# Decades Challenge Sims 4: Rules by Decade Source: https://sims4challenges.com/decades-challenge Last updated: 2026-11-10 The **Sims 4 Decades Challenge** plays one family through history from the **1890s to the 2010s**, with a 2020s bonus round. Each decade changes what Sims may own, do and work as. You age Sims by hand on Long lifespan (**20 Sim days per decade**), send them to war with a Cowplant and a die, and try to reach the present day. ## How to start the Decades Challenge The most detailed rules are [CuteCoffeeGal's](https://cutecoffeegal.com/decadeschallengerules/), last updated June 13, 2023. They build on the [original challenge by ZombieCleo](https://forums.ea.com/discussions/the-sims-4-creative-corner-en/decades-challenge/1507548) and the modified rules by [kakeru_naruse](https://modthesims.info/t/580290). - **Founders:** one young adult who then marries, or a married young adult couple. A founder's parents may live with them. - **Money:** starter funds only. Money cheated in for the first home is a loan, repaid with 10% interest before the founders die. - **Home:** any world except StrangerVille, and no Del Sol Valley home before the 1950s. Until then apartments are only for single Sims with a job. - **Left out:** vampire, mermaid, spellcaster and werewolf gameplay. - **Phones and computers:** only for things the game locks behind them, career tasks and writing, until a decade unlocks more. The goal is to bring the family from the 1890s to the present day. Scoring is optional. The early decades limit heirs, jobs and marriage by gender, race and sexuality as history did; the rules state that playing them doesn't condone those limits. ## Aging: how long a decade lasts Set lifespan to **Long** so nobody ages early, then age every Sim up by hand. | | Simple aging | Complex aging | | --- | --- | --- | | One year | 2 Sim days | 8 Sim days | | One decade | 20 Sim days | 80 Sim days | | Meant for | Most players | Discover University players who want degrees | Simple-aging life stages: baby 1 day, infant 3, toddler 8, child 14, teen 12. Sims born before 1950 then spend 26 days as young adults, 36 as adults and 14 as elders. Sims born from 1950 on get 32, 60 and 56. ## Rules by decade, 1890s to 2020s Each decade keeps the earlier rules and changes some. The main changes: | Decade | What changes | | --- | --- | | 1890s | Male heirs only; daughters move out when they marry. Off-the-Grid lot challenge: no electricity, an outhouse, bathtubs only, wooden furniture. Women earn money only if widowed or divorced. Try for Baby only, home births, no adoption. High school is optional and costs ยง1,000. | | 1900s | Lamps, indoor plumbing, wallpaper and a phonograph. Vacations allowed. Have a full-grown Cowplant by 1910. | | 1910s | World War I: every male teen, young adult and adult is drafted. Teens below a C grade are sent to another household. | | 1920s | Women can be heirs. No alcohol. Talk radio and movies. Single, widowed and divorced women may work. | | 1930s | Everyone loses their job for one Sim week. Bills are paid only after the power is cut. One hot meal a day. Alcohol returns. | | 1940s | World War II: men who are already young adults are drafted. Women must have a career until they marry. A Victory Garden of 4 plants and a daily hour of radio. Medicine allowed. | | 1950s | Korean War: the oldest son is drafted and the oldest daughter serves as a nurse. TV (three cheapest sets, 6am to 9pm), showers and pools. Divorce for any reason, adoption and nannies. | | 1960s | Vietnam War: the first two children are drafted, whatever their gender. Marriage across races. WooHoo without Try for Baby. Student loans. | | 1970s | Children born now take Active, Loves Outdoors or Vegetarian. Microwaves, dishwashers and solar panels. Festivals and lottery tickets. | | 1980s | Children born now take Ambitious, Self-Assured, Materialistic, Snob or Perfectionist. Gaming on computers and consoles. One Sim must be in Business. Hospital births, science babies. | | 1990s | Laptops, online socializing and texting. Y2K: the family spends the 3 days before 2000 in a shelter. | | 2000s | Computer, build, music and TV limits end. The Journalism branch closes. | | 2010s | Same-sex marriage. Every career except Writing (Journalism). | | 2020s bonus | A pandemic of at least one in-game year: face coverings, lockdown, work and school from home. | ## Wars: the Cowplant and the die Wars are played with a full-grown Cowplant. A drafted Sim eats the Cowplant's cake once and becomes Drained. Then roll a die: **even**, the Sim comes home; **odd**, the Sim eats a second slice before the Drained moodlet ends and dies. A drafted man may Try for Baby before he leaves. Anyone who returns takes one of these traits at their next age-up: Gloomy, Hot-Headed, Clumsy, Erratic, Lazy, Mean, Paranoid or Noncommittal. If every man in the family dies in World War I, the oldest daughter's husband becomes heir. ## Ultimate Decades and other versions The **Ultimate Decades Challenge** is a separate, longer ruleset by [Morbid Gamer](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1VKVvnDblpT2ngUs9JE9VcFyfhK9ZKXyqrYYaSun1pl4/), also built on ZombieCleo's challenge. It starts in **1300s England** and runs to present-day America. Aging is switched off and done by hand at **4 Sim days per year**. Dice "death rolls" at birth and before each life stage decide who survives. Founders start as peasants with no career, and heirs are eldest sons until modern times. Its rules document says it is still under construction. kakeru_naruse's 2016 "Rebooted" rules are still on Mod The Sims, with a note sending players to CuteCoffeeGal's fuller version. The tracker at the top of this page saves your progress in your browser. More family challenges: the [generational challenges list](/generational-challenges) and the scored [Legacy Challenge](/legacy-challenge). ## FAQ ### How long is a decade in the Decades Challenge? 20 Sim days with simple aging, where each Sim day is six months. Complex aging, meant for Discover University players, takes 80 Sim days per decade. ### What packs do you need for the Decades Challenge? The rules name no required packs. Each decade says what to do with pack content if you own it. Complex aging is meant for Discover University, and the rules leave out vampire, mermaid, spellcaster and werewolf gameplay. ### Who created the Decades Challenge? ZombieCleo wrote the original. kakeru_naruse posted modified rules on Mod The Sims in 2016, and CuteCoffeeGal maintains the most detailed current version. ### What is the Ultimate Decades Challenge? A longer version by Morbid Gamer that starts in the 1300s instead of the 1890s, uses 4 Sim days per year and adds dice rolls for deaths.