The Board Game Challenge
As I reached the end of what would be my very first completed legacy, I started looking around for interesting challenges I could use to keep me interested as I started out with another family.. but I found very few that I found interesting enough to keep me going, but not so complicated that I might become confused, or frustrated with how little time I have to dedicate to the sims nowadays, and the intricacies of some challenges. So, I decided to create my own.
As I was browsing through existing challenges, I stumbled across this one, which attempted to combine board games and the sims. Though their challenge was very bare bones, I loved the concept, and decided to fully flesh it out and really make it something I could stick with. So the Board Game Challenge was born!
To start with, the challenge as a WHOLE is based on the game of Monopoly, where your sim starts out at Mediterranean Avenue & Baltic Avenue, the purple properties, and they metaphorically work their way around the board as the generations carry on. As well as each generation being a property set and that property set's color, each generation is ALSO another board game, and has specific challenges that correspond with the game play for that game. Since Monopoly only has 8 property sets, there are only rules created for 8 generations, so this can't be a FULL legacy, but perhaps if we consider the last two generations Free Parking, and you guys make your own rules for those..? ^_^;;
BASIC RULES
- Standard legacy rules apply.
- Have a creative naming scheme. Color related, board game related, anything else obscurely related to this challenge may apply!
- Each generation's theme must be present and obvious in some way, ie: the décor and/or sims' dress relate to the corresponding board game, color, etc.
GENERATION RULES
Mediterranean Avenue & Baltic Avenue
Generation 1: Purple
LIFE
- What better way to start out on your sim's life journey than with The Game of Life? But, unfortunately for you, life is hard, and this first generation will be no exception. Your sim may only enter one of the five careers that are on the original Life board: doctor, journalist, lawyer, teacher, or physicist. They may never quit or change professions (but they may retire), and if they are fired you must get them back into that profession as soon as possible. Spouses and children may not be employed.
- You MUST send your sims on a honeymoon as soon after their wedding as possible. If you have to sell the couch and microwave to afford the airfare, so be it.
- In The Game of Life, players receive a large chunk of money after the birth of each of their children. Well, real life isn't like that, and for the purposes of this challenge, neither is life in the sims. Kids COST money. A LOT of money. So after the birth of every child, you must SUBTRACT $1,000 dollars from your sims' household. You may do this via cheats, or by buying one or two expensive decorative objects that you MAY NOT SELL until the next generation takes over. Now just hope you don't go bankrupt.
TAKE A RIDE ON THE READING RAILROAD - You must move your family into a new home.
Oriental Avenue, Vermont Avenue & Connecticut Avenue
Generation 2: Light Blue
SCRABBLE
- To be a good Scrabble player, you need to know a lot of words. That means reading a lot of books, so your sim must maximize their cooking, mechanical, and cleaning skills all via the bookcase. They must also learn parenting, fire prevention, anger management, lifelong happiness, physiology, and couples counseling from the bookcase as well, so you better find yourself a comfy chair, because you're in for a lot of sitting down.
- In Scrabble, everyone wants to be the one to place their word on the coveted triple word score squares. Well, what you should really be concentrating on now is getting a triple MONEY score. As soon as the first member of generation 2 ages into adult, make sure to check and see how much cash your sims' household has on hand, because you're going to need to have triple that by the time the next generation takes over.
ELECTRIC COMPANY - The next generation may have no electric lights in their home (they may have them in their business, however, if it is located on another lot).
St. Charles Place, States Avenue & Virginia Avenue
Generation 3: Fuschia/Pink
CANDYLAND
- We all know that the residents of Candyland are a sucker for sweets, and you're starting to see dollar signs. Your sim must open a bakery and build it up into a thriving level 10 business. You may stock your store with deco food, or go the traditional route and make all the desserts yourself, or do a little of both.
- In order to be a good baker and have a truly successful business, you're going to need skill. Your sim must max their cooking skill, and reach the top of the culinary career track, all while keeping their own business afloat (you may enlist family members to help).
TAKE A RIDE ON THE PENNSYLVANIA RAILROAD - You must move your family into a new home.
St. James Place, Tennessee Avenue & New York Avenue
Generation 4: Orange
HUNGRY HUNGRY HIPPOS
- Your sim is ALWAYS hungry. Hungry for grilled cheese! At least one sim in your household must have the grilled cheese aspiration, and you must achieve their LTW of eating 250 grilled cheese sandwiches.
- Achieve their LTW quickly enough, and this next challenge will be a cinch. All grilled cheese sims must be in platinum aspiration before all major events such as getting a job, their birthdays, or weddings. We can't have anyone losing their marbles over aspiration failure. You need your marbles to win!
- All grilled cheese sims are prohibited from working out. I know I've never seen a skinny hippo.
Kentucky Avenue, Indiana Avenue & Illinois Avenue
Generation 5: Red
YAHTZEE
- Yahtzee is all about the roll of the dice, and for this generation, GENETICS are all about the roll of the dice. Your sim must go on at least one date with 6 separate possible spouses. Then you must list and number each prospect, and roll the dice to see who will be supplying the second half of generation 6's genomes.
- In Yahtzee, the ultimate goal is to roll five of a kind, and get that extra boost to your score. Well, your main goal in this generation is to get five CHILDREN of a kind, and get quite the boost to your population. Your sim must continue to have children until there are five kids of the same gender. Better start eating that cheesecake and hoping for twins!
- But wait, there's more! The genetics for the NEXT generation will be decided by the roll of the dice as well, because that's how you're picking your heir this generation. You may either list and number ALL the children, and roll the dice (or two) to determine the heir (if you miraculously have only five children and roll a 6, consider that free choice) OR you may pick your favorite THREE children, assign them all two numbers between 1-6, and then roll to decide.
TAKE A RIDE ON THE B & O RAILROAD - You must move your family into a new home.
WATER COMPANY - The next generation may have no sinks in their home.
Atlantic Avenue, Ventnor Avenue & Marvin Gardens
Generation 6: Yellow
SORRY!
- The object of Sorry! is to send your pawns out onto the board, and help them find their way back home before the other players do the same for their pawns. For this generation, you will need to pick your two favorite teenage children, and send them away (to college, or just to another lot while still as teens) and have them start fighting their way back home, literally.
- Your teen sims are rivals now; nemeses, even. They must autonomously start fights with each other, and whoever wins each brawl gets the opportunity to 'move forward' on the Sorry! board. This means you will roll one dice each time a fight is won, and keep tally of how many points each teen/YA gets. Once a teen/YA reaches 51 points (the amount of spaces on a Sorry! board) they are able to return home and are declared the heir for that generation. They may get home in as little as 9 fights, but it could take up to 101. Best of luck, and may the odds be ever in your favor.
Pacific Avenue, North Carolina Avenue & Pennsylvania Avenue
Generation 7: Green
OPERATION
- In Operation, the goal is to remove several ailing body parts from a patient, and to do it with more skill than your opponents. Your sim must reach the top of the Medical and Science career tracks, and once they've been turned to the 'Mad Scientist' side... that's when they start wanting to remove MORE than just the ailing body parts, and from more than just their own patients. Luckily, you know just the sort of sim that will be no worse for wear when repeatedly cut open, disassembled, and put back together again. A zombie! Your sim must somehow procure a zombie, and then... well, they can do whatever they like with it.
- You must 'collect' five items/tasks from the Operation board.
- Adam's Apple - plant an apple tree and harvest the fruit at least once.
- Wrenched Ankle - buy the hobby car and completely repair and paint it.
- Butterflies in Stomach - catch at least one jar of butterflies.
- Writer's Cramp - write one best selling novel.
- Wish Bone - receive the magical lamp and make at least one wish from the genie.
TAKE A RIDE ON THE SHORT LINE - You must move your family into a new home.
Park Place & Boardwalk
Generation 8: Dark Blue
CLUE/CLUEDO
- Your new home must have all the rooms you would find on a Clue/Cluedo board. Surely you can afford it by now? A hall, study, library, billiard room, conservatory, ballroom, kitchen, dining room, and lounge. They may be any size you like and arranged in any way you like, but you must have them. Then find room to squeeze in those other things, like bedrooms and bathrooms.
- At least three sims (they can be townies) must die in your home from something OTHER than old age, before you may move in any spouses/partners. It's best to not have too many witnesses, you understand. Now, figuring out how you're going to kill them all... there's your mystery.
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RECOMMENDATIONS:
Though definitely not necessary to play, as the Monopoly aspect of this challenge wasn't originally intended to be literal, THIS neighborhood was built to actually look like a Monopoly board, and it will definitely add some extra reality and pizzazz to your Board Game Challenge. I personally am using it, I just made sure to go into the community lots covered in brown dirt above the Mediterranean Avenue & Baltic Avenue properties and change them to purple carpet to reflect both this challenge, and the Monopoly board I grew up with (they only changed those properties from purple to brown in 2008, so I am definitely not including the brown).
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Now, I may not have completely succeeded in making this challenge less confusing than some others out there, but I tried my very best, and I will answer any questions you may have as soon as I am possible.
You can also follow my personal play-through of this challenge HERE. Maybe watching me struggle to achieve all the challenges will help you finish them as well. XD
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ANSWERED QUESTIONS:
Q: When do you move the family into a new house? At the end or at the start of the generation?
A: You move them in between the generations. Right as the new heirs age up into adult, move them into a new house before beginning the new generation's challenges.
Q: For generation five, do you have to get 5 children of the same gender IN A ROW, or total?
A: You don't need to get 5 children of the same gender in a row, just end up with five children of the same gender eventually. How you make room for additional children could be a hack to allow more sims on a lot, sending teens to college as soon as they age up, having teens move to another lot, etc. Even if your luck is awful, you'll only need 9 kids to reach this goal.
Q:
A:
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FOR SIMS 3 PLAYERS:
I definitely want as many people as possible to try out and have fun with this challenge, and that means Sims 3 players as well! I do not personally have The Sims 3, but faerielissa adapted some of the rules for her personal use, and I thought I would include them in the main post for anyone else who would like to try this challenge in their Sims 3 game. :3 Thanks so much to faerielissa for showing me her adaptations, and for coming up with them all so quickly, too! I am so happy this challenge has garnered so much enthusiasm so quickly. :D
But yes! On to the rule changes!
Generation 1: Purple
LIFE
The option of entering the lawyer career is changed to the business career, and the physicist career to scientist (it's actually scientist for Sims 2 players as well, 'physicist' was just the lingo used on the LIFE board game. This is just to clear up any confusion about it).
Generation 2: Light Blue
SCRABBLE
The skills to be maxed via the bookcase are now cooking, handiness, and logic, while the extra books to be read are about pregnancy, alchemy, mixology, fishing, gardening, and charisma.
Generation 3: Fuschia/Pink
CANDYLAND
Instead of owning a bakery, your sim must own and fully upgrade a restaurant, or be a partner in every restaurant in town.
Generation 4: Orange
HUNGRY HUNGRY HIPPOS
As there is no equivalent to the grilled cheese aspiration in The Sims 3, this generation's rules changed the most.
- Your sim is ALWAYS hungry. At least one sim in your household must eat 6 times a day.
- Heir must be elated (highest mood, above the notch in the mood bar) before all major events such as getting a job, their birthdays, or weddings. We can't have anyone losing their marbles over aspiration failure. You need your marbles to win!
- The heir is prohibited from working out. I know I've never seen a skinny hippo.
Generation 7: Green
OPERATION
- You must 'collect' five items/tasks from the Operation board.
- Adam's Apple - plant an apple tree and harvest the fruit at least once.
- Wrenched Ankle - max mechanical skill and upgrade all upgradable objects in the household
- Butterflies in Stomach - catch and keep 25 butterflies.
- Writer's Cramp - write one best selling novel.
- Wish Bone - must use both the "vial of Bottled Genie" and "Wish Enhancing Serum" elixirs.
And that's it's for now! If anyone else has any more suggestions for changes to these adaptions, or I buggered something up in my paraphrasing of what faerielissa wrote, please tell me! I have never played The Sims 3, and writing this just now was like writing in another language that I do NOT know, so I'm bound to have miscommunicated something, I'm sure. Don't be shy, folks!