Motive Trials in The Sims 4

What Are the Motive Trials in the Sims 4? – Answered

So much stress for one little mood square

Throughout your Sims 4 playthroughs, you’ll run into wacky situations that impact your Sims for better or worse. Sometimes, you may get a call about a long-lost inheritance or sudden offers to join other career paths. Plenty of random scenarios may appear, with the mysterious motive trials being one of many examples. If you’re interested in learning more, continue reading to discover what the Motive Trials are in The Sims 4.

Recommended Videos

What Are the Motive Trials in the Sims 4? – Answered

The Motive Trials in The Sims 4 are a random event you’ll encounter via your in-game cell phone. A random Sim will call you, asking if you have heard of the Motive Trials and want to participate. You can accept the offer, immediately leading to your character leaving their current lot and joining the trial. If you wish to decline, though, you can choose “only if it lasts less than a fortnight” and skip the competition altogether.

If you accept the offer, make sure you’re going in with high motives. You’ll need it!

Related – Where to Find Hiking Trails in The Sims 4: Snowy Escape

The Motive Trials last around 24 hours in-game, so you’ll want to ensure your needs are full before joining. As the competition progresses, your motives will drop like they normally would, leading to exhaustion, hunger, and low fun, among other debuffs. This is the purpose of the trials: you have to survive having low motives by the end and be able to recover from the damage. If you have the Seasons expansion, you’ll also have to make sure you don’t overheat or freeze to death!

After the end of the trial, you’ll either get a sad or confident moodlet, depending on whether you won. If you lose, your character will briefly be sad, while winning results in a +3 confidence mood for around 10 hours.

Recovering Motives After the Trial

There are a few ways you can make the Motive Trials easier for your character. If you have perks like Forever Full, Forever Fresh, and Never Weary from the aspiration store, these motives will not decrease during the trials. After the trials, you can refill your low motives by buying potions like instant hygiene, sleep replacement, and instant fun from the rewards shop. While both options require spending aspiration points, they’re a quick way to recover after this competition if you want to try getting the confidence moodlet.

The Sims 4 is available on PC, Mac, Xbox One, and PlayStation 4 through the official website. If you’d like to learn more about the game, check out our The Sims 4 Get Together Club Activities and Perks Guide and our Discover University Research and Debate Skill Cheat Guide.


Prima Games is supported by our audience. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn a small affiliate commission. Learn more
related content
Read Article All TopSpin 2K25 Redeem Codes (April 2024)
TopSpin 2K25
Read Article Lethal Company Bestiary: All Monsters Listed
lethal company, red ghost girl
Read Article How to Get Stormbringer Cookie in Cookie Run Kingdom
Cookie Run Kingdom, Heaven-Splitting Lightning Update.
Related Content
Read Article All TopSpin 2K25 Redeem Codes (April 2024)
TopSpin 2K25
Read Article Lethal Company Bestiary: All Monsters Listed
lethal company, red ghost girl
Read Article How to Get Stormbringer Cookie in Cookie Run Kingdom
Cookie Run Kingdom, Heaven-Splitting Lightning Update.
Author
Madison Benson
Madison was a staff writer at Prima Games who has played video games for over twenty years and written about them for over two years. Her love for video games started with turn-based strategy games like Heroes of Might and Magic and has since extended to casual farming sims, MMORPGs, and action-adventure RPGs.