How to manage 8 sim household?

Find out why they die. Is it by emotion like embarrassment? Then, only you can find a workaround for that.

Have them do things together often. Eating, watching TV, homework, etc. When they're green, you can usually let them do their own thing. You can start focusing on each one individually around that point. Like Sim 1 needs to play chess, and Sim 6 is a teen that needs a skill at level 2, so just have them play together, that kinda thing.

I think it's easier at 8 sims tbh since they can sorta do things without me making them do things LOL. I usually just sit back and watch, only butting in if they're stuck or need something whenever I play with my 8 sim households.

You should only play with the number of Sims you are comfortable with.

Do you have autonomy set to full in your game options? If so then your sims should be taking care of their needs independently.

Groups. You can move all of them together using groups, especially useful to care for the fun, social and hunger needs.

Playing a full household has always been a challenge in TS. Playing 5 for me is a challenge - I can't imagine playing 8. Kudos to you for going for it.

I tend to keep the "needs" open frequently when playing with a lot of Sims and click on each picture of each Sim in turn to see what they desperately need to do.

I then click on those needs colour circles to put them in the list of what that particular Sim needs to do, desperate first, less second etc., I find Sims 4 Sims much easier to control than the earlier games this way.

Also - give them all a bed and make sure each one claims one of their own - and lots of bathrooms and toilets!

Pause is your friend so that way you can queue tasks for each one and just check in on them.

Lock some doors to restrict who can go where.

Claim beds to keep rooms organized.

And yes, have enough bathrooms. Usually 1 bathroom to 3 or 4 sims is fine.

I have to full apt complexes in my game so it's interesting.

hmmm maybe put 7 of them on full autonomy.. one with off.. and play that one for a bit then switch to another and so on?

Kitchen fires are the biggest threat at the beginning of an 8 sim household for me. I try to make it so one does the cooking for everybody, but sometimes they all try to cook at once and then before I know it, the kitchen is ablaze. I love playing large households, it's how I play most of the time.

In the beginning, it's easy to get them to eat, shower, sleep. It's when they start getting promotions and different work schedules that it gets a bit chaotic keeping up with things.

Most of the households I play are adults, no children. I assign them their own bedroom (or if they're related or a couple, they share a room) and restrict access to the others. I put a computer in each bedroom so they can work on daily tasks or whatnot without having to fight over computers.

Multiple bathrooms are a must, I agree that there should be 1 bathroom per 3 sims.

I try to organize it so I can put a few on their daily tasks at the same time and I try to do careers where it's easy enough for them to do daily tasks. I find that the entertainer career is one, you just stick them on an instrument or computer for a few hours and you don't have to worry too much about it. If you're a comedian, you need charisma later on, but my comedians have been outgoing and have built that up just by having conversations.

Business career is the worst, or any one where you need a to have a certain level in 2 skills plus a daily work task, such as the Secret Agent. I think that's logic, charisma, and browsing intelligence. In a 1-2 sim household, this one would be a breeze. In a big household, I find it difficult to keep up with too many work demands. The other ones I like is Astronaut, they have to play chess every day, or later on, work out. Writer and Painter isn't too bad either. Anything that requires a minimum of tasks to get promoted.

Having said that, certain aspirations can be a bit more difficult to achieve in a large household as well, like the ones that require you to go out and meet people, go on dates, throw parties, etc.