Winter

The weather outside may be frightful, but the fire inside? So delightful. Sims love to charge out into the billowing blankets of snow on the ground, flinging snowballs and rolling up friendly snowmen. But as the sun on a snappy winter day sets and the temperature drops like a stone, Sims head inside to snuggle up with family and celebrate that while the world outside may be hibernating, their hearts are still alive with love and merriment.

Winter Holiday: Snowflake Day

’Tis the season! During the winter holiday, Snowflake Day, Sims receive the moodlet Holiday Cheer. On this day, more than any other, Sims are in particularly high spirits. Sims will usually accept all socials (unless you go way overboard with romantics) and Sims not under your control will veer toward Friendly STC socials in conversations.

Snowflake Day also marks the holiday bonus, in which Sims receive a little extra from their employers. Unless, of course, you’ve been skipping shifts or calling in fake sick... then you risk getting a smaller bonus. Or no bonus at all!

Winter Party Suggestion: Feast Party

The feast party actually removes the need for you, as the party host, to prepare a full spread for your guests. The entire point of this party is for all invited to arrive with one dish. When guests arrive to your shindig, they will be carrying a plate of food with multiple servings. Each food-bearing guest will place their food on an available surface, typically as close to the kitchen as possible and usually close to other plates of food.

Guests’ dishes always contain multiple servings. However, the game keeps track of how many Sims are at the party so that more plates than necessary are not brought. For example, if you have a full boat of 10 guests, chances are good that the last few guests to arrive will not bring a dish. That way, there are no leftovers from this party, which cuts down both on waste and post-party cleaning.

At some point during the party, once all guests have arrived and folks are having a good time, you may use the new Call Party to Eat interaction. This interaction is available on any group serving on the lot. At this point, the feast begins. Attendees route to the food and start serving themselves. Within moments, folks are eating and hopefully enjoying the Nice Meal moodlet.

Winter Party Suggestion: Gift-Giving Party

When you want to spread holiday cheer, throw a gift-giving party. This themed party operates like most normal get-togethers—you still need to be on top of mood and needs—but the festivities are centered around a new object: gift pile. The gift pile appears when the party is underway. The gift pile always has enough presents for everybody who comes to the party, however when guests arrive, they always walk over and add another to the pile.

Once the party is underway, click on the gift pile and choose the Call Everyone to Open Gifts. This signals that it’s time to open presents. Sims at the party move toward the gift pile and the festivities begin!

Sims take turns opening presents. A Sim walks to the pile and fishes out a present. They then open it up and react depending on what’s inside. You do not control what is inside the gift boxes. Some Sims are positively ecstatic over their present. Some Sims are... not. The gift is added to the personal or household inventory of the Sim and the next person begins to open their present. While gifts are being opened, the crowd reacts with laughter and cheers.

There is no hard rule about only throwing gift-giving parties during the winter season. You may throw one of these parties whenever you like, bringing friends and friends-to-be together under one roof for a few hours of fun, food, and generosity.

Snowmen

When snow accumulates on the ground, there are so many fun activities your Sims can indulge in, such as building a snowman! Snowmen can be built all by yourself or with another Sim (LTR boost!). All you need to do to get started on this activity is click accumulated snow on the ground and select Make Snowman.

When you start making a snowman, you roll up a large ball of snow. This is the base. As you continue building, the midsection appears. Finally, the head goes on top and your Sim adds decorations that make up the face, such as lumps of coal for eyes and a carrot nose.

However, as soon as you make your first snowman, you “discover” a snowman design. Now, you can make that particular type of snowman by designating it from the Make menu. However, you can choose to just Make Snowman again (without the design designation) to see what random design your Sim comes up with next. They may build another basic snowman... they may pull off a more creative design, such as a hockey-playing snowman or a grim reaper snowman. When a design is discovered, it can be selected from the Make menu.

There are several types of snowman designs, and certain traits or Sim features can influence which designs your Sim may come up with when left to their own devices:

• Alien: Alien Sims (or children with alien DNA) are more likely to create alien snowmen. Insane Sims or Computer Whiz Sims are also more likely to build alien snowmen. If Sims have engaged in a lot of hacking via a computer, they too may build an alien snowman.
• Tragic Clown: If your Sim is in a particularly foul mood, the chance of building this unfunny clown snowman goes up. Grumpy Sims or Sims who Hate the Outdoors are also more likely to build a tragic clown.
• Grim Reaper: Though a touch morbid, elder Sims are more likely to build grim reaper snowmen. Sims who work part-time at the mausoleum, have either the Unlucky or Evil traits, or possess multiple urns/gravestones on their lot are also likely to build this type of snowman.
• Evil: Daredevil Evil, Mean Spirited, or Pyro Sims are more likely to build evil snowmen.
• Hockey: Athletic Sims or Sims who Love the Outdoors are more likely to slap a hockey mask on their snowman. The presence of an ice rink on the lot can also influence the odds of rolling up a hockey snowman.

As the temperature goes up, snowmen melt. But if you’d rather put a snowman out of his misery—or you’re just feeling a little destructive—you can use Destroy on a snowman. The destructor walks up to the snowman and just goes to town, kicking and punching it until nothing is left but a pile of ruined snow. If you destroy your own snowman, it’s no big deal. But if you wreck somebody else’s snowman in front of them, you lose LTR. If a child built the snowman, they will start to cry. An adult Sim may even pick a fight with you for pummeling the snowman.

Snow Angels

Like building a snowman, when you click on accumulated snow, you see the option to make a snow angel. When doing so, your Sim lies in the snow and starts waving their arms and legs to make the angel wings and robes in the powder. After a few moments, the Sim stands back up and admires their creation.

Some Sims—those with Insane, Absent-Minded, or Clumsy traits—will fall face-first into the snow to make their angel. This gives them the Frosty Face moodlet.

Like snowmen, snow angels can be destroyed. If you wreck your own snow angel, whatevs. But if you wreck somebody else’s in front of them, you lose LTR. If a child made the angel, they start to cry. And you risk an adult Sim picking a fight with you for ruining the snow angel.

Igloos

When it snows heavily, you can build a cool (literally!) igloo for your Sims. Igloos act like tents, in that there are a host of similar interactions you may perform on a finished igloo, such as taking a nap on crawling inside with your paramour and enjoying some wintry WooHoo.

To build an igloo, click on accumulated snow and choose the Build Igloo interaction. This starts the process, which has several steps. You don’t need to do anything but watch as your Sim builds snow bricks to create the foundation, then erects the circular wall, before putting on the final touches and christening it a real-deal igloo, complete with that little “tunnel” that leads inside. At any point, you may stop building an igloo. As long as it stays cold outside, you can go back to it and continue building either alone or with another Sim. If the temperature rises to the point that snow starts to melt, your unfinished igloo is lost. As soon as the igloo is finished, your Sim stands back and admires their work.

Building an igloo with another Sim boosts LTR and Social.

As soon as an igloo is finished, you can crawl inside to relax or sleep. Children can also click on the igloo and choose to play inside. But grown ups can opt to use the igloo for a winter wonderland rendezvous, or even Try for Baby inside the igloo. If a baby is conceived inside the igloo, they are born with the Loves the Cold trait.

Holiday House Lights

During the winter season, houses can be decorated with strings of holiday lights. When the sun goes down and the winter scene is bathed in chilly darkness, these strands of merry lights are indeed gorgeous sights to behold. You will see these lights appear on other houses in the city when winter comes, but you can also hang your own on your house at no cost whatsoever.

Just click on the front door of the house and choose Apply (or Remove to take them down). You may choose to either string up regular lights, or strands of icicle-style lights that dangle from the roof. You can also choose which color you want to use for the lights! Give it a go and make your house truly a festive place to be during winter.

Winter Festival

A little snow isn’t going to stop this town from celebrating! When the Winter Festival comes to town, Sims can gather to enjoy all sorts of wonderful activities, like snowboarding and ice skating. Before folks get too chilly, be sure to head for the concession stands and nab something hot to drink, like hot chocolate or coffee. With a warm tummy, you’ll have the wherewithal needed to throw down at the snowball arena or just enjoy a pleasing stroll around the festival lot with friends and family.

• Hours of Operation: 8 AM–9 PM

Winter Food

Festival Ticket Prices

Snowboarding

Dominating the winter festival, the Snowboarding Half-Pipe invites every Sim to step right up and give this extreme sport an honest-to-goodness shot. Naturally, Athletic Sims will do a little better at first, but with practice, almost any Sim can learn to stay upright. Keep at this semi-hidden skill and you’ll soon see your Sim pulling off tricks with a great degree of confidence!

Ice Skating

Thanks to the large ice skating rink on the festival lot, players can slip into a pair of skates and try their hand at this graceful activity. Well, they won’t be graceful at first. But as you skate and stumble around the rink, you develop this semi-hidden skill, eventually learning confidence. Skate with friends, spin, and just have fun!

Like roller skating, ice skating is both a Fun and Social activity, allowing you to not only build LTR with existing friends, but also meet other citizens of your home town.

Snowball Fight!

Much like the water balloon arena found during the Summer Festival, the snowball fight arena on the festival grounds gives you an organized place to team up with other Sims, pack a few good snowballs, and release some of that pent-up energy! Play with single Sims or teams, trying to be the last Sim standing so you bank Festival Tickets.

Face Painting

What festival is complete without a face painting booth? Every festival has a small tent where you can get a sweet little design painted on your mug. Designs include not only those found in the Make-Up tab of Create a Sim, but also some seasonal options:

• Snowflake
• Snow bunny

When you choose the Get Face Painted interaction, your Sim slips into the tent for a moment. When they emerge, they have a little splash of color on their face. Getting your face painted satisfies the Fun need. Face painting costs §50.

Now, there is a chance that face painting doesn’t exactly work out. If the activity fails, your Sim emerges with a mess o’ make-up on their face, such as big smudges. This doesn’t ruin your day with a negative moodlet, but you definitely do not gain any Fun.

Face painting naturally fades after a few hours. If you want to remove it manually, you can hop in the shower, remove it via a mirror, or change your outfit.