Games

How to Enable Wants and Fears in The Sims 4

Published

4 weeks ago

October 24, 2024

There are various features in The Sims 4 that help the game feel more realistic and immersive – Wants and Fears are a perfectly example of this. A Sim’s environment and personality will direct affect how they feel, and this will be expressed not only through moodlets but also through Wants and Fears.

The Sims 4: 16 Best Custom Aspiration Mods

Table of Contents

Given the base game Aspirations options in The Sims 4 are pretty lacklustre, these Aspirations mods can help keep things exciting.

The Wants and Fears system is very different from the one available in The Sims 2, and this guide aims to explain exactly how it works so gamers can familiarize themselves with this challenging yet fun gameplay feature.

How to Enable Wants and Fears in The Sims 4

In The Sims 4, players can toggle Wants and Fears on and off at any time. While Fears can sometimes negatively affect a Sim, Wants are a great way to improve a Sim’s mood and collect points, which the player can spend in the Reward Store.

To enable or disable Wants and Fears in The Sims 4, players must pause the game, select Settings, and then open the Game Options tab. On the right hand side of the Game Options tab, gamers will see a “Show Wants & Fears” option with a box next to it. Players have to check the box if they’d like to play with Wants & Fears activated or they can uncheck it to keep these features hidden.

How to Check and Complete Wants in The Sims 4

To check a Sim’s Wants in The Sims 4, players must hover over the bubbles that appear on the left side of the selected Sim’s head in the bottom left corner of the screen. There are lifetime aspirations in The Sims 4 that Sims must work towards throughout their lives, but these bubbles only display the Sim’s momentaneous Wants. However, gamers can pin Wants so they don’t disappear, ensuring that the Sim will receive their reward no matter how far in the future they complete the Wants.

To complete a Want in The Sims 4, players will simply have to perform the task connected to the Sim’s wishes. Oftentimes, the Want’s description will give the player direct instructions on what they have to do to fulfill a Sim’s Want.

How to Check and Overcome Fears in The Sims 4

As Sims experience certain events in their lives, they may acquire Fears, which will affect their mood. Thankfully, there are ways to deal with Fears in The Sims 4 and prevent them from haunting Sims throughout their lives.

Here are all of the Fears in The Sims 4 and how to overcome them:

Fear	Cause	Solution
Fear of being cheated on Advertisement	Have the Jealous trait Mediocre WooHoo with partner Lack of attention from a partner Catch a partner romancing others	Discuss Fear of being cheated on with a partner
Fear of death	Near-death experiences Death of close relatives or friends	Discuss Fear of Death with other Sims
Fear of fire		Extinguish a fire
Fear of ghosts	Have a negative experience with a ghost Sim	Fight a ghost
Fear of the dark Advertisement	Have a negative experience at night	Go outside at night with the Confident moodlet
Fear of swimming	Have a negative experience while swimming	Swim for an hour with the Confident moodlet
Fear of failure	Perform poorly at work Craft poor quality items	Show off a crafted item or ask for a performance review
Fear of a dead-end job	Not receiving a promotion or raise in a while	Use the Regain Passion interaction on the Sim before going to work
Fear of Cowplants		Milk a Cowplant with the Confident moodlet Advertisement
Fear of being judged	Be the target of Mean social interactions	Use the Figure Out Differents interaction on two Sims
Fear of crowded places		Use three Funny social interactions while in a crowded lot
Fear of unfulfilled dreams	Not completing Wants in a while	Complete a want and then use the Discuss Fears interaction on another Sim
Fear of failing after-school activity Advertisement	Be a Low Confidence Sim Have the Overachiever trait	Complete the daily task for an after-school activity with a Happy moodlet
Fear of disappointing parents	Drop out of high school or university Share negative sentiments with caregiver Low Confidence Sim	Use the Absolve Fears interaction on a deceased caregiver’s urn or use the Set Expectations interaction with a living caregiver
Fear of failing classes	Be a Low Confidence Sim Have the Overachiever trait Have low grades at school	Do Extra Credit Work on Homework after asking a teacher for it
Fear of failing tests	Fail an exam or pass an exam with a low grade	Prepare for exam with the Focused moodlet
Fear of homework	Not doing homework in a while	Complete homework two days in a row with the Focused moodlet
Fear of being inferior Advertisement		Get B or higher grades at school or gain more than five levels in a Skill
Fear of horses	Have a negative experience with a horse Have the Paranoid trait	Use the Discuss Fear of Horses interaction with other Sims or have nice interactions with horses
Fear of eviction	Receive a fine from the Property Owner	Successfully use three friendly or flirty interactions with the Property Owner
Fear of being alone	Have a low relationship meter or bad romantic satisfaction with a partner Have the Lovebug, Unflirty, or Cat Lover trait	Use the Seek Validation interaction on a romantic partner, use the Practice Affirmations interaction on a mirror or seek Couples Counseling using the Cupid’s Corner app
Fear of intimacy Advertisement	Have the Socially Awkward, Noncommittal, Unflirty, or Romantically Reserved trait	Use the Discuss Comfort Levels or the Share Intimate Thoughts interactions with a close friend

Released: September 2, 2014
Publisher(s): Electronic Arts
Engine: Proprietary Engine
ESRB: T for Teen: Crude Humor, Sexual Themes, Violence
How Long To Beat: N/A
Steam Deck Compatibility: yes
X|S Optimized: No
File Size Xbox Series: 22 GB (November 2023)
OpenCritic Rating: Fair
Cross Save: no
Cross-Platform Play: Xbox, PlayStation, and computer versions of Sims 4 are all separate games incompatible with each other