The title just about sums it up. My job here is done.
Oh wait, you want to hear more? Okay, fine. I’m going to be totally honest with you. I’ve been in a dark place lately. I’m in graduate school, so I’m familiar with dark places. Comprehensive exams are looming, dissertation deadlines are quickly approaching, and I’ve needed a bit of help getting through this end-of-school slump. After all, I don’t think you can call it Senioritis anymore when you’re, like, in 100th grade.
So how have I been dealing with the darkness? By indulging in a little YouTube show called Single Girl Tries the 100-Baby Challenge in The Sims 4. Catchy title, I know.
So let me break down the premise for you. Should I start with the basics, in case you somehow have been living under a rock and have never played the magical time-sucking game that is The Sims 1,2,3,4, etc? Well, okay. The Sims is a sandbox-style game where you basically just make people, give them jobs, have them meet other people, have babies, and go about their everyday lives. It’s incredibly fun and I’m obsessed with it. When I don’t play for a while, I miss it, but I also have to watch myself because if I allow myself to play it, I will 100% not get anything accomplished for weeks.
Look at this bitch Sim trying to imply I’ve been playing for too long. She don’t know me.
So how to recreate the joy that comes with a straight up Sims marathon? Enter the delightful Kelsey Impicciche and her show on the BuzzFeed Multiplayer channel on YouTube. If you weren’t able to tell from the very descriptive name of the show, every episode features Kelsey attempting to complete The Sims 100 Baby Challenge.
Yes, this is a real challenge, and there are legit rules. The basic rundown: to complete the 100 Baby Challenge, you must attempt to give birth to 100 children (in game, of course… we’re not monsters) in as few generations as possible. So to start, you create a Sim who becomes the matriarch of your family. No one is allowed to move in to help her with her children, and you cannot marry anyone or get pregnant with any one male Sim more than once. So you gotta go out and meet some dudes and get to procreating pronto. You must play with your Sim on the normal aging lifespan without any cheat codes, and when she ages out, the next impregnable child becomes the new matriarch. You continue like this until you have all the babies.
Phew. So many babies. And no help until your eldest grows up and is able to help you out around the house. Trust that this leads to a lot of matriarchs falling asleep while standing and peeing their pants.
I mean, who among us hasn’t fallen asleep in our plate of spaghetti though, right?
What I love about this challenge: it’s completely bonkers. I love how open the world of The Sims is, and that it allows for players to create fun in-game challenges like this. Let me also make this about feminism, because of course I will. I love how this system creates a matriarchy run by powerful women who are strong enough to bear the children, then get back to business. Also, hey, it’s fun to cycle through a bunch of random Sims men. Heck, Kelsey at one point even entertained having a baby with Father Christmas.
If I had more time on my hands, I would totally be doing this challenge right now myself. And I probably will one day. Let me know if you’d eventually like a follow-up post about my own experiences. Don’t test me I will do it.
Understandably, there are a lot of YouTubers publishing their experiences with the challenge on their channels right now. And I’ve peeped a few others. But what is it about Kelsey’s show that makes me an avid weekly viewer?
Honestly, it’s pretty straightforward. Kelsey is actually funny. She’s the perfect mix of charismatic and awkward that works well for this exact type of programming: hitting on lots of random Sim dudes in order to make lots of babies. It’s a very niche type of video that she makes super fun and accessible, even if you’re just a casual video game player (which, for the record, I consider myself to be).
In addition, I love how Kelsey has made an effort to get viewers involved. In early episodes, Kelsey asked people to send her their customized male Sims to be potential “donors” in her game. In episode 3, Kelsey went through a lot of these submissions and added a fair amount of them to the game.
The best part: she has a huge crush on Craig from Dream Daddy. Craig is the super buff fitness dad on Dream Daddy, a dating sim game that Kelsey has played for BuzzFeed before. Because of her infamous love of Craig, several viewers made Craig Sims to “donate” to Kelsey’s matriarch. Of course, she added them all to her game. So expect to see a lot of baby Craigs running around in future episodes.
Kelsey and Craig sitting in a tree…
This show has been a delightful distraction, and I highly recommend checking it out. Even if you’ve never in your life played the Sims or dreamed about getting pregnant 100 times by 100 different men, I’m sure there’s something about this show you’ll find relatable. Like, what about that time there was a stain on your floor and instead of cleaning it up, you decided that’s just how your floor looks now? Don’t lie. I know you’ve done that.
New episodes of Single Girl Tries the 100-Baby Challenge in The Sims 4 are available every Saturday night.