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Getting the recognition I deserve in The Sims 4: Seasons
I’ve never thought of The Sims 4 as a game with a win state, so after countless hours in the game, perhaps it’s time to create my own. Prevent a sim’s wife from catching him in the act with Margery from next door? A shallow pursuit. Devise a manner in which to kill the most annoying member of the family? I worry I’m on some kind of watchlist by now. Keep everyone fed, entertained, and well rested? What am I, their mom? No, I am their creator— a generous yet capricious overlord directing my minions like pieces on a chess board—and I’d really rather like to be worshipped as the all-powerful being I fancy myself to be. Enter the Seasons expansion. It adds weather patterns, with entertaining consequences. One bleak winter’s day led to a series of deaths in my neighborhood: One sim froze to death outside the gym, and everyone in the vicinity ran out in their workout gear to mourn and met the same fate. More useful to me, however, are the holidays. There’s the politically correct Winterfest, capitalist bonanza Rebate Day, and annual smoochathon Love Day, but also the opportunity to add custom events. Get out your diaries, guys: It’s time for Emma Appreciation Day.
This is, essentially, Christmas for my own ego. I’ve placed the holiday on the first Sunday in summer, echoing my own July birthday. The decor involves a lot of hearts, to show just how much these plebs adore me. The first tradition? Thankfulness, because gosh darn it, that is what I expect from my sims. Also eating grand meals and opening presents, as
Admittedly, kids seem nonplussed by the affair, the brats
these are among my favorite things. I’ve also added in ‘fire’, as a nebulous tradition that I feel serves to remind them just how quickly I can take away what I have given.
My sims trade the paltry items that happen to be in their inventories, they share anecdotes about how grateful they are for Emma Appreciation Day and gorge themselves into comas over breakfast. Admittedly, kids seem nonplussed by the affair, the brats. Wouldn’t it be a shame if their favorite toys were to vanish overnight?
Season’s beatings
Okay, it may not be the most child-friendly of celebrations: As dusk falls, the ceremonial bonfire is set alight, and by its illumination a cheerful-by-nature sim enters into a bout of frenzied wrestling and hair-pulling with her otherwise loving husband. Hmm, perhaps she saw more of his shenanigans with Margery from next door than I’d thought. Still, everybody has had a marvelous time—especially me.
As Kanye once said: I am a god. This is the whole appeal of The Sims; bringing forth life, controlling it, and choosing when to end it. So while you could certainly claim that Emma Appreciation Day is a monument to my own self-regard (and I wouldn’t dissent), it’s the purest representation of the series’ spirit. My sims have spent an entire day worshipping me. I think I might have won.