The Sims 4 Walkthrough: Emotions Guide

One of the major overhauls to The Sims franchise with the newest instalment, emotions are a key factor in the everyday life of The Sims 4’s characters. Emotions drive just about every facet of the game, from decisions to likes / dislikes to reactions to how well a sim will learn a particular skill. Emotions are ever-changing, too, so your sim might be Happy one moment, Uncomfortable the next, Angry the next, aaaaand Playful the next. Unpredictability! It’s like they’re real!

The emotions of The Sims 4 are roughly divided into three categories. Good emotions are those that provide a positive response, typically aiding your sim in building relationships, skills, careers, and overall happiness. Neutral emotions are the oddballs, and don’t do much of anything. Bad emotions are those that evoke a negative response, and will result in some poor behaviour on your sim’s part until their circumstances are remedied. You’ll see all of these in the lifetime of your sims… and some, if you’re not careful, are strong enough to kill.

Below is a list of emotions in The Sims 4. Included are the levels of each emotion, ranging from lowest intensity to highest; the Traits most closely associated with each emotion (though any Trait can bring out any emotion with enough work); the careers those emotions positively affect; and the skills an emotion will bolster when both are in play at the same time (for example, Confident sims receive a bonus to the development of their Fishing skill when they’re, y’know, fishing).

Good Emotions

Confident

• Levels: Confident, Very Confident
• Associated Traits: Self-Assured, Snob, Bro, Mean
• Career Bonuses: Criminal, Secret Agent
• Skill Bonuses: Charisma

Your sim is a rock. Confident sims are good at businessy-type-stuff, and excel at conversation. Your sim will typically become Confident through practicing with their vocal cords in front of a mirror with Practice Speech, though Fishing can also do the trick. Comedians become Confident quickly if their jokes are going over well with an audience. As with most other positive emotions, you can also make sims Confident by sticking them in a shower.

Energized

• Levels: Energized, Very Energized
• Associated Traits: Active, Bro
• Career Bonuses: None
• Skill Bonuses: Fitness

Run, run, run! Energized sims are at their best when engaged in physical pursuits, whether they’re working out or just cleaning the house. You can push an Energized sim just a bit further to get those Fitness results that you think you may need. Energized is perhaps most useful for cleaning purposes, as Energized sims will perform their tasks more quickly - and not become Uncomfortable from overwork, to boot. Score. Your sims can become Energized by working out, drinking energy drinks, watching Sports on TV, and speaking to other Energized sims to get Pumped Up.

Flirty

• Levels: Flirty, Very Flirty, Passionate
• Associated Traits: Romantic
• Career Bonuses: None
• Skill Bonuses: None

Ooooooo la la. Flirty sims are ready for romance, and receive extra Moodlets and conversation options to drive forward more intimate relationships. Romantic options on the conversation will have greater effects when a sim is Flirty, and it’s one of the easiest emotions to instil in other sims. Just be careful before you turn to romance, as many (most, even) sims won’t respond happily to your sim’s overtures until they’re at least friends. You can turn your sims Flirty by taking showers, watching Romances on TV, reading Romance novels, and engaging in Romance conversation options.

Focused

• Levels: Focused, Very Focused
• Associated Traits: Genius
• Career Bonuses: Tech Guru, Astronaut
• Skill Bonuses: Fishing, Handiness, Video Gaming, Programming, Logic, Gardening, Rocket Science

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Stay on target. Focused sims have a task, and they’ll be damned if they’re going to waver. A number of knowledge-based skills are driven forward more quickly by Focused sims, and any sim with a Knowledge Aspiration will find this emotion very useful indeed. If you’re looking into Tech, a Genius is what you want. Sims tend to become Focused by engaging in brainy pursuits such as playing video games, using a telescope or microscope, using the computer in general, or gardening.

Happy

• Levels: Happy, Very Happy
• Associated Traits: Cheerful, Foodie, Geek, Music Lover, Loves Outdoors, Neat, Evil, Good, Family-Oriented, Good, Loner, Mean, Noncommital, Outgoing (most of them, in other words)
• Career Bonuses: None
• Skill Bonuses: None

Weeeee! Your sim is Happy. Happy sims are one step up from neutral, and are quite content with life. They don’t sway too far in any direction beyond ‘satisfied’, and unless you’re pursuing a specific goal, this is the emotion you want to see stretched across your sim’s face. Fulfilling your sim’s Needs and keeping them entertained will usually result in a Happy sim. Though it doesn’t enhance any skills, Happy has a tendency to enhance other emotions - for example, a Playful sim may receive extra bonuses from Happy Moodlets.

Inspired

• Levels: Inspired, Very Inspired
• Associated Traits: Creative
• Career Bonuses: Painter, Writer, Entertainer, Culinary
• Skill Bonuses: Painting, Writing, Guitar, Violin, Piano, Cooking, Gourmet Cooking, Mixology

Aha! Inspired sims have something on their mind, some perfect idea that’s percolating away in the recesses of their brains, just waiting to burst out into the world. Or something. Inspired sims excel with hobby-based skills, and are just as creative as you could imagine. Consequently, your sim will usually be Inspired when they’re honing their skills, namely by painting pictures, writing novels, playing music, or cooking. They may also be Inspired by watching other people do these things. A lot of careers look for Inspired sims.

Playful

• Levels: Playful, Very Playful, Hysteric
• Associated Traits: Goofball, Childish
• Career Bonuses: None
• Skill Bonuses: Comedy, Mischief

Weeeeeee! Playful sims are just plain lovin’ life. They’re the jokesters and pranksters, the risque idiots who want to make other people laugh… or maybe just themselves. Though not terribly useful for practical skills or careers, Playful is handy for making other sims laugh through Funny and Mischief interactions. Be careful, though, as not all sims respond well to jokes, and a lot of them really don’t enjoy pranks… unless, of course, you warm ‘em up first. Sims will become Playful if they listen to (or tell) a lot of jokes, watch Comedians at work, watch a Comedy on the TV, or play a few pranks on other sims.

Playful is the only ‘good’ emotion that can get your sim killed, as an excess of hilarity is deadly once the sim reaches Hysteric. If you see your sim reaching Very Playful, you might want to make them do a bit of work for a while instead. Let ‘em calm down before unleashing them on the world again.

Neutral Emotions

Asleep

• Levels: Asleep
• Associated Traits: None

Asleep isn’t an ‘emotion’, per se, but it is a state of being. While your sim is Asleep their Energy Need will slowly replenish. How quickly it replenishes depends on the comfort level of your sim; if they’re resting on a poor bed they won’t get as much, while a sim in the comfiest bed on the planet will feel very well-rested much more quickly.

Fine

• Levels: Fine
• Associated Traits: None

The ultimate in neutrality. Your sim is just ‘fine’. This is pretty much a blank slate standpoint, and your sim will receive Moodlets based largely on their Traits and Aspirations. Meh. You won’t see it too often.

Bad Emotions

Angry

• Levels: Angry, Very Angry, Enraged
• Associated Traits: Hot-Headed, Evil, Hates Children

Grrrrr! Your sim is peeved! Angry typically rears its ugly head when your sim has been involved in an aggravating conversation with another sim, though it can pop up in other ways as well (typically because your sim is Hot-Headed). This leads to more Angry Moodlets, most of which alleviate the Angry condition. You can also downgrade Angry to something else (usually Happy) by engaging in activities that allow your sim to work off steam, such as Jogging, using exercise equipment, or making a bit of a mess (kicking over trash cans, stomping puddles, knocking rubbish about, etc.). Sims who are Angry should not get into conversations… unless, of course, you want them to get into Fights.

If a sim gets Angry enough, reaching Enraged, they’re at risk of death. Always try to calm your sim down by removing them from the source of aggravation before they have a heart attack.

Bored

• Levels: Bored
• Associated Traits: Snob

Snoozefest. Nothing is interesting anymore. Bored typically pops up when your sim has been doing the same thing over and over again, often in conversation with other sims. If your sim uses the same conversation options several times, for example, the next sim over will probably get Bored, and the relationship will suffer. Bored also seems to pop up if your sim has no source of stimulation (TV, computer, chess, things like that). So long as your sim isn’t living in an empty box with a bed, a fridge, an oven, and a toilet, you probably won’t see Bored that often - and even if you do, it’ll disappear quickly once you send the sim to have a bit of Fun.

Dazed

• Levels: Dazed
• Associated Traits: None

Ow! Dazed is a fairly rare emotion, one associated with accidents or pain. Crashing a rocket, for example, will almost always hit your sim with Dazed. Accidents while repairing objects may also Daze your sim.

Embarrassed

• Levels: Embarrassed, Very Embarrassed, Mortified
• Associated Traits: Loner

Your sim has done something rather gross, and they feel real put out over it. Embarrassed sims have typically committed some sort of social faux pax: walking in on a sim who’s peeing, for example, or discovering a pair of sims Woo Hooing. Whoops. Embarrassed is at its peak if the sim is unable to find a toilet in time and wets themselves. Embarrassed sims are hit much harder by this emotion if they’re among other sims when it happens (particularly peeing themselves), and should be isolated immediately to lower their Embarrassment.

Embarrassed is one of those rare emotions that can, in sufficient doses, kill your sim. Should a sim remain Mortified for too long (so often this comes back to peeing in a public place) they may well drop dead. Get your sim away from the public immediately if Mortified is flashing. Their bed, back home, is a good place to stave off the effects of Embarrassed.

Sad

• Levels: Sad, Very Sad
• Associated Traits: Gloomy, Romantic, Materialistic, Family-Oriented, Good

Weep, weep, weep. When a sim is Sad, which doesn’t happen that often, they’re in need of cheering up. Most often a sim will become Sad when they haven’t socialized in a long time, though they’ll also become quite mopey when a close friend or a relative dies. Viewing a tombstone is a sure way to make a sim feel Sad. (The Gloomy Trait also works, if you’re into that.) Socializing, as well as removing negative influences (that pesky tombstone and / or urn), will cheer your sim right up.

Tense

• Levels: Tense, Very Tense, Stressed
• Associated Traits: Geek, Lazy, Hates Children, Loner, Noncommital

Work, work, work. A Tense sim is one that is not only bereft of Fun, but also pressed to the grindstone with constant work. Work counts as both career and the rigours of maintaining a house (yay cleaning!) combined. A Tense sim could probably use a maid to keep their place clean, as they surely don’t want to do it themselves. You should also make sure that Tense sims always have something fun to do before they go to bed.

Uncomfortable

• Levels: Uncomfortable, Very Uncomfortable
• Associated Traits: Foodie, Neat

Something - or maybe many somethings - is bothering your sim when they’re Uncomfortable. In this state your sim is usually upset over something in their physical surroundings, such as a garbage bin that’s piling up, loads of dirty dishes, or fixtures that desperately need to be cleaned. Many Traits tie directly into Uncomfortable. This emotion can also come from some social situations with other sims, or if your sim has been exerting themselves for too long and need a break. Probably the most common of the negative emotions, and also the easiest to fix. (Usually.)