I need inspiration

If you're up for starting a challenge, there's a whole heap of them listed on the Challenges board (specifically this thread). I've played a Rags to Riches challenge and still have that save to come back to. The collection ones do get that little bit grindy and boring after a while.

But if you're really not feeling it, maybe take a small break and focus on either building for a while or a game that you're more in the mood for. Sometimes it's just not Sims time.

Hope you do find something that'll put a little excitement into the game for you.

I play rotationaly. That way I am never bored because there are always different group of age in different households. I am also not afraid of adding a little drama in my gameplay. I am not afraid of divorce and then different type of custody ;) , I am not afraid of death (even a "forced" one).

Yes!! I love rags to riches.

You can also try the Breed the ugly out challenge.
Or Not so Berry.
Or maybe Build Newcrest

You don't have to play strictly by the rules. You can always make your own! :) It is you game anyway.

Or maybe you can try the 100 baby challenge but with a man. Your sim can have fun and woohoo with female sims. He doesn't need to take care of the little ones :D >:)

I like to play characters who are very different from my usual way of playing and then play the way I think they would. For example, I usually focus a lot on career success. But now I'm playing Wayne and Garth from Wayne's World. They don't have jobs at all. They make money by finding seashells and uploading videos. They are very unfocused and just have fun a lot and buy stupid things like bubble blowers when their bills are due. They've been surprisingly successful this way! :)

I understand you! I'm also the happy family type of player. Recently I created a household that is inspired by the characters of How I met your mother and it's like a fresh breeze of air for me! They go out all the time, meet news sims (especially Ted and Barney), celebrate holidays, etc. I try to focus on the side of story telling instead of completing aspirations.

I would try a fun challenge or change up their jobs. What for me helps as well is to force myself to not give them perfect lives. They can divorce, cheat, break up. Kids run away. Teens get pregnant. A little drama makes it so much more fun.

A lot of people get very into creating backstories for premades thrn aging that premade down, creating (or aging down ) friends and family then playing it out in game.

I did it with Johnny Zest and played him in the homeless teen mode until he earned and bought his trailer. Then i played him through get famous up to a 5 star celeb.

Other people have played Caleb and Lilith before they became vampires and the story of their turning. Or aged down Vlad.

The pack sims both old and new have interesting backstories to expand upon.

I can also recommend challenges especially those that have specific goals for each generation and force you to try new aspects of the game you may have ignored e.g. try out the criminal career or be a style influencer. Not so berry and the drifter challenge both do this with new goals for each generation. The drifter challenge has build goals as well if live mode is not for you at present.

I also played a family on short lifespan and the rush to achieve things left no time for boredom (but I get too attached and losing them too quickly meant I couldn't do this for an extended time).

Finally I watch a lot of YouTubers to get inspired. Laurenzside and call me kevin are definetely simmers who push the boundaries of what you can do with sims and don't play normal games. Englishsimmer has good plot driven let's plays for inspiration. And kevin sauce has a great series.

Good luck.

"DoloresGrey;c-17195540" wrote:
Or maybe you can try the 100 baby challenge but with a man. Your sim can have fun and woohoo with female sims. He doesn't need to take care of the little ones :D >:)

As someone who's done this, I wouldn't recommend it to anyone who gets bored easily. It is a LOT of the same over and over again. Unless you somehow add more story to it, or set small goals you need to reach in between, your sim will be romancing 24/7.
The outcome, however, is massive fun, I have the most interesting (and huge) family tree. I actually started playing a rotation with some of the kids as young adults.
Here's the link to my thread about it: https://forums.thesims.com/en_US/discussion/955649/don-lotharios-100-babies

I think if you have a backstory for your sims, or give them more of a personality, then you can make decisions about their actions based on what they would logically do, like someone else on here suggested. I like to cheat reward traits and skills when I make a sim, just to give them more of a personality to start off with. It also helps to get trait and aspiration cc so you have more variety in your sims.

Here are some backstories for my current sims. Feel free to use them for your own gameplay.

--Guy who was born poor but now has money and owns multiple businesses. He likes to drink, fight, gamble, party, and womanize. He doesn't plan on getting married until late in life, if at all. And he doesn't plan on being faithful.

--Mother of teen and young adult children who wants to interfere in their love life and find her children romantic matches. Her goal is to marry them all off and have big weddings that will make her friends jealous.

--Musical prodigy who has relegated music to the sidelines as a hobby in favor of being practical and following in the footsteps of his father's business.

--Employee who's in love with the boss' daughter and secretly reads her journal. He has a girlfriend, but he never lets her get that close because of his obsessive crush on the other woman.

--Quiet and kind artist who likes to take walks and paint nature. He has chronic pain but tries to mask it. He just wants to settle down and lead a quiet life.

--Girl whose family expects her to pursue ladylike hobbies, get married, and have kids. But she's a tomboy who likes to collect rocks and craves adventure.

--Girl who went from riches to rags and is unsatisfied with her job. She's looking for a rich husband so she can regain her wealthy status.

Maybe try a challenge? Not So Berry would be a good one because it gives you specific things you have to do each generation and it can help explore parts of the game that you haven't yet. 100 Baby is good too because it's a little different from your typical happy family play but it can also get a little boring after awhile.