The Sims is one of the cornerstone titles in the video game community, offering a virtual life simulation experience that players can tweak to be whatever they want, depending on their personal preferences. One person can focus on deg and decorating homes, while another may prefer experiencing the lives of their Sims, for better or worse. Games can be silly or serious, fantastical, or even pretty realistic. Modders in the community have come up with ways to take the realism to new levels, as well, for the most daring of players.

The Project Rene likely won't be out until 2026, leaving plenty of time for avid Simmers to explore more of The Sims 4. This popular simulation game has nurtured a loyal fanbase by allowing players to customize specific aspects of the game through mods and custom content packs. While The Sims 4 already has a lot of thrilling and exciting features, players can dial up the notch for realism with the help of various mods that can add to the experience by overhauling the reactions of the Sims, giving them unique personalities, or making the game feel more lifelike.

20 Delinquent Teens By A.Deep.Indigo

Introduce The Unpredictability Of Rebellious Teenagers

Teenagers are unpredictable at the best of times and don't always make the best decisions. The Rebellious Teenagers mod by A.Deep.Indigo on itch.io introduces some of that chaos into the Sims 4, giving teens the ability to rebel, make mistakes, and even run away from home. New actions have also been added that give parents the chance to respond in a kind, stern, or angry way, and even turn their child in for criminal acts of rebellion.

What started as a runaway scenario by the modder evolved into a full-scope mod where teenagers can occasionally act out. This can lead to some minor acts of rebellion like pranks or tagging some graffiti to more serious criminal acts like stealing, setting things on fire, or even woohooing in public. Teenagers in the game will even have to face the consequences of their actions, potentially even landing them in a juvenile detention center.

19 Language Barriers By Frankk

Sims Can Learn Up To Eight Languages

When people travel in real life, they don't always know the language wherever they go. It's not realistic to assume that everyone in the entire world speaks only one language, so why, then, do all Sims characters speak Simlish? The Language Barriers mod by Frankk creates seven new languages for Sims to learn (plus the existing Simlish), based on real-world languages.

Sims will now speak different native languages depending on where they're from, and have to learn new languages in order to communicate with Sims from other places. Languages can be learned by studying them in "Simlingo," from a textbook, or from talking with Sims who know another language. The mod makes language learning into a skill that can be learned and even makes it so Sims who grow up in multilingual household are able to learn new languages faster.

18 Custom Recipes By Icemunmun

Adds Hundreds Of New Foods And Drinks To The Sims 4

There's already a fair number of recipes and foods in the Sims 4, and it can be fun to explore all the different potential meals and recipes that Sims can eat. Despite this, there are many modded foods out there for the Sims, and Custom Recipes By Icemunmun is one of the most extensive lists of custom foods.

The mod covers all types of foods from many different cultures, from buns, breads, and bakery goods to chicken adobo, smoked salmon, and bouillabaisse. The mod also has the option for drinks, which include fizzy drinks, juices, 15 different types of lemonade, and drinks from various cultures like mango lassi and coquito. Each modded item comes with its own recipe and in-game sprite, for an immersive culinary experience.

17 New Hobby Trait By Kuttoe

Adds Eight New Hobbies For Broader Sim Personalities

There are a number of hobbies in the Sims 4, which influence Sim likes and dislikes and affect how they prefer to spend their free time. The New Hobby Trait mod by Kuttoe expands on the existing hobbies in the game, adding eight more hobbies for even more variety. Each of the new hobbies also includes new whims, moods, and interactions, complete with custom speech bubbles.

The new hobby traits included in the mod are Artisan, Horticulturist, Movie Buff, Scribe, Tinker, Worldly, Technophobe (Lifestyle trait), and Competitive (social trait). Each hobby will drive the Sim to do different activities like the horticulturist wanting to spend time in their garden, or away from certain other activities, like the Technophobe not wanting to do anything that has to be done with computers or machines. Just like in real life, Sims will have to partake in their hobby occasionally so they don't become stressed.

16 Sims Eat And Drink Faster By Bjnicol

The Sims Also Prefer To Eat At The Table

When real people sit down at a table to eat, they generally don't take a bite then stare at the ceiling for a few minutes (usually). The fact that Sims do this bothered Bjnicol enough that they learned how to mod and created the Sims Eat And Drink Faster mod just to improve the process.

With this mod, Sims will eat and drink in a much faster and more realistic manner. The eating still looks natural, but Sims will no longer look around aimlessly, hum to themselves, or do any of the other actions that made the whole experience so slow each time. Sims will take longer to eat if they're socializing, but as they won't be wasting time, this es quickly, too. With this mod, Sims are also more likely to sit at the table and eat, for an overall more realistic experience.

15 Have Some Personality Please! By PolarBearSims

Providing More Meaningful Interactions For All Sims & Pets

Without any mods, it’s impossible to create a complex Sim that will remind players of real-life humans. That’s because Sims are very simplistic in nature, don’t have multifaceted personalities, and live in the moment. With the help of the mod Have Some Personality Please! by PolarBearSims on ModTheSims, many of the interactions and autonomy of characters in the game, from pets and toddlers, to adult Sims, will have more meaning.

This mod also takes apart the promiscuity aspect of a Sim, replacing it with a complicated romance aspect that is affected by a Sim’s aspirations, traits, and past experiences. That means in order to participate in WooHoo with another Sim, players will have to put in the work and make sure that their Sim is compatible with their desired partner.

14 Life Tragedies From Sacrificial Mods

Horror, Murder, Kidnapping, And Even Jason Vorhees

Tragedy, heartbreak, and disappointment are a part of life ⁠– even for Sims. Players who accept that life isn’t always sweet can install a mod called Life Tragedies from Sacrificial Mods which incorporates various mishaps that could befall a Sim or an NPC.

Some of the tragedies included in the mod are being infected with a life-threatening disease, getting hit by a car, or being brutally attacked by a homicidal criminal. Bringing an aspect of true-crime shows into the world of The Sims 4 with serial killers and kidnappings might not be for everyone, but could add a whole new dynamic to the right audience. For them, these disasters and misfortunes in the mod can bring some much-needed dark realism to The Sims 4.

13 After School Activities By KiaraSims4

Sim Kids And Teens Can Sports, Clubs, And More

Just like real-life people, young Sims spend much of their time going to school and running around to various extracurricular activities. Unfortunately, the school aspect in The Sims 4 is rather limited. Anyone who has children knows that kids and teens often have full calendars of activities and sports to do, and through the mod After School Activities from KiaraSims4Mods, the academic life of a Simmer's young Sims is enhanced and made more realistic.

The After School Activities Mod adds various aspects to the simple activity of going to school by letting Sims make friends and gain useful skills. It has more than 30 after-school programs that a Sims student can pursue, including yoga, band, and dance.

12 Rambunctious Religions By Lumpinou

Sims Can Find A Deeper Meaning To Life Through Several (Fake) Religions

Perhaps a Sim has been pondering the existential question of the meaning of their life. Well, Lumpinou's Rambunctious Religions mod is perfect for helping them see beyond their daily monotony. This mod adds four whimsical religious options to the game, all of which are completely made up. Religious sects include the Cult of the Cowplant, Treaders of the Occult, Congregation of Non-Believers, and Worship of the Watcher, each of which come with their own moodlet-boosting effects and activities.

In addition to the private faith of the religious Sims, such as prayer and reading the Holy book, there are also new interactions with others such as trying to convert, arguing about religion, or mocking church building designs.

11 Emotional Socials By Helaene

Providing New Social Interactions, Emotions, & Sexual Orientation Preferences

One of the main reasons why The Sims 4 is an excellent life simulation game is due to its comprehensive moods and emotions system. This can be elevated by Helaene’s mod Emotional Socials on ModTheSims, which adds more than 60 brand new social interactions depending on the emotional state of a Sim. These new interactions are in new category pie menus separate from the base game suggestions, keeping them easy to access and use at just the right moment.

Emotional Socials is a Script Mod, and will require Scripts to be turned on in order to run properly.

Thanks to this mod, a Sim can do more unique actions depending on their mood. This can greatly increase the level of engagement a Sim is capable of and diversifies the interactions a Sim can experience, from expressing impatience to creating when they feel inspired to venting about feeling grungy when they feel uncomfortable.