Matchmaker Challenge - A Sims Challenge by Julesbbsea17
I have no idea how to write a challenge as I don’t usually follow them myself. So I’m gonna start this by explaining how I got started with this one (Google Docs Link is here):
When I was still making YouTube videos I planned to bring a Bachelorette LP to my channel. But then I burned out on The Sims… and then on making videos entirely and decided to stop making them. But I still had this save file ready to play. I took a year away from the game to finally stop hating it and just started playing again in the last few months. I normally write in the game, but I tend to abandon stories quickly and chase the dopamine of a new storyline idea only to never revisit the one I was working on (Thanks ADHD). I was feeling that urge and wanted to wait it out but still play the game. So I jumped into my Bachelorette save just for fun. I had this house of 11 total Sims – the bachelorette plus 10 contestants – as I adjusted the max sims in a house with my MCCC settings. But I am a hopeless romantic and wanted everyone in the house to find love, not just the bachelorette. I happened upon the sim the game added to be the pizza delivery sim & she was GORGEOUS. So I decided to add her to the household for an even 12. As I played I decided on some guidelines to follow to help me figure out when two sims found love and couplehood. I know that’s not a word but I made it one, ok? 😄
When Island Living came out I had just started a new rags to riches storyline (I didn’t even know this was an actual challenge in the Sims community when I first started doing it 😆) and my Sim and Paka’a Uha just seemed to be drawn to each other. When she was at the gym working out I knew when Paka’a was there because I would see their face in her queue that they were coming to talk to her. It seemed like anywhere I took her Paka’a seemed to be there too and find her. It was so cool to witness and ever since I’ve loved watching two sims tell me who they want their partner to be by their actions. And thus why I thought of changing this challenge into what it is now.
Rules I made for myself to follow:
💠Extremely limited interference by me (no romance interactions at my direction, they’re on their own, with the exception of 1:1 dates). I did make sure their needs were taken care of though so if they needed to be told to stop playing video games & go eat or sleep I directed them to do so. To make it easier on myself I also used MCCC mailbox settings every morning to fill all their needs at once so I didn’t have to feed them more than once a day. I had a butler but I also had vegetarian sims and the butler didn’t seem to care about that 😄
💠Autonomous flirting on (I normally keep it off for my storylines – no flirting with your mother-in-law on my watch)
💠Player included Wicked Whims autonomy on (again, I normally keep it off – stop cancelling what I told you to do to go screw each other. We’re painting right now, ffs!).
💠I initially had “player ask to join” on in Wicked Whims settings but decided to turn it off. You can leave it on if you wish - it’s up to you.
💠If I saw two sims queued up autonomous romance or WW I was not allowed to cancel it or redirect them to something - or someone - else.
💠I also turned on social context questions for player asking player. This way I knew they were planning to and could notate it for points.
💠1:1 date nights – With so many sims in the house I noticed several of them weren’t getting much interaction with certain sims. So I built a little room at the edge of the property & would lock two sims in there for several hours together. Left to their own free will (with food, because I usually did it from 2pm to 10 or 11pm). I started with the Bachelorette herself and gave each contestant a 1:1 night with her, going alphabetically. If the contestant was otherwise engaged (aka sleeping with someone else) then I just went to the next sim. I directed the bachelorette to perform two romance interactions in the flirtations category and then they were on their own. Some sims went in not even friends yet & came out still not friends. Some went in with a tiny romance bar & came out with a half full one. I made sure the room had a table & chairs for eating, along with several pieces of furniture for if they wanted to use WW – a couch, a bed, living chairs, a blanket on the floor (from Lovestruck), and an ottoman. I also eventually added a bathroom since I kept forgetting to tell them to use the bathroom in the house before I locked them in the room together. I did not allow sims to use the room for anything outside of date nights, so I kept the door locked for everyone all other times.
💠I did not allow any outside sims into the house to visit. I initially did but then some of them got romance bars with the outside friends as well so I put an end to letting other sims into the house. I did have a butler but they seemed to leave her alone other than friendly chats.
As I played I came up with things 2 sims would need to accomplish or have happen to count towards reaching couplehood. They didn’t need all of them, I dubbed a few of them more important than others (like autonomous WW, romance bar soul mates, romance satisfaction, whims, etc). And then I also came up with some things that would count as NEGATIVE points.
💠Good or Amazing Chemistry (I don’t remember if this is Growing Together specific or if they made it base game)
💠Positive First Impression if you have the First Impressions mod (I do not but I planned to use it when I was originally going to make this a Bachelorette LP for YouTube)
💠Wicked Whims pop-up that they’re very attracted to a Sim in the house or Lovestruck pop-up that they have instant attraction
💠Romance bar at soulmates level
💠Whims to: take on a date, to be partner, to woohoo with (they didn’t need all of them, but the more the better)
💠Prompt to have Steamy or Wholesome Romance Dynamic (Lovestruck)
💠A pop-up that Sim 1 wants to take Sim 2 on a date or to be their partner (this might also be from Lovestruck, I am unsure – I always said no but still counted it)
💠Autonomous Wicked Whims: Successfully 7+ times; Successfully 6 times & 2 asks that didn’t complete; OR Successfully 5 times & 3 asks that didn’t complete (I always said yes if they were attracted to each other, but sometimes it just didn’t happen)
💠Satisfied or Very Satisfied in their romance (Lovestruck)
💠Pop-up that they’re thinking about a certain Sim if they’re away from them (Wicked Whims)
💠A friend outside the house called to tell them they’re a cute couple & should think of something long-term or permanent with them
💠If I saw they had a sexy dream about the sim (Wicked Whims)
💠Any angry or negative sentiments towards the other sim
💠Negative first impression if you have the first impression mod
💠Not enjoying woohoo or WW together
💠Not attracted to the sim (does not include finding them “basic”)
💠A friend outside the house calling to tell them they can’t believe they’re still with the sim & they don’t know what they see in them
💠Bad chemistry (Growing Together?)
Notes: I did not have a set amount of points they needed to reach but if you want to do that feel free. If you don’t have the specific packs I mentioned you can always add more sentiments to the points guidelines like Adoring or Closer from Happy Memories, etc. If you can’t use mods you can make any of the points guidelines more important or less important that you want. You can always count any autonomous romance interactions you catch them doing if you want or any positive whims they get about the sim. I don’t ever follow challenges to a T and I encourage you to make this your own as well. If you want to add actual points to each thing you can absolutely do that. If you don’t have MCCC or just want to do this with 8 sims, feel free to do so. This game is sandbox and you can think of this challenge as sandbox as well. I encourage you to have fun & make it your own🤗
Once two sims reached “couplehood” I had them ask to be friends to everyone they had a romance bar with and then I moved them out into their own place and moved two more sims in (I had a house in Windenburg I kept adding Sims to that I would rotate into the bachelorette house, but you don’t need to do this). I am now playing each house rotationally to get them each married & start their families and have saved some to my library to write storylines with because I just love them together so much. But this is just me & I hope if you play this challenge that you make it fun for you. If anything happens in your gameplay that I didn’t list above (like maybe asking to be best friends) you can decide if you consider it a good thing or a bad thing and count it accordingly – or not count it at all, it’s your choice.
Also if you’re ever looking for a Simmer to watch on YouTube my channel is still there. I made Build With Me Videos as well as 3 Let’s Play series (Rags to Riches, Chaos Bears, & Mistress Venom). I cuss a lot but I’ve been told they’re hilarious videos and my goal with it was always to entertain and I hope that my videos can still do that even if I’m not making them anymore.
If you have any questions you can find me by my username (Julesbbsea17) on Tumblr, Threads, Instagram (but it’s a private account), Bluesky, YouTube, Pinterest, and Spoutible. I can also be reached via my Business Accounts - BattleBornClothingLLC - on Threads, Instagram, Bluesky, Spoutible, and Pinterest. (Note that Bluesky & Spoutible are just BattleBornClothing as I was the first with the business name to get an account there 🥳)
Have fun & Happy Simming 🤗
