Favourite Minor Hobbies «12...Next Go

filipomel

I've noticed Sims 4 has a collection of small side hobbies, things like pen pals, frog breeding, trading/training void critters, etc. I'm trying to compile a list of such hobbies so I can be more aware of them in my game. So I'm asking, which ones are your favourite and why?

Auroraskies

Write in the journal. I think it's from Parenhood, but I use it for adults as well, because I find it cute.

QueenofMyshuno

I liked collecting postcards because it fit the personality of my outgoing YA sim and it was fun to decorate a bulletin board in her bedroom with them.

I liked collecting snowglobes just because I think the snowglobes in the game are so cute. I had a mom collect them to decorate her kids' room with.

I had a female sim who did not like girly things, including clothes or hobbies, so I had her be a rock collector. I liked it because she would go on outings with her friends to collect, and it also gave her an activity to do in her room when she examined them later. She would also stop to socialize with her friends on the outings, so it was a productive time in both building friendships and doing the hobby. I got some pretty good screenshots from the places she went to collect, too. It got me to explore places I normally wouldn't go to.

I like using hobbies in general to help define or shape a sim's personality.

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QueenofMyshuno

Also, sometimes I have a sim who does photography as a hobby and decorates their home with the pictures they take. I did a photography challenge on the forums a long time ago, and here's a copy of the list of pictures you had to get:

1. architecture
2. light (can be anything: candles, street lights, sun, etc.)
3. signs
4. windows
5. plants (any kind of plant: trees, flowers, cacti, etc.)
6. anything food/drink related (cupcakes, wine, wine glass, kitchen, dishes, café, etc.)
7. animals or insects
8. patterns
9 unposed pictures of random people in public places
10. a subject of your choice

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crocobaura

All collectibles can constitute a hobby, depends on how you incorporate them into your gameplay. I have a sim that does flower arranging as a hobby and bee keeping. My sims don't collect that many things as there's no nice way to display entire collections in their houses, so they usually only keep a few items around the house as decorations.

musteni

I really like the ideas in this thread.

I'm a complete voidcritter fanatic. I had twin boys who collected the cards and trained them. One of them got his Yorier to level 10 which I'm really proud of. Unfortunately they are teens now and I think one of their future children will have to try and complete that collection.

My vampire twins do frog breeding. They already got the full collection, but they love keeping the frogs in their bedroom and breeding them for plasma packs.

I really think I should pay even more attention to collections and making them into mini hobbies!

Ellupelluellu

Collectibles, some pretty day my sim will collect them all

fae_brass

Beekeeping, candle making and especially baking. I have a hipster chef sim in a tiny home that bakes sourdough loaves she gifts people. She's making friends fast.

filipomel

Auroraskies wrote: »

Write in the journal. I think it's from Parenhood, but I use it for adults as well, because I find it cute.

I never think to use the journal, I need to make use of it more often.

Also yes, I should really make a collectible sim try and find every single collectible available.

Auroraskies

Writing in the journal gives the sim a moodlet, and the next time the action is chosen there are more interactions, like Relive Memories, which is also cute, because it can make them embarrassed. It levels up writing skill, and there are some more things to do with it, like hide it, and, I think, take a sneek peek in someone else's, but I don't use those. When children do it they raise a character value, the emotional control I think.

For sims I decide to be obnoxious, I have Troll Teh Forum as a hobby.

mia_noelle97

i really like collecting the city living posters and snowglobes, especially if my sim doesn’t have a lot of money for decorations for their house.

baking is one i have to use more often. i like having my sims take the baking elective in university so a lot of them end up with the skill but i always forget to have them actually bake things.

musteni

mia_noelle97 wrote: »

i really like collecting the city living posters and snowglobes, especially if my sim doesn’t have a lot of money for decorations for their house.

baking is one i have to use more often. i like having my sims take the baking elective in university so a lot of them end up with the skill but i always forget to have them actually bake things.

I should also do more baking, but I like it best when there's a toddler in the household. The baked goods stay good on the counter considerably longer than other dishes.

Atreya33

When I think of hobbies for the sims I usually think of (unfortunately some of these become a money maker real fast, not a casual hobby) :
- painting
- woodcrafting
- knitting
- playing instruments, mostly violin
- joining a bowling club
- archeology

I like the suggestions of collecting postcards, collecting void critters and baking as hobbies.

NationalPokedex

Atreya33 wrote: »

When I think of hobbies for the sims I usually think of (unfortunately some of these become a money maker real fast, not a casual hobby) :
- painting
- woodcrafting
- knitting
- playing instruments, mostly violin
- joining a bowling club
- archeology

I like the suggestions of collecting postcards, collecting void critters and baking as hobbies.

These were all of the ones that I thought of too. But I was like, there’s gotta be more non-skill building activities? Nearly every skill-building activity is a hobby to an extent. But I couldn’t think of any beyond what was already mentioned.

I suppose roller/ice skating.
And yoga.

crocobaura

NationalPokedex wrote: »

Atreya33 wrote: »

When I think of hobbies for the sims I usually think of (unfortunately some of these become a money maker real fast, not a casual hobby) :
- painting
- woodcrafting
- knitting
- playing instruments, mostly violin
- joining a bowling club
- archeology

I like the suggestions of collecting postcards, collecting void critters and baking as hobbies.

These were all of the ones that I thought of too. But I was like, there’s gotta be more non-skill building activities? Nearly every skill-building activity is a hobby to an extent. But I couldn’t think of any beyond what was already mentioned.

I suppose roller/ice skating.
And yoga.

I think all activities give skills, even if hidden. For hobbies, I think it's really nice when skills can be associated with some reward traits to better define the hobby activity.

Harukotyan

When I was thinking for some not most obvious hobbies for my sims I came up with these ideas:

1. Simstagram - sims take pictures of pets, selfies and just misc photos and post them online, with variants such as travel bloggers, food bloggers etc.
2. Debating - I have a debate club in my game aside from the Uni one - this also includes research, browsing simpedia and so on
3. Dog training - I wish it works better for inactives too. My dog parks (with dog-welcome trait) with training courses are always empty and no one beside active sim interested in them
4. Bird watching (and collecting feathers)
5. Entomology - collecting insects from Outdoor Retreat, grub farms
6. Dancing (even if I had to pretend that doing modern moves is practicing ballet)
8. Karaoke and singing in general
9. Home keeping - these sims not only will clean but also record "organizing", "cleaning", "cooking" videos, practice decluttering (Eco Living recycling or donations or street sales), upgrade home appliances and so on.
10. Fashion - sims will have and use vanities frequently, shop for clothes, try on outfits, again doing selfies and will be involved in related careers most probably
11. Movies/obsessing over celebs - claim favorite movie genre, popcorn movie nights, always use discuss movies interactions in the process, have movie posters as deco, take autographs, TV premiers... all of that stuff
12. Cosplay - club "Cosplay" for that, Geekcon, JTBT stuff
13. Gambling - card tables, lottery and again JTBT sabacc (which basically is a card gambling and can be set on any card table)

Also since there's no proper hobby enthusiasm attribute in game (I hope yet) I group my sims in clubs by their hobby thematic. This allows me to remember and track it as well as push them to do more hobbies related stuff during gatherings.

mlnov39

I recommend scouting and all the things that must be done to earn the badges.
Once you complete everything you get the scholarship for college. With this scholarship and
others, my sim paid practically nothing for tuition.

SheriSim57

I have one sim that tries to complete collections ( haven’t got many completed after all these years, but I do play rotationally and have a pretty big rotation.

I have a part time fisherman that likes to beach comb for collectibles to sell on the table, he also does woodwork, and has a hunting dog he takes out that digs things up too. His wife actually does most of the selling, But, next time I play them she is going to start knitting. They garden too.

One of my couples both have the active trait, he is a baseball player and she is in the media career. They have started a hobby of different physical activities, skiing, jet skiing, biking, jogging etc., the boyfriend buys the little simmies for his girlfriend.

One of my children sims likes insects, and frogs. unfortunately he has a small room and can’t keep too many. He also enjoys his chemistry lab.

I have one family with two children ( girls ). They enjoy their art table and puppet theatre. The parents will watch them participate in the puppet theatre, it’s cute.

One of my sims is a cook and lives with her boyfriend in an apartment. She looks for snow globes.

I have a photographer sim that travels around and takes pictures in different towns and sells them in his photo shop.

I have a painter that goes around painting things in the different towns, when he has extra time, I need to get him a little shop so others can buy them for their houses, or maybe put them in a museum.

These are just a few of my sims.....My sims all have different interests, that’s what makes them different and special.

ArcherDK

Photography and Frogs. I would not call frogs minor hobby - we turn them into blood packs. Very good source or nourishment.

filipomel

SheriSim57 wrote: »

I have a part time fisherman that likes to beach comb for collectibles to sell on the table, he also does woodwork, and has a hunting dog he takes out that digs things up too. His wife actually does most of the selling, But, next time I play them she is going to start knitting. They garden too.

I love this idea, beach combing with a hunting dog, definitely using this in a future game of mine.

viola-illyria

Journal writing and frog breeding! I love voidcritters and would have far more sims into that but adults can't play the game (and all mods to fix this haven't been updated in years)

Daephene

My ghosts are making a jack-o-lantern collection with the carving table from Spooky Stuff. At higher levels of handiness they can preserve the pumpkins and have permanent decorations, handy for witches or ghosts.

Ebbis

I love to have my sims doing yoga and meditate as a hobby, as well as using the journal. Another hobby I like to give my sims is having them read books, and chessplaying is also really fun.

elanorbreton

Ebbis wrote: »

I love to have my sims doing yoga and meditate as a hobby, as well as using the journal. Another hobby I like to give my sims is having them read books, and chessplaying is also really fun.

I only just started getting my sims to read some different books, ones that you have to buy which are not skill books.

I wish bookcases came empty as I hate seeing the same books in them all the time and usually delete them out of annoyance.

Does anyone know if a sim can purchase a book written by a sim in a different household?

From earlier in the thread, how do you breed frogs?

crocobaura

elanorbreton wrote: »

I wish bookcases came empty as I hate seeing the same books in them all the time and usually delete them out of annoyance.

Does anyone know if a sim can purchase a book written by a sim in a different household?

It's possible if your writer sim puts the books up for sale in a shop. I rarely give my sims bookcases as they like to leave books everywhere or clutter their inventories with half read books. Instead I let them get one book and read that and once they're finished with it, I delete it and they get another one. I wish there was a way to keep track of all the read books. You could probably use the University chest as a way to store books, instead of the book case.

musteni

crocobaura wrote: »

elanorbreton wrote: »

I wish bookcases came empty as I hate seeing the same books in them all the time and usually delete them out of annoyance.

Does anyone know if a sim can purchase a book written by a sim in a different household?

It's possible if your writer sim puts the books up for sale in a shop. I rarely give my sims bookcases as they like to leave books everywhere or clutter their inventories with half read books. Instead I let them get one book and read that and once they're finished with it, I delete it and they get another one. I wish there was a way to keep track of all the read books. You could probably use the University chest as a way to store books, instead of the book case.

Currently there's aproblem with trying to sell written books in retail. When sim puts the book for sale, it is returned to their inventory when they travel back home. I hope this is something that they plan to fix.

There's an option to breed frogs through your inventory if you have two frogs in there.