#gayashellchallenge

Required Packs

This legacy challenge is story-based. The narrative arcs can be played with the base game, but some careers, traits, and mechanics included come from expansion packs. I do not play with many mods, so there are no mod requirements. 

Included Packs: 

Get to Work

Get Together

City Living

Get Famous

Snowy Escape

High School Years

For Rent

Lovestruck

Spa Day (Game Pack)

Strangerville (Game Pack)

Parenthood (Game Pack)

Check out the Google Doc for more details.

General Rules

Choose lots and worlds based on the needs of each generation. Many generations include a move between lots or splitting from the initial household. 

Leave aging on for all households. Any lifespan allowed. I play on Normal. 

Money cheats are fine– it’s your game, but playing the challenge, your Sims should have money to reflect their lifestyle.  

Gameplay mods are allowed. I play with Deaderpool’s MCCC and Twisted Mexi’s Better Build/Buy & TOOL. Other mods that are fun to use with this challenge are Lumpinou’s LGBTQIA+ Overhaul Mod & TurboDriver’s Wicked Whims. 

Custom Content is allowed and encouraged. Have fun. 

Narrative interpretation is encouraged. Put yourself in the shoes of each character and try to make decisions as they would– for better or worse. 

Succession Rules 

This legacy challenge is built around queer storytelling, which means family structures are flexible, intentional, and often nontraditional. There is no single “correct” way to build a family here. Found family, blended households, polycules, co-parenting arrangements, and chosen family are all valid and encouraged.

Each generation has one primary heir, but that heir does not need to come from a nuclear family structure. Children may be born, adopted, or brought into the household as science babies, or storytelling decisions that make sense for your Sims.

For couples unable to Try for Baby via WooHoo, science babies and adoption are encouraged. These options often reflect real queer family building and are a great opportunity for grounded, realistic storytelling.

Players are also welcome to use cheats or mods to expand reproductive possibilities. Cheating to allow same-sex couples to Try for Baby or use Risky WooHoo, or incorporating pregnancy mods is completely acceptable, especially when it serves drama, narrative tension, or character development, though I encourage players who do this to consider including more trans representation in their gameplay.

Money Rules

Money in this challenge is part of the story, not a math problem. There are no required percentages, spreadsheets, or “correct” amounts. Instead, money should move through the household in a way that feels realistic.

When a new heir moves out, give them a portion of the household funds that reflects their relationship with the previous generation. Think about how they left, how supported they were, and how much faith the family had in them. Some heirs are set up for success. Others leave with little more than a suitcase and a plan.

Initial Setup

This legacy challenge begins differently than most  traditional legacy challenges.

Instead of starting with a lone young adult, your Founder starts as a Teen living in an established household. This family should feel larger, older, and more traditional than the generations that follow. This will allow your future generations to have a much broader extended family earlier on. 

Create a household with:

Two parents (suggested: cishet mother & father)

Optional siblings

A clear sense that this family has expectations, rules, and a specific idea of what “success” looks like

You may design this family yourself, or you can place your legacy Founder into an existing premade household. Base game families like the Goths or the Landgraabs work especially well. The Landgraabs, in particular, are a great fit if you want money, control, and emotional distance baked in from the start. 

The Black Sheep grows up inside a family that looks perfect from the outside and feels suffocating from the inside. They are loved conditionally, misunderstood constantly, and quietly aware that something about them does not fit. 

This generation is about tension, secrecy, and the moment when staying becomes impossible.

Requirements:

Start as a Teen living in a traditional nuclear family

Upon aging up, have a major argument with a parent and immediately move out (Teen or Young Adult)

Live with a friend who becomes a situationship

Avoid family for all of Young Adulthood

Situationship commits to someone else and dumps Generation 1

Date at least 3 Sims before settling down

(Optional) Date 1 Sim that reminds them of the parent they fought with

Reconcile with family only in Adulthood or later

Additional: 

Be labeled an Outcast by family of origin

Complete Computer Whiz Aspiration

Max Programming and Charisma skills

Max Tech Guru Career (Start Up Branch)

Complete the Big Happy Family OR Successful Lineage Aspiration as an Adult or Elder

The Golden Child is raised with care, attention, and good intentions. They are protected, praised, and deeply loved, yet struggle to understand themselves outside of their family’s expectations. The Black Sheep felt unloved by their family and is desperate not to repeat the pattern, though this time they've overcorrected.

This generation explores what happens when safety replaces self knowledge and love does not automatically lead to independence.

Requirements: 

Become Best Friends with a parent

Have a negative relationship with one non-family Sim in childhood, teen years, and young adult

Have exactly one close non-family friend growing up

Attend prom with that friend as friends (or skip together)

Celebrate one family-focused holiday every year

(Optional) Date your rival

Dump a Sim that doesn’t respect their romantic boundaries

Marry a Sim that respects they achieve a  “Soulmate” relationship with

Have an elaborate wedding and baby shower

Have 1–4 children

Additional:

Never live apart from parents unless going away for university

Complete the Soulmate Aspiration

Max the Business Career - Investor Branch

Complete the Mansion Baron or Fabulously Wealth Aspiration as an Adult/Elder

Max Logic Skill

Take up one niche hobby or join a club (ie: chess club, weekly D&D group, furry meetup)

Attend a convention with best friend (Geekcon Festival in City Living - okay, or make your own)

The Bisexual Disaster grows up accepted, wealthy, and encouraged to be themselves. With no fear of rejection, they chase pleasure, attention, and romance with abandon. 

This generation is messy, public, and chaotic, and it asks what happens when freedom comes without accountability.

Requirements:

Attend college and party frequently (graduation optional)

Date at least 8 Sims and post about relationships

Experience at least one public scandal

First and only child must be accidental (drunken science baby decision?)

Attend “open mic-nights” to up your comedy skill

Say “yes” to every date invited on

Live with every significant other

WooHoo in public 10 separate times

Additional:

Complete Serial Romantic Aspiration

Max Social Media career

Max charisma, comedy, & romance skills

Participate in a Romantic Competition

Become a 3+ star celebrity

(Optional) Acquire “Instant Besties” Fame Perk (4 star celebrity perk)

Fame quirk recs: Vain Street, A Stan, Phone Fanatic, or Juice Enthusiast (cheating allowed)

The Adult in the Room grows up too fast. Surrounded by instability, they become responsible, practical, and emotionally contained at a young age. 

This generation tells the story of a parentified trans child who chooses safety and structure before they choose themselves.

Requirements: 

Does all the household chores living with Gen 3

Max cooking skill as a teen, no dating until a Young Adult

Fall in love with a co-worker pre-transition

Have a big transition makeover (FtM or MtF)

Date two different sims post-transition

Cook with a family member when possible

Pass down a family recipe to children

Marry & have 2-3 children (optional: straight-passing marriage)

Additional:

Max logic skill

(Optional) Go for weekly drinks with co-workers (pre-transition), then go for weekly drinks with a local trans group (post-transition)

(Optional) Attend a party dressed in drag

Max Military Career - Covert Operator Branch

Complete the Superparent Aspiration

Renounce any ties to fame and move to a small suburban town (recs: Copperdale, Evergreen Harbor, or Britechester)

The Soft Rebel feels the weight of control and longs for escape. Their rebellion is quiet at first, shaped by romance, risk, and the promise of a bigger world. Vibes: “But, daddy, I LOVE HIM”. 

This generation is about choosing trouble, leaving home before you are ready, and learning that freedom has consequences. Big ones.

Requirements: 

Fall in love with the “bad boy” in your small town (“bad boy” here is no indicator of gender… gender for Love Interest is up to you)

Move with your love to the big city as a Young Adult where you both work in the Criminal career

Have one child while things are good

Discover your partner has been unfaithful

Decide whether to divorce or forgive (never forget)

(Optional) Complete Chief of Mischief as a Teen

Go on a date every Friday night no matter what

Have 1 - 2 children

Additional: 

Max programming & mischief skills

Complete the City Native Ambition as a Young Adult/Adult

Attend the Mischief Festival with your child 

(Optional) Leave your partner and remarry, but maintain a romantic relationship with your ex. While you never seek them out, any time you run into them on a community lot or they come to visit, you end up WooHooing with them.