The Life & Death Official Gameplay Trailer just released, and here are the new details we’ve gathered!

Finally, the Life & Death Official Gameplay trailer is out! This 5 minute video is chock-full of nuggets of new and expanded information, giving us a better grasp of what to expect on Halloween when the Expansion Pack finally launches. Here’s the info we dug up!
Life & Death Official Gameplay Trailer – New Details
This trailer continues the new & surprising decision to have English speaking throughout, with Grim narrating over all of it (and getting a bit meta at times).
Tip: All images below can be clicked on for a larger view!
“Fun” Facts

According to Grim, the top 3 causes of sims’ deaths are:
- Old Age
- Fire
- Anger
Although we can’t help but wonder if Drowning would be on the list had our sims not learned to climb out of swimming pools sans ladders…
Also, Grim does not have any sense of Morality.
New Traits

There are 3 new traits that were revealed in the trailer as well as more info on one we’ve heard about before.
- Chased By Death sims are very unlucky, and it seems like death is waiting for them around every corner! According to Grim though, this means that “these sims seize every moment,” suggesting they are a lot more spontaneous and less reserved.
- Macabre sims hold a special place in Grim’s ribcage (where his heart would be), as he states that he has an affinity with them. It seems these sims aren’t so much Gloomy characters as they are fascinated with the entropy of life.
- Skeptic sims are what you’d expect, skeptical of the world around them. I’m curious how this will translate to The Sims 4 since there is already so much in the game that defies what we look at as “reality,” such as Aliens, Vampires, and of course Ghosts!
- Sims who complete the goals they’ve set on their Soul’s Journey can earn the Burning Soul Trait, which gives them the ability to hold onto some of their Reward Traits, Skills, and more from their past life when they choose to experience Rebirth (more on that later).
New Aspirations

A new Aspiration was revealed in the Life & Death Official Gameplay Trailer, the Ghost Historian. We see a sim interviewing a mysterious spirit and taking notes, perhaps to learn more about what’s on the “other side” before his time is up. No doubt these sims will have a vested interest in getting to know the dead and recording any knowledge they have to share.
New Ghost Options & Abilities

When a sim dies you now have the option of what happens to them next. If you choose to keep them as a playable Ghost, there are now a whole range of Ghost Abilities they can use to make the lives of the living easier or more difficult. We got a look at some of those abilities in the trailer:

- Expert Maintenance is an Ability that allows Ghosts to posses & repair broken objects for the living.
- The Transcend Living Needs Ability freezes a Ghost’s Needs (they have ghostly versions of the Needs of the living, such as “Otherworldly Slumber” in place of “Energy”) so they don’t have to worry about maintaining them anymore.
- Sims with the Levitator Ability can use it to toss around living sims like rag dolls, even flipping them over and shaking out their pockets to rob them of simoleons!
New Death: Murder By Crow

The newest death type to come to The Sims 4 as revealed in the trailer is Murder By Crow which is a punny take on the phrase “murder of crows,” likely coined due to the birds’ (unfair) associations with death and misfortune. A sim who dies this way will have a small floating crow with glowing eyes float around inside their Ghost, similar to Ghosts who have died by Pufferfish, Chickens, or Rabbits.
Rebirth And Beyond

Rebirth—or what many of us might know as reincarnation—is an option that some Ghosts can take should they meet the requirements for Rebirth eligibility. A sim who decides to experience Rebirth can come back as a new being, to any household and they can start at seemingly any age. The age in which a sim returns via Rebirth will determine what, if any, information from their past life carries over with the Burning Soul Trait.
It’s unclear whether a sim can experience Rebirth more than once and if so, this could lead to some very interesting gameplay stories!
Other Tidbits
In addition to all of the lovely aforementioned nuggets of information, a few other areas were touched on or revisited.
Leaving A Will

Sims can meet with an Inheritance Lawyer to have a Will drafted up. They can decide what sims will inherit what property/money from their passing, choose an emotion to accompany the Will reading, and players can even add a personalized message if they so choose!
New Graves, Urns, and Tombs

Whether you want your sim interred in an Urn, Tomb, or laid to rest below a Gravestone, there are a bunch of new and beautiful options available to choose from. Based on the Life & Death Official Gameplay Trailer, there will be 8 new designs for each option, giving you 24 choices in total.
The Mandela Effect In Action!

One thing that caught my attention while watching the Life & Death Official Gameplay Trailer was that the Expansion has been slightly renamed! Initially the expansion was referred to as Life And Death but has since been changed to Life & Death, which keeps it line with the naming scheme of prior entries like Cats & Dogs. Most of The Sims’ media has been updated to reflect this change, but if you remember it differently just know that it’s not in your head!
Final Thoughts
In just two short weeks simmers will be celebrating Halloween along with the launch of The Sims 4: Life & Death! You can pre-order it as early as today, so you’re ready to start reaping the moment it releases. What gameplay element or new concept are you most excited about? Let us know your thoughts in the comments! We look forward to hearing from you and digging into Life & Death when we get it in our boney fingers. Until then, spooky simming!
This looks so good! I can’t wait to play. I really like what EA has been doing with their releases lately!