35+ Must Have Sims 4 Mods For Better Gameplay

Every player who loves mods in their game has their list of must have sims 4 mods that they just can’t live without. These are mods that make the game better in some way that EA just doesn’t seem to care about that make the experience so much more fun. This list is that for me, all of my absolute must have sims 4 mods that I know you will absolutely love to play with.

They’re all organized into categories to make it easier for you to keep your mods folder organized and find mods that you’ll find most interesting. They range from general mods that just make the experience better to mods for money to mods for your sim’s pregnancy. There is definitely something for everyone here!

General Must Have Sims 4 Mods

There are a couple of mods that don’t fit into a category but they are absolute must have sims 4 mods for me. They do things like speeding up 3x speed, fixing how long your sims live and giving you the opportunity to use simple cheats that will entirely change your in-game experience and allow you to customize so many things.

UI Cheats Extension

The UI Cheats Extension mod makes it incredibly easy to use your favourite cheats in the game without ever having to memorize them or type them in. The way that this works is that you can essentially click on any part of the UI in the game and a cheat menu will pop up with all the options you have.

For example, when you’re using this cheat mod you’re able to click on your sim’s skills that they have gained and a box will pop up allowing you to choose which level of the skill they’re like to have. You can also click on their needs at any point in the need bar and change how high or low their needs are.

UI cheats really opens up an easier way to cheat for you that is easy since all you need to do is click on things and choose options instead of having to remember super long cheats like the relationship cheats that are almost impossible to remember.

MC Command Center

MC Command Center is another amazing cheat mod that allows you to really customize anything you want in the game. However, compared to UI Cheats this mod is a bit more confusing to get into and the menus are a little less user friendly since the mod does dig really deep overall.

It will let you cheat things that UI Cheats does not though so it’s definitely worth it if you’re willing to take the time and watch videos and read articles to really know how to maximize your experience with it.

Realistic Lifespans

For some reason the lifespans in The Sims 4 seem weird and aren’t very realistic making some sections way longer than they need to be and some way too short. With this mod you’re going to have these lifespans be much more realistic than before with your sims spending the most time being an adult and way less time as a young adult.

Ultra-Simulation Speed Up

If you’ve played past sims games you’ll remember how fast 3x speed was and how amazing it was. For some reason in The Sims 4 this system just doesn’t work properly and is extremely slow. This is especially true if there’s an event going on in San Myshuno and it’s just a big annoyance for me.

This Ultra-Simulation Speed Up mod is incredible because it allows you to have your 3x speed actually be quick and let you move onto other things so much faster and zoom through boring skill building tasks.

Must Have Sims 4 Mods for Create a Sim

Creating your perfect sims is very important if you want to have a true connection to them and be able to fall in love with your characters. However, there are parts of create-a-sim that are almost impossible to deal with and make the experience so annoying and these simple must have sims 4 mods can help make it better.

More CAS Columns

Why are there only two columns in create a sim? This is not enough. Back in 2014 when there were no packs and there wasn’t that much content two columns would’ve been fine. However, now that we’ve got dozens of pieces of DLC for the game and hundreds of items to choose from for your characters two columns makes it really hard to find the things you want.

The more CAS columns mod will allow you to choose either three, four or five CAS columns for your game and will allow you to zoom through the catalog to find everything you need so fast.

More CAS Traits

The selection of traits for your sims is definitely lacking so adding things like more CAS traits is the most important piece in making your sims more interesting. This more CAS traits mod is going to allow you to add and remove traits for your sims with a simple click and has to many interesting new traits for your sims to discover.

You should definitely use more traits mods for making sure that your sims are the best and most interesting that they could be.

Auto Shorter Teens

There is a whole issue with teenagers being exactly the same as adult sims just a little skinnier and that has always bothered me about The Sims 4. Teenagers should be shorter and with the auto shorter teens mod you can actually have this happen allowing them to look young.

When you use a mod like this you’ll be able to choose more juvenile clothing choices that make your teens actually look like teens instead of just skinny adults.

Height Slider

Why is every single sim the same height? This is totally unrealistic but the reason why EA does it is so that they have an easier time with their animations and don’t have to make changes for different heights.

We deserve to be able to create sims who actually look like us and actually have our height shown in the game. With things like height slider mods you’re totally able to scale your sims down to make them shorter. It is important to note that you may see animation issues when doing this though, so just be aware of that.

Facial Sliders

There are certain spots on your sim’s face that you aren’t able to properly slide around and change or if you can they only move in one way. This really stops the true potential of your sims by making you lose some of that customization that we deserve.

Downloading different facial sliders is going to allow you to drag and push your sims face in ways that you couldn’t before which can help you customize their facial structure and make them more interesting.

CAS Backgrounds

After so many years of The Sims 4 we are definitely sick of the boring green and blue ombre background that we have to stare at in create a sim. Since it’s been there for so long so many players are choosing to download and use create a sim backgrounds instead which will allow you to look at anything else which is very important in keeping the game feeling fresh and interesting.

You can find backgrounds in all sorts of styles including runways, bedrooms, bathrooms, fun patterns and even ones that are themed after worlds in the game. There is definitely a background for everyone.

Must Have Sims 4 Mods for Jobs & Careers

Your sims are going to be spending so much time working throughout their lives whether it be with a traditional career or working as a freelancer. However, like many systems in the game the career system isn’t perfect and has too much structure to it in many ways so we need to be able to have more fun with it by using these must have sims 4 mods for jobs.

Unlimited Jobs+

Why are we only able to have one job at a time in The Sims 4? We should be able to torture our sims in any way we can and sometimes I just want them to have to work as many jobs as possible. This is especially fun if you choose jobs where sims can work from home like the military career or being a freelancer.

With this your sims can have a regular career, a freelance job, a part time job, literally whatever your sims want and you can really get that difficulty and torture for your sims which is so much fun and so stressful at the same time.

Career Mega Pack

When we only have a limited number of careers to choose from in the game it can get really repetitive when you’re consistently playing with the business career then having your next sim become a painter then going back to business and repeating. There just aren’t enough careers to choose from and honestly, we don’t get many in packs anymore.

With the career mega pack you can finally have dozens of new careers added to your game all at once for a more interesting and unique experience for each of your sims. These careers have different milestones to meet, different skills to learn and are so much more fun to play through after so many years of the same.

Higher & More Realistic Overmax Pay

When your sims are able to max out their careers through promotions they are still able to max out their performance and get “overmax pay” increases. However, these are minimal and don’t let you earn the big bucks.

With the higher & more realistic overmax pay mod you will see these numbers go up by quite a bit allowing you to have truly wealthy and successful sims who earn what they deserve.

Must Have Sims 4 Mods for Money

Without using money cheats you’re going to have a hard time with the money system in the game so having these simple money mods are amazing. There are so many money focused systems that need work like the bills we get, the money we make and how our family funds work at any given time. These mods can truly fix those issues for you as a player!

Realistic Bills

The bills system in The Sims 4 is wild. It either works where your sims are spending 150 simoleons or they’re being charged 8000 simoleons and there really isn’t anything in between it seems. The second you get more items on your lot the price goes up and there is nothing your sims can do about it.

This is really annoying and the prices are extremely unrealistic. With the realistic bills mod you’re going to start seeing things that make so much more sense like a large home having 776 simoleons worth of bills instead of 8000 which can help you to save more money and make more progress with your sim’s lives.

Lower Career Salaries

This next mod is a must have for me but honestly many players would find something like this ridiculous. I’m a huge fan of making my sims struggle and because of this I love doing things like rags to riches challenges where you start with no simoleons. The game gets boring for me once my sims have too much money.

This mod is going to cut your sim’s career salaries in half making your sims earn way less money per hour and forcing you to pinch pennies a bit more than before. Using this is so much fun for me because I can struggle and really have a hard time making their lives successful in the way I’d like to.

SNBank

One part of The Sims 4 that the sims team seems to entirely ignore is the financial sector and all of our sims money just goes into one pot together. The best thing they ever did was give us a student loans system with discover university but even that is not enough.

With the SNBank system you’re going to be able to add a functional bank venue to your sim’s lot where sims are able to open their own bank accounts, make withdrawals and deposits, send money to other sims and so much more. This makes the game feel so much more realistic and truly makes you care about your sims money in a whole new way. This might even stop you from using money cheats every chance you get.

Must Have Sims 4 Mods for Romance & Woohoo

Since we’re all playing with life when we’re playing The Sims 4 we definitely need to make sure that our sims are able to fall in love and participate in woohoo in the best way for them. Finding a person to spend your life with is so important for many people so you want your sims to have the best opportunity at this too!

Simda Dating App

Probably the most popular way to meet people to go on dates with in the modern era is to use online dating apps like Tinder or Bumble. These apps make it so much easier to find single people who live around you for you to go on dates instead of scouring the local scene at a bar and just meeting weirdos.

However, in The Sims 4 we don’t have a system for finding potential dates unless we want to go to bars or parks and that’s just not fun. With the Simda Dating App mod you can have a whole online dating system in the game, it’s a little ridiculous that this doesn’t exist because it existed… in The Sims 3 which came out years ago.

Road to Romance

Romance is a huge part of your sim’s lives and they are pretty much just looking for someone to love at any given time. Someone they can share their life with. A beautiful partner for life. However, the system in The Sims 4 for romance can get extremely repetitive with you using the same 5 interactions over and over again.

With road to romance you’re going to be able to have new romantic interactions for your sims to participate in making it feel more unique and interesting when your sims start a new romantic encounter.

Woohoo Wellness

Woohoo Wellness is one of those giant mods that changes so many parts of the game that you don’t even know what you’d do without it. There are 10 different modules that all affect your sim’s life in a different way. Some of the things you’ll see include:

• Adoption Overhaul
• Alternative Pregnancies (i.e., Surrogacy and IVF)
• Co-Parenting
• Unwanted Pregnancy Acceptance
• Teen Pregnancy
• Paternity Testing
• Woohoo Diseases
• Fertility

All of these things can impact so much of your sim’s lives and you’ll really find these systems to be must-haves in your game after just one experience with the mod.

Must Have Sims 4 Mods for Education

So much of your sim’s lives are spent in school from starting out in elementary school all the way to eventually going to university. The school system in the game isn’t perfect and is rather boring and repetitive so there are so many amazing school mods out there so you can have more fun. There are even university mods that can make it more expensive, more difficult and more fun.

Go to School Mod

Have you ever wished you could go to school with your sims instead of them jumping into a rabbit hole and being gone all day? Well, with the go to school mod you can make this happen easily. This mod allows you to go to school with your sims and control their whole day.

This includes eating lunch, making friends and learning all the time. It’s so much fun and really adorable to watch your kiddos off at school. There are different tasks you should complete each day to make sure that your kids have a good time.

Education System

The entire education system is kinda meh in the game but not all sims players want to go to school with their kids so how else can you improve on it? Well, with the education system mod you can have multiple changes to the system take place.

The first is a toddler specific mod change where you can send your toddlers into a private or public preschool so they have somewhere to go each day. There’s an online schooling option for your sims so they can learn at home, a smarter homework mod that makes doing your sims homework make more sense, and a bunch of new school related interactions.

University Costs More

As we’ve discussed many times in the past, I love to make my sims suffer. I love when The Sims is difficult and makes me work for everything and the classes in university were too inexpensive. There was no reason to take out student loans to help pay for it because the classes were so inexpensive.

With the University costs more mod your sims are definitely going to suffer financially by choosing to go to school. Taking 12 classes is going to cost your sims around 30,000 simoleons which is more realistic and will definitely make it hard. Your sims do make more money when they have a degree and can also get sign on bonuses when they start a new job, so you’ll make it back for sure.

University Application Overhaul

When applying for University your sims are just going to hit apply and its such an easy process, which is nothing like it is in real life. With the university application overhaul mod your sims are going to have a more difficult time they are going to begin by clicking start university application and then the real work begins.

They are going to get to do things like asking for letters of recommendation, requesting transcripts, scheduling your admissions interview and writing an application essay. All of these are going to improve your chances of getting into University and make it feel more realistic for your sims.

Must Have Mods for Pregnancy

Pregnancy is a huge part of any sim’s (or person’s) life but the way that pregnancy functions in the game leaves a lot to be desired. Your sims don’t suffer enough during pregnancy, you can’t have an ultrasound and we are always wishing we could make our pregnancy system more interesting.

Quadruplets, Quintuplets, Sextuplets

Having multiples can really change the difficulty of your game and honestly multiple babies are so cute. Your sims will have built in best friends that steal their toys! However, you’ll only ever get twins or triplets in the vanilla version of the game.

With this multiples mod your sims have the potential of having up to six babies at once. This can completely change your gameplay and make your sim’s lives extremely chaotic which is always fun.

Ultrasound Scan

The pregnancy system in the game is pretty boring and doesn’t have many events for your sims to make them truly feel like they’re changing their lives. With the ultrasound scan mod your sims are going to be able to have a rabbit hole event where they find out the babies’ gender, learn how many children they are going to have and even come home with a print of the scan that you can use to decorate your home.

Events like this really do make your sim’s lives feel so much more real and can help you connect quicker to the pregnancy and thus to the unborn sim.

Babies for Everyone

Have you ever wished that any of your young adult or older sims could have babies with whoever they wanted? Yes, even including your elder sims! With the babies for everyone mod your sims are going to be able to have babies with any sim of any gender and anyone will be able to get pregnant. This opens up so much storytelling and fun for the game!

Must Have Sims 4 Mods for Kids

There has been a trend for years of The Sims 4 where it always feels like the game creators just ignore the child age group. We barely get clothes for them and half the time when we get gameplay items for them it’s a recolour of an arts and crafts table that we already have. Mods focused on kids are so important if you want to really enjoy your gameplay with the younger sims in your life.

Sleepover Mod

Growing up there is not much that’s more fun than having a sleepover with your friends but this mechanic has yet to make its way into The Sims 4. This sleepover mod allows your child aged sims to invite their friends over to stay the night and can really have a good time.

They’ll be able to chat, watch television, play games and just have a great time while hanging out in their pyjamas with their best friends. How cute!

Afterschool Activities

Your child aged sims don’t have much to do in the game after school. So far we’ve only gotten Scouts with Seasons and Drama Club with Get Famous but those two activities don’t work for every sim. We really need more interesting options for after school activities so this mod is a necessity.

The after school activities mod adds over 30 new activities for your sims including things like comedy club, fashion club, debate club and book club. There really is something for each of your sims to enjoy and they will gain skills while they’re there too!

Start an Event (All Ages)

When you’re trying to throw your sim’s a birthday party when they’re kids the parents have to throw them, but they can only invite sims they know. So, if your sim’s parent has never met their friends they aren’t able to invite any of their friends over for the party.

This start an event mod will finally allow your younger sims to throw their own birthday parties so they can invite over all of their friends instead of just the people that your adults have met. This makes for way better birthday parties for sure!

Must Have Sims 4 Mods for Storytelling & Gameplay

As simmers we all know that there is a lot to be desired when it comes to your ability to tell good stories and have interesting gameplay. That’s why so many mod creators are constantly making these giant mods that let you have more interesting moments in your game and open up whole new ideas for you. These are my favourites that really overhaul large parts of the game.

Meaningful Stories

Ever since the first time I downloaded meaningful stories it has made the list of my must have sims 4 mods and I don’t think it’ll ever leave. This mod changes how your sims react and feel about. just about everything with their emotions starting to make a lot more sense than ever before.

One of my favourite things is that your sims emotions are going to be a little less predictable but you will see their emotions being more stable over time and emotions will last longer than before. This is a big change from emotions changing every few minutes in-game and it really stresses me out when that happens.

Life Decider

Have you ever wanted a mod that will let you choose how your sim’s lives will go and the things they’re into without you having to create the story on your own? Well, with one click of the life decider your sims will be given a whole collection of characteristics that you don’t have to decide.

This is one of my favourite mods for when you’re starting with a brand new young adult sim who has no skills, no job, and you have no idea what to do with them. The mod helps you kind of decide where to go from here.

The best part is that you can also use this on NPC sims who have no skills, career and traits so you can have them be more interesting characters to play with.

Slice of Life

Out of all of the mods on this list, Slice of Life has been in my game the longest, and will continue to be in my game for many years. This mod change so many small aspects of the game and really makes me want to play with it in ways I never thought possible.

Some of the things you’ll get with Slice of Life include an entire memories system, menstrual cycles, a reworked alcohol system where your sims actually get drunk, new personality measures and even the ability for self woohoo. And that’s not all, there is so much in this mod you really do just need to discover it for yourself.

Have Some Personality Please

There are so many issues with our sim’s personality systems in the game, mostly because they just really don’t have any. That’s why have some personality please is on my list of must have sims 4 mods. This mod changes so many things about the game and makes your sim’s traits more important and mean more overall.

Chaotic Must Have Sims 4 Mods

A lot of the mods we’ve discussed so far have been realistic mods for the game and are meant to make it feel like you’re truly playing with life. However, there are a lot of players out there who are looking to make the game more chaotic to have a better time with it and have more experimentation in their gameplay.

That’s why I couldn’t make this list without adding a couple of my favourite more chaotic and random mods that can really let you explore a less than angelic side of your personality.

Life Tragedies

This mod really adds some chaos to your sim’s everyday lives in a way that I didn’t even know I needed. Life tragedies adds just that, some really intense tragedies to your sims. This adds everyday tragedies like fatal illnesses where your sims can try and get a life saving surgery, it adds car accidents, serial killers and so much more.

You’ll never again hope for a more chaotic adventure for your sims because their everyday lives are going to be way more intense than you’ve ever experienced.

Extreme Violence

Are you ready to add the most chaotic death mod of all time? Well, extreme violence lets you have so many new ways to experience death in your sims game. You’ll be able to use so many new death types like car accidents, a flame thrower, and even crushing sims with your booty. You can even host a murder holiday which makes everyone try and eliminate everyone and it is absolutely chaos.

Zombie Apocalypse

Zombies, everyone loves them… right? Well, with the zombie apocalypse mod your sims are going to have to attempt to stay alive while sims are changing into zombies and you are the only one who can truly save them. It’s definitely wild and makes it feel like you aren’t even playing The Sims.

Torture & Chaos

The torture and chaos mod obviously fits perfectly in our chaotic mods category because it’s all about torture and chaos, duh! This mod will allow your sims to go ahead and just torture other sims in any way they like and they will enjoy it.

Some of the new interactions that come with this mod include things like throwing poisoned drinks, giving other sims a heart attack, freezing sims, make sims pee themselves and so much more. It’s definitely a wild time and you’re going to love it.

Final Thoughts on My Must Have Sims 4 Mods

These are my absolute must have sims 4 mods that are essentially always in my game in one configuration or another. Deleting one of these mods from my mods folder makes me dislike playing The Sims 4 just a little bit until it’s reinstalled and back into my life. Happy Playing!