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

In your Sims 4 playthroughs, you’ll encounter wacky situations impacting your Sims for better or worse, like calls about inheritances or career offers. Among these random scenarios are the mysterious Motive Trials. If you’re curious, keep reading to learn about the Motive Trials in The Sims 4.

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!

Sims 4’s 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.