What are the rules of the Decades Challenge?
Decades Challenge: the rules
The Decades Challenge by ZombieCleo (original); current rules kept by CuteCoffeeGal, based on kakeru_naruse's edit is a Sims 4 challenge. It runs over many generations. The family lives from the 1890s to the 2010s, with a bonus 2020s round. The goal: Bring the family through to the 2010s (the 2020s are an optional bonus round).
At a glance
- Creator
- ZombieCleo (original); current rules kept by CuteCoffeeGal, based on kakeru_naruse's edit
- Length
- Many generations
- Packs
- Base game; the rules cover every pack and say how each fits each decade.
- Rules
- The creator's page, read on October 28, 2026
How to start
- Start with one young adult who will marry, or a married young adult couple.
- You may add the parents of one founder to the household.
- No limits in Create a Sim; dress the family for the 1890s.
- Use only the household's starter funds to buy a home or lot; no money cheats.
- If you cheat money for the first home, treat it as a loan and repay it plus 10% before the founding couple dies.
- A single Sim with a job may start in an apartment but must move to a house after marrying.
- Del Sol Valley is off limits until the 1950s and StrangerVille is never used.
- Set lifespan to Long and age every Sim up by hand.
The rules
- The family lives from the 1890s to the 2010s, with a bonus 2020s round.
- Each decade has its own rules on careers, technology, relationships, building and education based on that era.
- Simple timing: one Sim day is six months, two days are one year, and 20 days are one decade.
- Complex timing for Discover University players: one Sim day is two months and 80 days make a decade.
- Life stages have set day counts; Sims born before 1950 live shorter lives than those born after.
- Phones and computers are banned except for tasks the game needs them for, until a decade unlocks them.
- Wars are played with a Cow Plant: a Sim sent to war eats its cake, a die decides survival, and an odd roll means a second slice.
- In the 1890s only male heirs inherit, homes are off the grid with candles and outhouses, and women do not hold careers.
- By the 2010s nearly every career and same-sex marriage are allowed.
How you win
Bring the family through to the 2010s (the 2020s are an optional bonus round).
Scoring
- Optional: the creator offers a score template per Sim and for the whole game, but no point values are set in the rules pages read.
Tips
- Grow a Cow Plant before the 1910s; it needs to be fully grown to run the war rule.
- Track birthdays on the in-game calendar or a spreadsheet, since all aging is manual and a missed birthday throws off the timeline.
- Early decades run on low income, so gardening, painting and woodworking at home are the safest money sources for the 1890s family.
Free tools for the challenge
More legacy challenges
Questions
How long is each decade in the Sims 4 Decades Challenge?
With simple timing, 20 Sim days. Each day counts as six months.
What year does the Decades Challenge start?
The 1890s, and it runs to the 2010s with an optional 2020s round.
Who made the Decades Challenge?
ZombieCleo wrote the original; CuteCoffeeGal maintains the current Sims 4 rules.