After a shipwreck, your sim wakes up all alone in the middle of an empty island known as the Isle of the Midnight Sun, struggling to survive, and having no recollections of the past. Sounds exciting? Then come and play the thrilling Midnight Sun Challenge! In this article, we’ll cover all the rules and mechanics that you need to know about this highly popular game!
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The Famed Midnight Sun Challenge
The Midnight Sun Challenge, also known as MSC, is a well-known challenge that has been around since the era of The Sims 3. It was originally conceived by simmer Gurra09, who posted the first rules and mechanics of MSC on ModTheSims in 2013. Then, in 2015, simmer HammerArcade adapted the challenge for The Sims 4, incorporating newer rules and additional objectives for MSC in The Sims Forums.
Finally, in 2018, simmer SofterHaze did an innovative spin on the challenge, posting modified mechanics and goals through Tumblr. From thereon, an all-new Midnight Sun Challenge is born. We are thus following the latest version of MSC in this guide, just with a few modifications!
The Lore of the Isle of the Midnight Sun
Welcome to the Isle of the Midnight Sun—the place where the rest of your life begins. You have mysteriously ended up on the shore, with no memories of the events that had happened in the past. All that you know is that you were riding a cruise ship that sank at sea, and while you were escaping through a lifeboat, a massive wave crashed upon you. You then found yourself floating in the water, seemingly headed to nowhere. The next thing you know, you’re on this strange little island, spewing out salty water and desperately catching your breath as the sun burns through your skin. Somehow, you must search for a way to survive.
The Goal of The Midnight Sun Challenge
The goal of the Midnight Sun Challenge is for five generations of Sims to live and survive on the Isle of the Midnight Sun. You will start with Generation One—the lone sim who washes up on the shore and who will build their life and entire legacy on that island. You will play the challenge from Generation One until Generation Five, ensuring that you will be able to accomplish all the objectives stated for each generation.
Take note that to be able to play the game, you must have The Sims 4: Seasons, The Sims 4: Get Together (Or The Sims 4: Island Living if you prefer to use the island lot here), The Sims 4: Outdoor Retreat, and The Sims 4: Jungle Adventure installed on your game.
General Mechanics of the Midnight Sun Challenge
- You must begin by creating a sim of any gender in CAS. Set the life stage to Young Adult, then set the appearance and traits, and aspiration of this sim according to your preference. You have the liberty to customize everything, but we recommend that you let your sim have the appearance of a castaway.
- Following the version of simmer Softer Haze, move your sim into a 20×20 lot on the island in Windenburg, evict all surrounding neighbors on the island, and bulldoze their lots. Alternatively, if you have The Sims 4: Island Living installed, we suggest that you choose the 40×30 Key Point lot in Sulani instead—wherein you don’t need to evict any neighbors or bulldoze nearby lots.
- Decorate the lot (yep, not the house, only the lot) of your sim however you like, making sure to include island aesthetics and greenery in the surrounding area. Once you have settled in the lot, summon the cheat console and enter “testingcheats true”, then type “money 3000”. This cheat will set your existing simoleons to 3000, the only money your sim is allowed to have before beginning the challenge.
- Turn on aging in the game settings and set it to normal. Then, adjust the length of the seasons to 1 week.
The Five Generations of Island Sims
Follow the stories and objectives of all five generations of sims who will live on the Isle of the Midnight Sun!
The Drifter: First Generation
The first generation is the Drifter, your first sim who ends up being washed up on the shore of the Isle of the Midnight Sun. This sim will be the starting generation of the challenge, the forefather who will bear the next four generations. Aside from the house that you will create for this sim, this sim will have nothing else. They cannot find a job, and thus must earn money through other means.
The Objectives of the Drifter:
- Another sim must somehow wash up on the island where the Drifter lives. This sim can be created through CAS, or this could be a townie. Your Drifter must interact with this sim, and later on, have a romantic relationship with, or marry this sim.
- The Drifter should build a small home with the little money that they have—just enough to house a tiny family. Include the appropriate appliances and furniture for the basic needs of Sims.
- The Drifter and their partner must have no more than two children.
- The Drifter should master Fishing and Cooking skills and must complete the Angling Ace aspiration at any point in their life.
- The Drifter must make money through any means aside from a regular job.
The Builder: Second Generation
Just like the Drifter, the Builder has spent most of their life on the Isle of the Midnight Sun. They do not know much about the past memories of their parents, but they want to improve whatever is left of the lives that they built. Thus, the Builder is committed to leading a much better life for their family and the next generations to come.
The Objectives of the Builder:
- The Builder must make heavy improvements to their home lot—building a wider house with better facilities, furniture, and appliances.
- The Builder must meet their special someone or spouse at the first End-of-Season Festival that they attend. They must be married while they are Young Adults.
- They should have at least three children.
- Logic, Writing, and Handiness are the skills that the Builder must master.
The Nurturer: Third Generation
From the third generation comes the Nurturer, whose goal is to restore the splendor of the Isle of The Midnight Sun. Growing up, the Nurturer has witnessed how much improvement their parents have made to develop their island abode, however, the Nurturer feels that much has also been taken away including the soul of the island. Thus, they vow to give back what they can.
The Objectives of the Nurturer:
- The Nurturer is the middle child in the second generation.
- The Nurturer cannot marry, but somehow, they must bear a single child with any partner they met at one of the End-of-Season Festivals. They must then become best friends with their single child.
- The child of the Nurturer must master all Toddler skills, as well as the Creativity skill.
- Herbalism and Gardening are the skills that the Nurturer must master.
- The Nurturer must finish the Freelance Botanist Aspiration at any point in their lives.
- The Nurturer must build a beautiful garden filled with healthy plants and pretty flowers.
The Muser: Fourth Generation
Living in a charming island home surrounded by a lovely and lavish garden, the Muser grew up appreciating the natural beauty of their surroundings. To try to preserve these fleeting wonderful feelings that they have for nature, the Muser delved into the arts—creating plenty of artwork to express their overflowing inspiration for life.
The Objectives of the Muser:
- The Muser must have at least three romantic relationships with different Sims in the course of their life.
- They must have at least one child.
- Painting, Guitar, Singing, and Dancing are the skills that the Muser must master.
- The Muser must write three songs, and then play them for other people aside from family.
- The Muser must also paint a masterpiece-tier portrait of the island from a portrait.
- The Muser must master both the Painter Extraordinaire and the Musical Genius aspirations.
The Explorer: Fifth Generation
In their childhood, the Explorer spent countless days dreaming about the world outside. They desperately want to discover what’s out there, aiming to be able to live somewhere far from the Isle of the Midnight Sun. Thus, the Explorer always looked forward to attending End-of-Season Festivals as these are the only avenues where new people and new experiences are within reach.
The Objectives of the Explorer:
- Fitness, Charisma, and Logic are the skills that the Explorer must master.
- Once these skills have been mastered, the Explorer must then move to a lot in another world.
- The Explorer must finish the Friend of the World aspiration in their lifetime.
- The Explorer must then meet someone in the world they transferred to, then marry this sim.
- Once these objectives have been completed and the Explorer becomes an adult, the challenge is won!
Attending End-of-Season Festivals
End-of-Season Festivals are a chance for your island Sims to meet other Sims outside the family. Thus, you must hold a festival every last two days of Spring, Summer, Winter, and Fall. Apart from meeting people, these festivals are the only opportunity that your Sims can have to travel outside their island and acquire new experiences. Depending on your preference, you can choose to have your Sims travel to Granite Falls or Selvadora along with other Sims to conduct the said event. If you want, you can also incorporate the End-of-Season Festivals in the calendar of your Sims to prepare in advance for these events.
Other Things to Remember
- Take note that you cannot use any item to modify the normal aging of your Sims.
- You cannot use cheats and mods to help you with the challenge, aside from the money cheat you used in the beginning, and the cheats that only alter the appearance of your Sims.
- Sims cannot leave the island or talk to any sim outside of their kinship unless they are attending an End-of-Season Festival.
- Your Sims also can’t attend schools or have regular jobs. If a sim is pregnant, you cannot let them go to a hospital to give birth.
- The traits of each child cannot be preselected—all must be randomized unless otherwise stated in the generational objectives.
Reactions from Simmers
Simmers all around the globe has been playing the Midnight Sun Challenge since 2013. Searching for the hashtag #MidnightSunChallenge on Tumblr and Twitter unveils the gameplay screenshots of players that show just how much they are reveling in the challenge. Even when SofterHaze launched the latest MSC version on her Tumblr account, more simmers jumped in and expressed their delight to also take part in the challenge.
Final Thoughts: Ready to Begin the Midnight Sun Challenge?
We are encouraging you to join the fun and begin your own adventure on the Isle of the Midnight Sun! Hopefully, we are able to offer you everything you need to know through this full guide. If you’re playing the game, don’t forget to use the hashtags #SnootySims and #MidnightSunChallenge, so you can update us with your progress in the challenge! As always, happy playing simmers!