The Sims 4: How to Create and Complete a Bucket List for Your Sims
Key Takeaways:
- Start Your Sim’s Bucket List Early: In The Sims 4: Life & Death expansion pack, Sims can establish meaningful life goals and explore what it means to live life to the fullest.
- Complete the Soul’s Journey: This journey takes your Sim through milestones that bring added rewards and abilities, culminating in powerful traits like Rebirth and Burning Soul.
- Perfect Goals and Customization: From adventurous feats to family moments, players can guide their Sim’s life in targeted directions, ensuring a fulfilling existence (and beyond).
Creating and completing a bucket list in The Sims 4 is a wonderful way to give your Sim a sense of purpose and adventure before they eventually pass on. The Life & Death expansion pack introduces this rewarding feature, allowing players to outline life goals for their Sims, from simple pleasures to ambitious adventures. Here’s everything you need to know about creating and achieving bucket list goals in The Sims 4.
Starting a Bucket List in The Sims 4
To start a bucket list, your Sim can interact with a Private Journal or a Computer. This interaction unlocks the option to write down goals, giving Sims something concrete to work towards. From here, you have three choices for bucket list creation:
- Write Goal: This creates a completely random objective.
- Write Goal from Category: Choose a category that aligns with a specific type of goal, such as family, creativity, or adventure.
- Write the Perfect Goal: A refined and highly customizable option for players who want more control over their Sim’s goals.
Tip: Sims can have up to four active bucket list goals at any time. If you don’t like the goals you’ve set, they can be scratched and replaced, giving players flexibility in guiding their Sims’ journey.
Writing the Perfect Goal: Unlocking Advanced Bucket List Options
Certain actions allow your Sim to create a “Perfect Goal” for their bucket list, a feature that adds extra satisfaction and aligns with their deeper desires. Here’s how to unlock this advanced feature:
- Attend Afterlife Anonymous: This meeting in Ravenwood’s Mourningvale introduces Sims to themes of life and death, enabling special goal creation.
- Witness a Death: If your Sim witnesses another Sim’s death, they unlock the option to create a Perfect Goal.
- Chased by Death Trait: Sims with this trait gain immediate access to Perfect Goals, making it a good option for players wanting flexibility.
Unlocking and writing a Perfect Goal is a way to allow your Sim a say in the goals they pursue, making their journey through life and death deeply meaningful.
Soul’s Journey Milestones: Completing the Path to Rebirth
The Soul’s Journey is a path with eight milestones that unfold throughout your Sim’s life. Completing this journey requires crossing off bucket list goals and, ultimately, embracing death to finish unresolved goals as a Ghost Sim. Here’s a breakdown of the Soul’s Journey milestones and the rewards they offer:
- The Road Ahead: Adds Satisfaction Points.
- Making Headway: Grants skill bonuses.
- Finding Purpose: Enhances career performance and offers computer discounts.
- No Regrets: Extends lifespan and unlocks the “Move Onto the Great Beyond” option.
- Quite a Journey: Unlocks Heirloom creation and the “Pass Down” interaction.
- Dream Fulfilled: Unlocks Rebirth, allowing Sims to be reborn.
- Newfound Purpose (Ghost-exclusive): Rewards Ghost Mastery points.
- The Big Picture (Ghost-exclusive): Unlocks the Burning Soul trait and advanced interactions, like recalling past life memories.
Finishing the Soul’s Journey grants the Burning Soul trait, providing Sims with the ability to remember past lives and build skills faster. With Rebirth, Sims can return as new Sims within the same family or a different household, adding layers to the game.
How to Complete Your Sim’s Bucket List Goals
Each goal requires different actions to complete. The aspiration menu lets you track bucket list progress, and the Life & Death expansion offers goals across various themes:
1. “I Wanna Get Busy!”
- Woohoo in unique locations, such as a bush, hot spring, or dumpster.
2. “I Wanna Party!”
- Host a perfect Gold Star party, from dinner gatherings to ranch celebrations.
3. “I Want Adventure!”
- Climb Mt. Komorebi, fly into space, or befriend supernatural Sims.
4. “I Want Success!”
- Max out a skill, donate to charity, or earn a degree.
5. “I Want a Great Family!”
- Deepen family ties with life events like marriage, parenting, or family bonding.
6. “I Want to Create!”
- Pursue creative endeavors such as painting a masterpiece or becoming a gardening expert.
7. “I Want to Travel”
- Visit iconic Sims 4 neighborhoods like San Myshuno or Willow Creek for a day.
8. “I Want… Something Else?”
- Craft unique items, read at the library, or create five artistic masterpieces.
With these diverse categories, players can create a bucket list that reflects their Sim’s personality and interests. Additionally, adding goals from different categories allows you to balance your Sim’s pursuits, giving them a well-rounded experience.
Progressing Through the Soul’s Journey
Progressing through a Sim’s bucket list not only adds richness to their life story but also fulfills the Soul’s Journey. Each bucket list item completed brings a sense of satisfaction to your Sim, aligning with their unique Aspiration and granting bonuses along the way. Sims with completed bucket lists enter the afterlife without unfinished business, while those who leave goals unchecked will need to resolve them as ghosts.
A completed Soul’s Journey brings rewards such as increased stamina for Ghost Sims and the powerful Rebirth ability, giving Sims a second chance at life with newfound wisdom.
FAQs
Q: Can I add or remove goals after setting them? A: Yes! You can scratch off any bucket list item and add a new goal at any time. This flexibility helps you keep goals relevant to your Sim’s progress.
Q: What are Perfect Goals, and how do I unlock them? A: Perfect Goals are tailored, high-reward bucket list items. They are unlocked by attending Afterlife Anonymous, witnessing a death, or possessing the Chased by Death trait.
Q: Can I choose a goal unrelated to a specific pack? A: Absolutely. Goals in the bucket list align with available packs, but you can also choose general goals that suit any Sim, whether they focus on travel, creativity, or family life.
Q: What happens if a Sim dies before completing their bucket list? A: If a Sim dies with unfinished business, they’ll continue their Soul’s Journey as a ghost, working through remaining goals until they find closure.
Q: How does Rebirth work, and can Sims retain memories? A: Rebirth allows a Sim to start life anew, either within the same family or a different household. With the Burning Soul trait, Sims can even recall past life experiences, adding depth to their new life.
