Modified by IllusoryThrall
Updated through the 2020s and High School Years
Last Update:
1/8/23
Share your creations on The Gallery with the hashtag #DecadesChallenge

Warning: This is a challenge meant for mature audiences! I am not putting an age limit on it, but this challenge may not be for you if any of the following are true:

  • You don’t like your sims dying.
  • You don’t want to confront historical realities like racism, gender stereotypes, war, and other tough social issues.
  • You don’t use mods at all. (CC is optional, MCCC as a mod is not)
  • You’re not looking for a complex, rules-heavy, long challenge.

So.. that being said, I would imagine you have already heard of the Decades Challenge before. It’s been around for quite a while, and is basically taking one family from the 1890s to present day while trying to experience history as it was then. It’s terribly hard to get game play or even the rules to be completely accurate, but myself – and all the other people who have worked on this challenge – have tried very hard to make it as accurate as possible. This version is an adaptation on the base rules by CuteCoffeGal (who has done an AMAZING job, by the way), adding in a whole lot of random rolls and challenges or problems for each decade. I used a couple other Decades-like challenges, and some of my own ideas. Also of note: this is the history from a Caucasian American perspective. If you’re looking for another perspective, read on and check out some of the other links I have included in this first page.

Table of Contents:

Introduction:

This is a mash-up of my ideas and the ideas from several other similar challenges (or alternate versions of rules). It was originally intended for my use, but I’m putting it up for sharing in case someone else is interested in using these rules.

From Cute Coffee Gal’s rules:

“The goal of this challenge is to live from the 1890s to the 2020s in a somewhat historically accurate way, showing how things changed over more than a century of time. By nature of the goal, this challenge will have some limitations in regards to race, gender, and sexuality, particularly in the earlier decades – please note that playing this challenge does NOT condone these limitations. Each decade has rule changes based on societal changes and world events. I have all the current Sims 4 packs and will try to keep this updated as new packs become available. These rules assume that you are not including any Vampires, Mermaids, Spellcasters, or StrangerVille gameplay.”

I ask that you avoid aliens and the Star Wars expansion (at least, until it’s unlocked), as well (if you have it, just ignore the gameplay options from it) As mentioned above, only human sims allowed (set aliens in MCCC to not exist) – this includes no Spellcasters, Vampires, Mermaids, Werewolves, StrangerVille gameplay. Should you accidentally marry in an alien, change them back to human with MCCC, or just ignore their powers.

This version of the challenge is designed to be from a Caucasian/White (United States only) historical perspective. If you’re looking for a version dedicated to retelling the Black/African American side of the story, check out the Black History Challenge by faerie-tempest.

There is also a similar challenge based on British History: The Great British Sim Challenge by EmersedCrown

Getting Set up:

Sims 4 Game Settings:

  • Game Options:
    • Autonomy: Full
    • Disable autonomy for selected sim: off
    • Auto-age played sims: yes
    • Auto-age unplayed sims: on 
    • Sim Lifespan: Normal
    • Maximum sim count: at your discretion
    • Fill empty homes: also at your discretion
    • Show whims: on
    • Build mode items grant gameplay bonuses: on
  • Seasons:
    • 7 Days
    • Rain and thunderstorms
    • Snow and Blizzards
    • Enable temperature effects on Sims: on
  • Get Famous: disabled until the 1910s
  • Eco Lifestyle: disabled on both options until 1970s
  • Werewolves locked to Moonwood Mill
  • Bust the Dust disabled until the 1920s

I am assuming you will be using MC Command Center to set the ages (as I am doing) so that everyone can auto age and you don’t have to (and shouldn’t) manually age up anyone.

  • First I’ll go through how the aging works, then I’ll list the MCCC settings that you should change

As hinted at above, do not age up sims early (before the game gives you the “it’s so-and-so’s birthday” notification). If you’re in the 1890’s, there are no birthday cakes and you will have to wait for your sims to age up on their own (except babies – they can be aged up by the bassinet interaction once it’s their birthday).

Aging and Time:

Aging is an important part of the game as it helps to determine when you change decades! Some people play this challenge so that as each new heir becomes a young adult the decade changes, and that is certainly the most simple way to play. However, I will be modifying the aging of my sims with MCCC as follows: (to allow for one full season in game each year)

I will be tracking each sim day as approx. 1.7 months, not the 6 that the challenge calls for. So every 7 days the year changes, and every 70 days the decade changes.

So based on a Normal Lifespan, Sims can be manually aged according to this approximate schedule for those born prior to 1950: (You can also have them age automatically via MCCC – which I highly recommend)

For those born after 1950: (The best way to track this will be by spreadsheet to record your sims’ ages, if you’re not using a spreadsheet, it may be easier to just assume that all sims’ aging changes in 1950, but this isn’t the “recommended” way.)

Aging TableBefore 1950After 1950
Pregnancy5 days5 days
Baby2 days, ages up at approx. 3 months2 days, ages up at approx. 3 months
Infant12 days, ages up at 2 years12 days, ages up at 2 years
Toddler21 days, ages up at 5 years21 days, ages up at 5 years
Child45 days, ages up at 11.5 years old45 days, ages up at 11.5 years old
Teenager45 days, ages up at 18 years old45 days, ages up at 18 years old
Age of ConsentTeens can marry at 14 years old. (T + 17)Teens can marry when they’re 16 (T + 31)
Young Adult84 days, ages up at 30 years old84 days, ages up at 30 years old
Adult84 days, ages up at 42 years old175 days, ages up at 55 years old
Elder35 days, dies at 47 years old140 days, dies at 75 years old
Cats Aging TableKitten: 8-12 days
Adult: 90-100 days
Elder: 45-55 days
Dogs Aging TablePuppy: 8-12 days
Adult: 80-90 days
Elder: 35-40 days

Mods:

My version of the challenge requires that you use MC Command Center for both being able to remove sims from your game when needed and keeping track of the aging system.

Mc Command Center Settings:

  • MCCC Settings:
    • I suggest enabling all teen romance and parenting actions (disabled is default)
    • Notifications will probably help to be set on “related to the active household”
    • Phone texts set to “no texts”
    • Pay child support “all”, 15% paid
    • Inheritance set to “all”, with spouse first enabled
    • Sims die on lot – disabled
    • Adopt neglected child – enabled
    • Use random aging – disabled
    • Max household size is at YOUR discretion – but remember, if you go over 8 sims, ONLY access CAS through MCCC or you WILL lose sims!!
  • MC CAS settings:
    • Blacklist Traits: Child of the Islands, Child of the Ocean, Freegan, Geek, Green Fiend, Recycle Disciple (see disallowed traits)
  • MC Career Settings:
    • Elder Employment rate: 10,20
    • Teens quit school: enabled
  • Cleaner, Clubs, and Dresser settings can be at your discretion
  • MC Occult Settings:
    • Alien Abduction frequency: No alien contact
    • Maximum Aliens, Vampires, Mermaids, Werewolves, and Spellcasters: 1
  • MC Population Settings:
    • Moving Settings:
      • Open houses: 5
      • Enforce Vampire Homes: enabled
    • Percent Elder: 15
    • Disable all but Guys Night at the Bar
    • Bypass Clown Walkby: enabled
    • No Reaper Stalking: enabled
    • Disable ALL immortal sims
  • MC Pregnancy Settings:
    • Bypass active Sim Romances: disabled 
    • Bypass played households: disabled
      • *NOTE* The above two settings can also be set to enabled, if you’re going to go in and have them try for baby manually. 
    • Teen pregnancy percent: 5, young adult pregnancy percent: 25, adult 20, elder 0 
    • Allow homeless pregnancy: enabled
    • Valid partner ages: teen, young adult, adult, elder
    • Allow affairs percentage: 10
    • Same-sex pregnancy percentage: 0
    • Same occult only: enabled
    • Limit by relationship: married only
    • Maximum household children: 6
    • Sync child surname: enabled
    • Allow Pregnancy Aging: enabled!
    • Pause on Playable Labor: enabled
    • Auto-marry percentage: 100
    • Pregnancy Duration: 5 (yes, that means it’s 5 days long to correlate with 9 months)
    • Opposite Sex Adoption Percent: 10
    • Valid Marriage ages: teen, young adult, adult, elder
    • Marriage Percents: Teen 20, YA 30, Adult 20, Elder 10
    • Allow homeless marriage: enabled
    • Valid Spouse Ages: teen, YA, Adult, Edler
    • Valid genders: female, male
    • Same Sex percentage: 0
    • Same occult only: again enabled
  • MC Tuner Settings:
    • Allow Teen Move-in: enabled
    • Autonomous Proposals: enabled
    • Autonomous Marriage: enabled
  • MC Woohoo settings:
    • Allow teens: enabled
    • Risky Woohoo percent: 50
    • Use fertility in risky: enabled

Holidays:

Delete all game holidays and set or edit all Starting Holidays:

Seasons comes with 4 holidays: New Year’s Eve, Love Day, Harvestfest, and Winterfest. To add additional historical accuracy to the Decades Challenge, I would recommend editing these holidays and adding a few additional ones. At the start of the Decades Challenge, edit your calendar to include:

  • New Year’s Eve (Winter Saturday): New Year’s Eve Decoration Theme, Day Off, Traditions – Party Spirit, Make Resolutions, Countdown to Midnight
  • Valentine’s Day (Spring Tuesday): Love Day Decoration Theme, No Day Off, Traditions – Romantic Spirit, Give Flowers, Go on a Date
  • Easter (Spring Saturday): Spring Decoration Theme, Day Off, Traditions – Egg Hunt, Flower Bunny, Give Flowers, Attend Holiday Ceremony
  • Memorial Day (Summer Monday): No Decoration Theme, Day Off, Traditions – Remembrance, Tell Stories, Thankful Spirit
  • Independence Day (Summer Thursday): No Decoration Theme, Day Off, Traditions – Appreciate an Object (American flag), Bar-B-Que, Fireworks
  • Halloween (Fall – which day is your choice): Spooky Decoration Theme, No Day Off, Traditions – Wear Costumes, Trick or Treat, Spooky Spirit
  • Thanksgiving (Fall Thursday): Harvestfest Decoration Theme, Day Off, Traditions – Grand Meal, Thankful Spirit, Tell Stories, Baking
  • Christmas (Winter Wednesday): Winterfest Decoration Theme, Day Off, Traditions – Festive Spirit, Open Presents, Grand Meal, Attend Holiday Ceremony, Father Winter

Getting Started

  • Your Starting Sims:
    • You may start with one Young Adult and find them a spouse, or you may start with a married couple, both Young Adults.
    • You may also include the parent(s) for your starter Sims as it was common for multiple generations to live in the same home in 1890 (if you use this option, any parent Sims will NOT count towards your overall score – on the scoring sheet, it’s like they don’t exist). On this note, once the family is made, you may also move out said parents into another home on the map if you want.
      • If you make your founders’ parents, you can roll a six sided die to see how many children they had (obviously one of them is the founder, the rest will be your siblings.)
      • To calculate how much money to give to each of your starting families: roll a money die (using the following chart) for EACH member of the household who have reached the age of 14. If they have siblings under the age of 14, for the purposes of this roll, they haven’t received their inheritance or dowry and don’t get a roll. Add all of those together, and that will be how much money they have for their house. Do not forget to leave enough in the household funds to cover the money your founder will move out with, otherwise they may have to wait to start their life!! 
      • I suggest doing this by making two households, one for each of your starting sims, and getting them married from there.
    • For your sim’s ages: start them at teen + 17 days, then roll a ten sided dice to add years. Each year added will add 7 days to your sims’ age. So, for example, if you roll a 4, you add 28 days, meaning you will start as a YA. To set ages, use MCCC.
      • Follow the following chart: (roll to days)
        • Roll a 1 = teen + 24 days (15 years old)
        • Roll a 2 = teen + 31 days (16 years old)
        • Roll a 3 = teen + 38 days (17 years old)
        • Roll a 4 = YA (18 years old)
        • Roll a 5 = YA + 7 days (19 years old)
        • Roll a 6 = YA + 14 days (20 years old)
        • Roll a 7 = YA + 21 days (21 years old)
        • Roll an 8 = YA + 28 days (22 years old)
        • Roll a 9 = YA + 35 days (23 years old)
        • Roll a 10 = YA + 42 days (24 years old)
      • You may want to just roll twice, and have the highest roll be the male’s age and the lowest be the female’s roll, because it was rare to have older females marry younger men.
    • Disallowed Traits: Child of the Islands, Child of the Ocean, Freegan (until 1990), Geek (until 1980), Green Fiend (until 1970), Recycle Disciple (until 1970 – but as buggy as this trait is, you may want to just keep it out of the challenge entirely.)
    • There are no other restrictions within CAS – have fun with decade appropriate clothing! Please note, Moschino was founded in the early 1980s, so clothing from the Moschino Stuff Pack should not be used until that decade!
  • Money:
    • Here’s where I’ve made quite a few changes. Every time a sim moves out of their parent’s home (whether by marriage or as a single sim – although make a note that females must move by marriage until the challenge states that it changes) you roll a six sided die to find out how much money their parents give them to move out with. This is money that comes straight from your family funds, so until you can afford to give them their dowry or inheritance, you CANNOT MOVE the sim out. The exception to this is your starter sims, you may use a money cheat to give them their starter funds.
      • 1 = 0 simoleons
      • 2 = 5,000 simoleons
      • 3 = 10,000 simoleons
      • 4 = 15,000 simoleons
      • 5 = 20,000 simoleons
      • 6 = 25,000 simoleons
  • This dowry (for females) or inheritance (for males) is all the money your founders have to start with. In other words: if you roll a 1 on BOTH of your starter sims, you are literally starting from nothing. You will have to get married while living with your parents (females move, males stay put) until you can afford a plot of land and a house.
  • Alternatively, you can “saddle” your starting sims with a bank loan. This can be up to 30,000 simoleons and must be paid back before your male starting sim dies at a 10% interest rate. In other words, you’ll be paying 33,000 back if you got a max loan.
  • Home World:
    • Del Sol Valley: Closed until the 1950s. 
    • StrangerVille and the Star Wars pack are expressly banned for the whole challenge. (StrangerVille’s storyline is not consistent with the Decades Challenge as it is not realistic) 
    • Regarding Sulani: Closed until the 1960s as much of the gameplay and many objects are restricted until the mid/late 1900s. Regardless of the year, the concept of the Sulani Elementals is unrealistic and banned – this includes the Island Elementals lot trait.
    • Evergreen Harbor: is closed until the 1970s.
    • Apartments/San Myshuno: You can start your MALE sim in an apartment if he is single, has a job, and can afford it with his inheritance, but as soon as he gets married you must move them to a house. (Apartments were not ideal places for families in the 1890s as they were reserved for the single and working.) Male sims who don’t get married are also permitted to use their inheritance to move to an apartment. Unmarried female sims and/or families can’t move to an apartment until the 1950s.
    • All other worlds are open from the beginning.
    • Glimmerbrook, Magnolia Promenade, Moonwood Mill, and Forgotten Hollow can be used at your discretion, but remember, no occults in this challenge.
    • If you want to make things a little more random, you can roll for what world your sim is moving to by taking how many worlds are currently eligible and using a random number generator (like random.org) to roll for it.
      • Example: For your 1890 start (excluding the optional worlds):
        • Roll a 1 = Willow Creek
        • Roll a 2 = Oasis Springs
        • Roll a 3 = Newcrest
        • Roll a 4 = Windenburg
        • Roll a 5 = Brindleton Bay
  • Commercial Venues:
    • Open from the beginning: Arts Center, Bar, Cafe, Generic, Gym, Library, Lounge, Museum, National Park, Nightclub (these were mostly a high-class thing), Park, Pool, Restaurant, Retail, University
    • Opened by Decade:
      • Vet Clinic (1940)
      • Karaoke Bar (1980)
      • Spa (1980)
  • Lot Traits:
    • Banned Traits: Gnomes, Gremlins, Island Spirits, On a Dark Ley Line, On Ley Line, Penny Pixies, Registered Vampire Lair, Vampire Nexus
    • Traits that unlock by decade:
      • Celebrity Home, Hottest Spot in town, Up-and-coming Hotspot (1910)
      • Science Lair (1930)
      • Eco Lot, Reduce and Recycle (1970)
      • Fast Internet (1990)
    • All other traits are unlocked from the start.
  • On world set up and townies: You do not need to delete all townies and add in the era-appropriate commercial venues unless you want to, but for game immersion, I highly recommend it. If you want to really go all-out, you can also add in some era-appropriate townies to populate your world. (If you’re not into building or creating these yourself, check the gallery. Looking under the #decadeschallenge hashtag, or #1890 or #1890s should give you plenty of options. You can also look under 1890 for the item name.)
  • Modern Conveniences: Some game functions require a cell phone or computer, which were not present for the majority of this challenge! Until the appropriate time as indicated in the decade rules, use of these items is firmly restricted with the following exceptions.
    • Cell Phones are allowed, but only because they are the only way to get some gameplay options. You may NOT use the cell phone to chat, text, or for entertainment until the rules specify otherwise. Set them to “silent”
    • Computers are only allowed for career-specific tasks, Writing (pretend it’s a typewriter), Household, and to Order seeds and books until the rules specify otherwise. You must lock the computer’s security so that only the Sim who is allowed to use the computer can use it (and only when doing career specific-tasks).
    • It may be helpful to use the likes/dislikes feature to discourage music and activities that are not yet decades appropriate. For example, if your Sim keeps autonomously playing games on their phone, set them to dislike gaming.
  • Wars: There are several wars that take place during this century, and your Sims will be sent off to fight – they may or may not return. To simulate this we use death by cow-plant in MCCC. This eliminates the need to keep around cowplants unless you’re working on the gardening aspiration.
  • Fame: From press junkets to gossip blogs to the Forbes list, celebrity culture seeped into every corner of the modern film business. Star worship, like almost everything else in Hollywood, was born as a studio boss’s cynical wheeze. It all began in 1910 when the name of the Biograph Girl was released to the public. Use your discretion as to when other careers are allowed to be celebrities.
  • Odd jobs: there’s a wide variety of these, and they vary widely on what they require you to do. As a general rule, avoid them until after the use of phones is allowed. (after 1915) Even after they’re allowed in 1915, use your discretion on which odd jobs might be allowed for the sim and time in question.
  • Eco Living: environmental concerns didn’t become commonplace until the 1970s. Fizzy drinks would have been around since the 1890s, but the workstation looks very modern. Same with the candle making. Use at your discretion.
  • Tiny Homes: This lot type is banned until 2000, which is approximately when the movement became a big thing.
  • In reference to the Paranormal: Paranormal investigation was popularized in the 2000s, but has been around since before the Decades Challenge begins; seances have been around even longer. You are welcome to use Paranormal Stuff in your gameplay from a historical perspective – just keep in mind that the specters and creepy objects may reduce the realistic nature of this challenge. In other words, use this pack at your own discretion.
  • Notes on Wedding Stories: All events are permitted from the beginning. Traditions are all permitted from the beginning, as well. (Yes, bubbles did exist in the 1890s, although you may want to wait until later to use them at your weddings, since they were a novelty item.
  • Notes on High School Years pack: No following your teens to school until the 1920s, which is about when public High Schools started becoming popular. Before then, teens may go to school if their tuition has been paid, but they must go to the rabbithole alone. ALL Afterschool Activities (including Scouting and Drama) are locked until 1920, as well. (1985 for Computer club)

Gameplay Notes / Reference:

This has been moved to it’s own page for ease of use: > HERE <

The Decades:

I split these up into separate pages to make it easier to find what you’re looking for.

Changelog:

3/12/2023:
  • Added updated aging table that includes infants. More changes may be coming with the Growing Together Pack, so keep an eye out.
1/8/2023:
  • Added note about Bust the Dust in Game settings section
  • Added rules RE: Wedding Stories
  • Added rules RE: Werewolves
  • Added rules RE: High School Years game pack
    • Following to High school
    • School Clubs/afterschool activities