotten how to make emotionally powerful objects.

Your Sims may not paint mood-aura paintings. Handysims may not create emotional aura items on the workbench. (Items with just a plain environment score are not considered emotional aura items) Authors may not write emotional books.

Completion

Your Master of the Real realizes how to break through the tragic haze in the region and once again master their emotions and put that mastery into their creations allowing the region’s art scene to be revived and develop a unique style of its own.

Painter – Patron of the Arts

The outside world is largely cut off from those in the region. Given that there is no market for works of art within the region itself as your fellow survivors care more about food and shelter than pretty pictures, even the greatest masterpiece will go unheeded and the greatest artists unrewarded for their work.

You may not sell any Sim-produced objects. May not self-publish books

Completion

Having attracted the attention of major international art gallery using their connections, your Sim establishes an art auction house where the artists of the region can go to get real money for their works of art. There is a robust market for creations from the region as suffering and struggle felt by the artists of the region make for very memorable and valueble creations.

Writer – Author

The libraries and the bookstores are gone. Only stray books can be found these days. If your Sim wants to read more than the handful of books that come with new bookshelves, they had better hope they know a local author or write one themselves.

You may not order books from bookshelves or online, and may not visit library lots (even if visiting other lots is otherwise allowed).

Completion

The written word is indeed powerful and your prolific author has penned enough books to restock the entire region and setup an ordering service for sims to buy books from the outside world. The money earned from all this is used to rebuild the regional libraries.

Writer – Journalist

The state of the region is terrible. The sanitation system is in ruins, medicine is scarce and the worst part is…the rest of the world doesn’t realize how bad it is. Rather than properly investigate the region, the major media outlets of the world have largely glossed over the events in Glassbolt. The rest of the world doesn’t know how bad it actually is and because of this few seem eager to lend a hand.

You may not purchase or use showers, tubs or, shower/tub combinations. When Woohooing, if the “Try for baby” option is available, you MUST choose it rather than Woohoo. May not ‘take pregnancy test’ on a toilet.

Completion

Your crack investigative journalist Sim manages to do a stellar piece. Gathering photos, quotes, events, and evidence of exactly how bad things have gotten in the region. They then release this to the world. International aid organizations spring into action. Doctors come to help out the sick and provide much needed pharmaceutical items, including birth control and pregnancy testing items. A joint effort quickly repairs the sewage and water sanitation systems, allowing clean…ish and free flowing water to return to everyone still living in the area.

Secret Agent – Diamond Agent

The radiation released by the meltdown wasn’t just your normal, run-of-the-mill radiation. The plant was experimental and the resulting radiation has had some…unique effects on those who were near the power plant when it blew. Zombies. And not just regular zombies, but RADIOACTIVE zombies roam the major streets. It is unclear what makes them tick or what they are after, but it is not safe to travel between neighborhoods, lest the zombie hordes get you. The thread of zombies have made people paranoid about letting anyone into their homes.

Sims may not visit community lots or enter neighborhood houses (They may still wander their local neighborhood, as long as it doesn’t cause a loading screen. This does not prevent Sims from leaving for work. May not move sims out of the household (Besides your initial imported family to slim it down to 1 member if needed)

Completion

After infiltrating the zombie hordes and doing some acts of seduction that your Sim would rather not talk about, your Diamond Agent Sim finds the source of the zombies’ power. The Evil Dr. Vu is controlling them and using the nuclear disaster as a cover. After destroying Vu’s nefarious device, the zombies all return to normal, leaving the streets clear and neighborhoods safe.

Secret Agent – Villain

Something must have snapped in the mind of Glassbolt’s mayor. When the meltdown took the life of his pet llama, the mayor went a little insane, enacting bizarre zoning laws and mobilizing the region’s fire and police forces to enforce them while ignoring the suffering and other problems that a police force might otherwise be able to help with.

When you start the challenge, you must choose an 8X8 square on your lot. You may only build in this area. Nothing may be placed outside the 8X8 area. You may not sell or delete urns or gravestones or ‘release spirit’.

Completion

Your villain, aggravated by this insane and clearly incompetent mayor’s rules, has decided to take down the figure of authority and seize power for his or herself. Through some careful manipulation from the shadows and some very good use of minions and henchmen, your Sim manages to stage a little ‘accident’ for the mayor mere minutes after being named deputy mayor themselves. While there isn’t exactly a lot of wealth and power to gained from ruling a devistated region, at least your Sim can do away with the previous mayor’s silly laws while they ponder ways to exploit their new-found authority.

Entertainer – Musician

The people of the region have difficulty relaxing. Living in a nuclear hell-hole has a way of keeping you focused on the here and now. Music is seen as a waste of time and the local radio stations have all been destroyed in the disaster. People seem more set in their ways and stubborn to try new things or give into their changing impulses.

Sims may only only “Practice” instruments, and may not do any other interactions on them. They may not purchase or use any kinds of radios or stereos. You may not change a Sim’s aspiration, even if they have completed it (Other than the forced change going from childhood to teenager). You may not cancel whims.

Completion

With your Sim filling the air with beautiful music, the people of the region are inspired to rebuild the radio stations just so they can hear your Sim play. Hope is renewed and people feel more at ease and flexible in how they approach life.

Entertainer – Comedian

The people of the Glassbolt region are a depressed group, and rightfully so. But depression feeds more depression and people become more hesitant to gather together or even look at themselves in a mirror. Nobody laughs or feels they can make merry and everyone is on edge.

Sims may not throw parties and may not go on dates. They may not invite other Sims to their lot. They may only invite in one Sim per generation to join the household. Sims may not use mirrors.

Completion

With a star comedian touring the region , the people of Glassbolt learn to laugh again even at themselves. People may still look like hell, but at least they are more comfortable joking about it. With everyone being a lot less self-conscious, people once again gather for events and are more comfortable joining others.

Criminal – Boss

The one thing that wasn’t destroyed by the blast was the local mob. With law enforcement severely weakened and unable to maintain order, the mob has volunteered itself to ‘protect’ the residents. The upside is that burglaries are non-existent. The downside is that this ‘protection’ has a price – everythMing you made that week. Residents are in such bad shape, that saying ‘no’ is not an option.

Whenever you are due to pay bills, pay them (if able) and then reduce your household funds to $0 using the money cheat. (Open cheat console with ctrl-c then enter ‘Testing Cheats on’ without the quotes and hit enter. Then ‘Money 0’ without the quotes and hit enter). You may not spend any money while you have outstanding bills or once the mail carrier appears on the lot until the bills are paid and the household funds reduced to 0.

Completion

Beating the mob is not an option, but if you can’t beat them, join them. As the big boss in charge, the mob plays by your Sim’s rules. And their rules say ‘no protection payments are to be drawn from my family for life’. And when the boss speaks, the goons listen.

Criminal – Oracle

Things are bad, but they seem almost artificially bad. As if the universe was conspiring against the people of Glassbolt at the whim of some cruel otherworldly power. Sadly, the people of Glassbolt are powerless to act upon this paranoid feeling and must go about their lives.

Sims may not use the move objects cheat. You may not download or import any Sims from the Gallery or place any Sims into the neighborhood (other than your founder at the start of the challenge). You must use the money cheat to remove any money brought in by a spouse moving in (if they bring any money in).

Completion

Your master hacker Sim manages to tap into the matrix. They almost go mad from the revelation. They are just a simulation, a computer program. And the state of the region is that way because of some ‘challenge’ being played. Unable to escape from the simulation, the orcacle finds little ways to get ahead and manipulate their player’s computer to make things easier for their family.

As an added bonus, upon lifting the Oracle restrictions, you may legally use the “Kaching” cheat once per Sim day (Other money cheats are still restricted)

Athlete – Professional Athlete

People feel hopeless in the region. The bare minimum is done and nobody thinks they can aspire to greatness. “Good Enough” is the attitude of the day and people think the days of role models and heroes is over.

You may not purchase any reward traits for your Sims.

Completion

After your professional athlete Sim organizes a brand new sport, “Glassbolt Ultra Caber Toss” in the ruins of the old Glassbolt Stadium, people from around the region come to either play or cheer on their favorite local teams. Heroes and sports idols emerge once again and people feel encouraged to give 110% and make themselves even better.

Athlete – Bodybuilder

The wave of radiation produced by the power plant turned many people into zombies. Those not turned into zombies found themselves severely weakened. Muscles can barely lift what they used to and people struggle just to stand, let alone haul heavy loads or lift heavy objects.

You may not move or sell any objects that have a footprint larger than 1×1 once they are placed and build/buy mode is exited. Cannot carry more than one stack of objects in personal inventory at a time. You may not remove any items out of family inventory, regardless of size. (You may place items into it, but they may not be brought back out until this restriction is lifted)

Completion

Your bodybuilder and personal trainer Sim devises a rigorous alternate-day body bulk-up routine designed to take make the meek and the weak into the MIGHTY! Organizing a regional gym, your Sim spends their day whipping everyone in the region back into shape.

Teen Career – Babysitter

Modern parenting techniques have fallen by the wayside. Simply feeding and protecting a Sim’s child is hard enough, so no effort is given to raising them and shaping them into a proper citizen of the future.

You must use the random trait generator to pick personality traits whenever an infant/child/teen ages up in the household and gains a new personality trait. You must also follow the random generator’s result when choosing a childhood or adult aspiration when aging up an infant to child or child to teen respectively. You may not use music or fruit to influence the gender of an unborn baby.

Completion

With your young Sim’s new and revolutionary post-apocalyptic childcare techniques, children can once again be encouraged and shaped into little angels….or devils depending on what the parents deem is good behavior.

Teen Career – Fast Food Employee

The modern convenience of fast food has all but vanished overnight. Being able to find enough normal food is now the order of the day. None of the major food chains has any plans to try and return to the region.

May not use the “Quick Meal” option on a fridge or cooler. May not order chips from a bar. May not order pizza.

Completion

After rebuilding a local pizzeria from the ashes of one that had collapsed, the global pizza chain “Little Napoleans” sees a viable market for their product. They make your teen Sim a new franchise owner and start shipping in pizza supplies and other snacks by the truckload, returning fast and yummy food to the region.

Teen Career – Manual Labor

Lawncare and gardening are two past times that have really dropped off the radar of importance in the area. Nobody cultivates plants, relying on wild ones for food and trying to stay alive otherwise.

May not plant, grow, graft, take samples of, or level up plants. You may not hire maids. (You MAY harvest ‘wild’ plants, and ONLY wild plants)

Completion

With their house the envy of the neighborhood. Green with plants, clean as a whistle, sims in the region realize that maybe they don’t have to live in barren and squalor conditions if they took just a little extra effort to do some gardening and cleaning. After all, who wants to have their house upstaged by some kid?

Teen Career – Retail Employee

The downtown shopping center has been picked clean and the local mall looted. You can still *get* things, you just need to know when the weekly swap meet is. While there is a local market that has sprung up from the ashes of the old one, it is only open once a week. If you need something any other time, you are out of luck.

You may only purchase/build new objects in build/buy mode on Sundays. You may only “replace” broken objects on Sundays. (Brand new games should start on a Sunday, allowing you to get your initial house established). You may not use plan outfit to change a sim’s wardrobe.

Completion

With sharp organizational skills and lightning fast fingers at the checkout line, your teen Sim helps the local market keep itself open 7 days a week. Supplies might still be limited but convenience is back, and with a smile!

Teen Career – Barista

With the water supply tainted in the region, the last thing people want is a hot cup of coffee or tea. Even if they did, supplies of coffee and tea to the area have halted and aren’t showing any signs of returning.

You may not purchase or use any coffee or tea related items. May not purchase or use the lump of clay object.

Completion

Between school and work, having no source of caffeine is NOT acceptable to your Barista sim. They engineer a clever little water filter that makes water potable, but sadly only when used for coffee or tea. A more potent purifying method will be needed to make other liquids safe to drink.With this problem solved, the natural order is restored and hundreds of coffee shops appear out of the blue overnight.

You can track your challenge progress on our score sheet found here.

End of the challenge

The Challenge is completed once every single restriction has been lifted. For some, just finishing the challenge is enough. But if you want a ‘score’ it is the number of days it took you to complete the challenge, with a lower number being better.