Do you find the Sims 4 challenging?

It can be challenging if you make it that way. Playing legacy or baby challenges add some spice to it. Playing enormous households will also do the trick. Regular gameplay isnt in my opinion.

It depends what I'm doing but usually no. I rarely play challenges or try to max things because that's not what I want in my game. I would like a bit more randomness and danger/death threat though. Also it would be nice if making sims happy was more of a challenge.

It's a very easy game. Of course it's possible to make things harder by imposing rules on your gameplay or banning yourself from doing certain things but to me that doesn't count.

That's not necessarily a good or bad thing; there are games that I reach for when I want to be challenged and there are games I reach for when I want to be mindless. This is simply one of the latter.

Not really, and I say this as someone who plays large households. Nothing is really that hard to achieve. Kids becoming A students is just a matter of making sure they do their homework everyday. Getting promoted at work is simple, just do all of your necessary tasks before the next work day. Give a toddler a tablet and they can max all but one of their skills by themselves. Keep pets well fed and they're good to do whatever they want. And I never have issues with bills or anything of the sort.

So no, I don't find the game hard at all. The most recent difficult task I had with the game was getting my Sims to become celebrities with Get Famous, and even that wasn't all too challenging tbh.

I do not believe a game always has to be challenging - as long as it is fun for the player. For me the fun factor is the most important aspects of the game.

Likewise I also believe that the challenge and or fun factor of the game depends on the individual that plays the game that finds at least some of what they are seeking in the game they are playing to make it most enjoyable.

In a game like the Sims series - some challenges come out of the ability of the game to be modded, or acceptable of player made content to offer more of what some players like - as well as to offer the same satisfactions to some player using just what is offered from the game itself - and I find the Sims series has pretty much always delivered all of this. It can be more challenging sometimes when one does play vanilla for some players and yet offer much less stress to those who seek their own type of challenges or less from player made content.

To me the Sims series is capable of being many things to many players because of it's versatility to fall within many ranges of ease or difficulty if one just seeks it out. The player can chose to make it harder or easier because of it's very design and the players imagination. Nothing is locked or wrote in stone.

Unlike so many games out there there are no iron clad rules on playing the Sims and why I believe so many age ranges find a fondness in the Sims series not found in most games for so many years. It can be what a player wants it to be.

Not that all people will agree - I am sure - it is what I have always seen in the Sims since the first game and continues for me right up to todays game.

I find it's just the right amount of challenge - but it's easy to opt out of the more challenging aspects. I also feel that "challenging" is very subjective - what I find challenging, someone else may find easy.

For me it's sometimes depending on what I set up so that will be my answer. I don't play it that way often however but I know the game can be challenging if I want it to be. If I want to play challenging I play a fuller house, and limit their lifespan. Maybe give their house traits that cause more chaos... but I rarely do that and only if I just want to play differently now and then. It's stressful play for me and that's okay sometimes.

Frankly though I like the option for it to not be very challenging, pacing wise at least because I want to tell stories here, or just enjoy the game as is. I want it to turn out the way I want it too for the most part with few wrenches thrown into what I see playing out.

I also find challenge in figuring out dynamics built into the game .. as in what do I learn to make this playthrough easier or more productive faster for my sim.. or how do I make their lives most miserable?
I guess the simplest example to give is when you start playing the game you know if you send your sim to the bathroom their hygiene will drop. So you figure out if you send your sims to the bathroom first then the shower it will give you the best outcome. Sure you don't have to do it that way but you can.
There are lots of things like this in this game.. from what fertilizer is best (just mentioned that in another post)... to do I really need to send my sim to the active career for them to progress and under what instances? To how do different traits respond to the same environment.. or changing environments? I know that might not sound challenging to some but it's fun for me.

The only challenging thing is getting the Sims to do what you want them to do!

Nope - I don't find the game challenging. I don't use cheats and usually decided on a Sims career and career level before they are a young adult to make the game a bit more challenging for me. But even when my Sims work low level jobs I don't find much of a challenge in the game. Still enjoy it though!

Seldom, but that's okay. It's not why I play Sims. I play to create.