The Sims 4: How to Do the Asylum Challenge

The Asylum Challenge has made its way to The Sims 4 after first being created for The Sims 2. This is one of the many challenges for The Sims 4 that has a fun story behind it and gameplay rules that are both challenging and pretty entertaining. Just in case you have never heard of the Asylum Challenge but you’re ready to try it out for yourself, this guide will give you everything you need to get started and go crazy.

How to Do the Asylum Challenge in The Sims 4

The Asylum Challenge doesn’t actually assume your Sim is crazy, nor does it task you with making them go crazy. Instead, you are tasked with trying to prove that the exact opposite is true. The story behind the Asylum Challenge is that your Sim has been forcefully admitted to a run down mental hospital and nobody believes that this Sim is actually perfectly sane.

Until you can prove you don’t belong inside the asylum, you will be stuck there with seven other Sims. In addition to dealing with these strangers, your living environment is nothing that anyone would envy as budget cuts to the asylum have led to some pretty questionable living conditions for the patients here.

So how do you escape and get the opportunity to be a part of society again? You just have to prove to your psychiatrist that you aren’t crazy by achieving your Aspiration. This would usually be a pretty simple task but given the circumstances surrounding you, the challenge is much more difficult than it seems at first glance.

While the original challenge introduced in The Sims 2 had the same gameplay requirements for everyone, SimsWithCheese rewrote the challenge with three different difficulty options for The Sims 4. The general rules and how to get started, however, will remain the same for each of these options.

 How to Get Started

How to Do the Asylum Challenge in The Sims 4

You’ll start the Asylum Challenge for The Sims 4 by creating a Young Adult Sim that must have the insane trait. The other two traits are up to you as long as they are not custom traits. You are also not allowed to give your Sim the Successful Lineage, Mansion Baron, Fabulously Wealthy, or Big Happy Family Aspirations. 

Next is to create the strangers who will be living with you throughout the Asylum Challenge. Just like your Sim, they all need to be Young Adults with the insane trait. Make sure none of these Sims are related.

Once you have completed your group of insane Sims, you’ll want to create a place to put them all. The Asylum Challenge allows you to build your very own asylum if you want but if you’re not feeling up to the task you can also download a pre-made asylum from the gallery using #AsylumChallenge.

If you decide to build your own asylum, keep in mind that there are some rules you’ll have to follow depending on what difficulty level you want to set for this challenge.

The Sims 4 Asylum Challenge General building rules for all difficulties:

• Money cheats are allowed to be used for the purpose of building a new asylum.
• All objects used must be the cheapest version of that object (cheapest counters, cheapest floors, cheapest chairs, etc.).
• You are not allowed to add an item that impacts the emotions of the Sims living in the asylum or any items that prevent fires. The only exception is if the item was given to a Sim as a career reward.
• Once you have finished the initial building of the asylum you are not allowed to change it unless you are upgrading items after the asylum has saved up enough money to do so. Keep in mind that while you are allowed to upgrade items as you save more money, you are not allowed to simply add more items. For example, you should not buy a new sofa without getting rid of the old sofa that was there in the beginning.
• You can only add five Skill Building items (TV, computers, bookcases, stoves, and mirrors do not count as Skill Building items).

The Sims 4 Asylum Challenge Easy mode building rules:

• Allowed to have two sinks, two toilets, and two showers or bathtubs
• Shouldn’t have any more than six spots available for Sims to sleep. So a bed that has room for two Sims would count as two bed spots, not one.
• Shouldn’t have any more than eight spots for Sims to sit at. This includes all couches, loungers, and chairs.

The Sims 4 Asylum Challenge Medium mode building rules:

• You cannot have a TV and a computer in the asylum at the same time
• You are only allowed to have one sink, one toilet, and one shower or bathtub
• No more than five spots for Sims to sleep in. Remember that you are counting spots and not beds. One bed that has room for two Sims still counts as two spots.
• No more than six seating spots for Sims. This includes all couches, loungers, and chairs.

The Sims 4 Asylum Challenge Hard mode building rules:

• You are only allowed to have one sink, one toilet, and one shower or bathtub.
• No more than four spots for Sims to sleep in. Remember that you are counting spots and not beds. One bed that has room for two Sims still counts as two spots.
• No more than four seating spots for Sims. This includes all couches, loungers, and chairs.
• This is the only mode where you are not allowed to purchase upgraded objects in the asylum even as the asylum saves up more money. You are, however, allowed to upgrade items using the handiness skill.

Gameplay Rules

How to Do the Asylum Challenge in The Sims 4

These are the general gameplay rules for The Sims 4 version of the Asylum Challenge that will apply to all difficulties. More gameplay rules that change based on difficulty are listed on the next page.

• You must only control your own Sim. You cannot control the other Sims even if their needs are low. In other words, you don’t get to prevent them from dying if it comes to that.
• Turn on High Free Will so the other Sims will do things on their own.
• No cheats or mods that impact or boost a Sim’s needs or skills are allowed during the Asylum Challenge.
• You are not allowed to use your Sim’s inventory to keep certain items to yourself. You are allowed to check the other Sims’ inventories at 12 am to make sure they don’t have items in their inventory that should be left out in the asylum instead.
• You are not allowed to rearrange the furniture in the asylum to control the behavior of an uncontrollable Sim or to reserve certain items for yourself.
• If a Sim dies you must keep their grave on the lot.
• Your Sim is the only Sim that is allowed to “work hard” in their career. You can’t make the other Sims “work hard” in their careers.

Outdoor Retreat expansion pack:

• Outdoor Enthusiast Aspiration is allowed.
• You are only allowed to travel to Granite Fall if you need to complete goals for the Outdoor Enthusiast Aspiration.
• All of your fellow patients have to come with you and you have to choose the campground as your destination.

Get To Work expansion pack:

• You are allowed to have alien patients.
• No active careers are allowed.
• Your Sim is not allowed to own a retail business.
• If a fellow patient is abducted by aliens and comes back pregnant it is up to you if you want to keep the baby or send it back to its homeworld. If you keep the baby in the asylum, immediately age it up to an Adult using birthday cake over and over again. Keep in mind that your new alien Sim will also need to have the insane trait.

Gameplay Rules Based on Difficulty

How to Do the Asylum Challenge in The Sims 4

Perhaps one of the biggest additions to the Asylum Challenge for The Sims 4 is the option to have different difficulties for the challenge. What difficulty you choose will determine a variety of different factors including how much money you start with, how many Aspirations you’ll have to complete, and what you’ll have to do when (and if) a Sim dies.

The Sims 4 Asylum Challenge Easy Mode:

• Start out with $1,000.
• Complete two Aspirations to finish the challenge.
• You and all your fellow patients are allowed to have jobs but the other patients must be on the Criminal career path. Keep in mind that you can’t level them up in their career.
• If the fellow patients lose their job, they lose it permanently.
• Your Sim is allowed to have whichever career you would prefer but it’s recommended that the career is related to their Aspiration.
• You are allowed to hire a maid and order pizza.
• You can leave the lot to go fishing and collecting whenever you want.
• You can only visit other Sims’ homes or community lots between 9 am and 3 pm and all of your fellow patients have to come with you.
• No objects have to be deleted if a Sim dies but the grave still must remain on the lot.

The Sims 4 Asylum Challenge Medium Mode:

• Start out with $500.
• Complete three Aspirations to finish the challenge.
• Only two of your fellow patients are allowed to have jobs but they must be in the Criminal career path.
• You are not allowed to use maids or order pizza.
• You are allowed to leave the lot to go fishing and collecting between 7 am and 5 pm.
• You can visit other Sims’ homes or community lots between 9 am and 3 pm but you must bring all of your fellow patients with you.
• You have to delete one seat every time a Sim dies until there is only one seat left.

The Sims 4 Asylum Challenge Hard Mode:

• Start out with $100.
• Complete four Aspirations to finish the challenge.
• You are the only Sim who is allowed to have a job but you can only get a job if your Sim’s Aspiration requires it.
• You are not allowed to use maids or order pizza.
• You can leave the lot go fishing and collecting between 12 am and 3 pm.
• You are not allowed to travel to other lots unless your Sim’s Aspiration requires it. If that’s the case, you can only travel to other lots between 6 pm and 9 pm and you must bring all your fellow patients with you.
• You have to delete one bed and one seat every time a Sim dies until only one bed and one seat remains.

That’s everything you need to know on how to do the Asylum challenge in The Sims 4. If you’re looking for more handy Sims 4 guides, be sure to check out our relationship cheats guide, list of the best Sims 4 mods, and how to use the CAS Full Edit mode cheat.