Are you looking for a new challenge to spice up your Sims 4 gameplay? Need an excuse to take a whirlwind tour throughout the city of San Myshuno? Is the Sims 4 too easy for you? Check out the “Movin’ On Up” City Living Challenge!
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Whether you’re an avid player of legacy challenges in the the Sims 4 or looking to jump in for the first time, the “Movin’ On Up” City Living Challenge is a great place to start! It requires the minimal use of cheats, there’s no CC necessary, and all you need to do the challenge is the base game and the City Living DLC.
The “Movin’ On Up” City Living challenge was created by MysticLegacy and gets its name from the theme song of the 70’s-80’s television show “The Jeffersons.” Stick around to learn all about this challenge with us!
Preparing for the Challenge
To start this City Living challenge, you will need a single sim right out of CAS. They can have whatever aspirations or traits that you want, and I recommend choosing characteristics that will help your sims find ways to make money. Sims can be of the Alien or Vampire occults (though Vampires may make the challenge easier as they have fewer needs, so use your discretion).
The challenge begins at the 1313 21 Chic Street location, so if there’s anybody living there you’ll have to move or evict them. The apartment must be completely empty when your sim moves in so you can choose to empty it out via build mode beforehand if you wish.
Starting the Challenge
Move your sim into 1313 21 Chic Street. If you haven’t emptied it beforehand, go into Buy/Build Mode and get rid of everything in the apartment (with exception of the non-deletable items like the wall pipes). You can add Lot Traits/Challenges if you want but you cannot remove any of the Traits/Challenges that are already there. After you’ve cleaned out the apartment use the Money Cheat and set your household funds to §0.
There are a range of Lot Challenges you may face throughout this challenge. Learn more about them here!
Challenge: Accepted!
And now we’re off! The main goal right now is to make enough money and furnish the apartment. Every room must have a purpose and be completely furnished before your sim can move onto the next step, so it’s time get working. Your goal is save up enough money to afford rent & deposit for a slightly nicer apartment and once you’re moved in there, start saving for the next best apartment & so on. The “Movin’ On Up” City Living Challenge will take your sim(s) to 15 different homes in San Myshuno, with the ultimate goal of making it to the Torendi Tower Penthouse.
Meeting Your Sim’s Needs
When your sim first moves into the apartment(s) they will have no means of meeting their needs. You can handle these needs by visiting other lots to fill them, using Reward Trait potions, etc. so long as you don’t use any cheats. Once you start earning money you can begin buying items and furniture to take care of those needs, building a functional apartment!
Making Some Money
Your sim can make money in multiple ways. The most obvious way would be to get a job or become a freelancer, but there are lots of other ways too! Sims can craft things that they then sell, scavenge collectibles to sell, buy a lottery ticket and win, etc. Depending on the route you choose to take, choosing certain traits or aspirations when you made your sim will make this easier or more difficult. Creativity traits will help for crafting, Collecting aspirations can help if you prefer to scavenge, and the Klepto trait will let your sims nick things they can use or sell, just for a few examples.
Expanding the Household
So you might be thinking that you can just load up your household with roommates or family members and become a money making factory, but it’s not that easy! For starters you are limited to moving in 1 roommate or spouse per generation and when they first move in, whatever money they add to the household needs to be removed through the Money Cheat. If they have a job you have to make them quit; they can work another job but they have to start the career track at level 1. And you cannot move in another sim until you’ve got enough saved up to pay your weekly rent and there is a dedicated place for them to sleep.
Sims can choose to have children, but bear in mind that this will increase your household costs as you will need to fulfill their needs and provide bedding for them as well. There’s no stated limit on how many children your sim can have. Sims can also adopt pets if they wish.
Since this challenge was written before the introduction of non-active roommates they aren’t explicitly covered, so you can use your own feelings and logic for this part. Keeping rent money from roommates will make the challenge a bit easier and can be compared to income brought in by active household members, though they tend to pay less than what an active roommate could earn so it’s kind of a middle-ground between the two scenarios.
Curious on how to add sims to your household? Check out our guide!
Time to Move On Up!
Over the course of the challenge your sim(s) will move to the following locations, in order:
- 1313 21 Chic Street
- 19 Culpepper House
- 17 Culpepper House
- 2B Jasmine Suites -or- 1310 21 Chic Street (they cost the same so you can choose either)
- 18 Culpepper House
- 920 Medina Studios
- 930 Medina Studios
- 702 Zenview
- 122 Hakim House
- 1010 Alto Apartments
- VIII Landgraab
- Fountainview Penthouse
- 888 Spire Apartments
- Old Salt House
- Torendi Tower Penthouse
This list gives information about the costs needed to move to each place. Your sim will need to live in each apartment long enough to pay at least 1 week’s worth of rent before moving on to the next location. The furnishing requirements for each space are based off the lot info panel, in regards to the number of bedrooms and bathrooms. Even if you have just a single sim, if they live in a 2-bedroom apartment both bedrooms need to be furnished in order to satisfy the requirements of this City Living challenge.
When your sim moves they need to take their furnishings with them. You can sell items piecemeal as you upgrade them, but “selling all furniture” between moves is not permitted to prevent a sudden jump in available simoleons. If you have items that won’t fit into the new space keep them in the Household Inventory, as selling them will bring in extra money that goes against the spirit of the challenge.
Completing the “Movin’ On Up” City Living Challenge
Once you have saved up enough money to move into the Torendi Tower Penthouse, congratulations! You’ve beat the challenge! To get this far your sim(s) will have spent more than §300,000 in total deposits, rental fees, and move-in fees going between places, and that’s not counting home furnishings. This challenge can be tricky, especially in the beginning when the Lot Challenges are particularly tough. So if you can do it, be proud of yourself!
Closing Thoughts
Trying a new challenge in the Sims 4 can be tricky, with so many good ones out there to choose from. The “Movin’ On Up” City Living Challenge is a fun one to try, as it doesn’t have too many goals to reach and takes almost nothing to start. It doesn’t matter if you’re new to Sims 4 challenges or a seasoned veteran looking for a change, if you enjoy a challenge and putting in some work, you should definitely give this one a try!