This article is part of a directory: The Sims 4: Complete Guide | Tips, Packs, Careers, Skills, Scenarios, & More
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Scenarios in The Sims 4 are a fun, storytelling gameplay feature introduced by the Sims team in November 2021. They present simmers with specific guidelines and challenges that can be completed to win different in-game rewards such as traits, aspiration points, etc. Scenarios can fall into two categories - permanent or limited time. Permanent scenarios are always available for players to check out, while limited-time scenarios run on a cycle and must be completed within a time frame.

Scenarios are accessed from the startup menu underneath the "Play" option. Players can also review them on the Sim's official website before trying them out. They are creative and wild situations that Sims must navigate through if they want to reap the rewards. Scenarios make up for the lack of randomness that is often missing in The Sims 4 compared to previous titles, and they give players a chance to play in ways they wouldn't otherwise. The Aliens Stole My Parents scenario is a perfect example of this because it lets simmers experiment with having a household with no adults and only teens and children. This scenario can be challenging for a few reasons, and here is the best way to complete the Aliens Stole My Parents scenario.

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How to Complete the Aliens Stole My Parents Scenario

The Sims 4 Scenario

In the Aliens Stole My Parents scenario, teen Sims are forced to step up and raise their younger siblings after aliens abduct their parents. Their parents will be returned to them only after they raise their grades and earn some simoleons. While this may seem like a complex ruse from the parents to make their kiddos do better, completing the scenario does have some rewards, and both children get secondary traits upon completion.

After choosing the scenario from the startup menu, players can start with a new family in their current save file, use a family already created in their current save, or start a whole new save file and family. Prerequisites to starting include having at least one teen, child, and young adult or older in the household. The scenario starts with the adult Sims getting abducted and becoming unplayable, leaving the teen and child to fend for themselves with $500 in the bank. The scenario goals are found on the drop-down menu on the left side and include the following:

  • Have $15,000
  • Raise the child's grades to an A
  • Raise the teen's grades to an A
  • Complete the child's aspiration
  • Group Cook
  • Have the teen Sim get a part-time job
  • Hire a nanny.

The scenario is labeled as intermediate, but some of the goals require time and consistency to complete. Players can complete them in any order, but knocking out the easy goals will leave more time to focus on the more complex tasks. All the goals must be met before the child or teen ages up to finish the scenario successfully, so time is of the essence.

Players can turn off auto-aging in the gameplay settings to make things easier.

Hire a NannyThe Sims 4 Hire a Service

Since the parents are gone, it is up to the teen Sim to ensure everyone is taken care of, food is on the table, bills are paid, and grades are up. This is a tremendous amount of pressure, so hiring a nanny is one of the goals that will ultimately benefit everyone. While it costs money, it can be done anytime and quickly as long as the teen Sim is home and has a minimum of 70$. Here are the steps to hire a nanny:

  1. Access the teen's phone
  2. Choose the blue app icon with the hammer
  3. Select Hire a Service
  4. Scroll down to find the nanny and select it

Nannies cost $60 base pay with $10 added every hour they are there. Luckily, as long as the nanny is hired, the goal is marked as complete, so players can dismiss them immediately to save money or keep them around to assist with house chores so the teen and child can put energy into other things.

Get a Part Time Job

The Sims 4 Part Time Job

Another easy one is having the teen get a part-time job. Depending on how players plan to earn their money in this scenario, choosing a good part-time job is critical. Teen Sims have to not only be the breadwinner but also maintain their grades. This requires lots of time management and micromanaging on the players' behalf to keep their Sims needs up and meet these goals. Now, the best-paying job without lots of hands-on gameplay is Retail, but it only averages about $660 a week at the first promotion level. If auto-aging is on, reaching the goals before the child or teen ages up is next to impossible with only that income.

An alternative is joining the Simfluencer part-time career and selling clothes on Trendi, which can earn up to thousands of dollars at a time. However, this is only an option if players have the High School Years Expansion pack. For everyone else who wants to complete the Aliens Stole My Parents Scenario, there are many ways to earn money in The Sims 4 outside actual careers by selling furniture, art, gardening, and more.

Group CookThe Sims 4 Group Cooking

Group cooking is a later update that was added to the game in July 2021. Players can select up to five Sims to join a Sim in cooking a meal for relationship building, better quality meals, and more final portions. Here's how to cook with others in Sims 4:

  1. As the teen Sim, click on a fridge or stove
  2. Select "Cook together with…"
  3. Choose the child Sim
  4. Select which meal to cook

If the teen Sim has a Cooking skill below 2 or uses a cheap stove, avoid making anything that requires heat. Otherwise, a fire will likely start and could cause much damage or even death.

Become Straight-A Students

The Sims 4 Homework

One of the more complex goals is getting both the teen and child Sim's grades up to an A. While the child Sim has it easier, the teen has to juggle school, work, and their needs. Sims must complete their homework every night, attend school on time and pay attention in class daily, and build up their skills to get grades up. Sims also need to go to school with positive emotions, so don't neglect nonsurvival needs such as Fun or Social.

To expedite this process, children and teens can complete extra credit work in a timely manner whenever they come home with projects. In addition, those with the City Living Expansion pack can activate the Good Schools lot trait, which makes doing homework more effortless, and Sims' grades will increase faster. However, even doing all this, it will likely take a whole school week to have both Sims become straight-A students.

Complete Child's Aspiration

The Sims 4 Aspiration

Perhaps the most demanding goal is completing the child's aspiration before they age up. This requires lots of time and consists of actions such as reading, playing, writing, and making friends, depending on which aspiration is chosen. Players have the choice of four child aspirations:

  • Artistic Prodigy - focuses on Creative skill
  • Rambunctious Scamp - focuses on Motor skill
  • Social Butterfly - focuses on Social skill
  • Whiz Kid - focuses on Mental skill

The easiest are the Artistic Prodigy and Rambunctious Scamp aspirations because they don't require any social interactions and can be taken care of solo. Artistic Prodigies benefit from a child's activity table, instruments, and toys. Rambunctious Scamps can work towards their aspiration with monkey bars or a computer.

Earn $15,000

The Sims 4 Working

Finally, the goal is to earn $15,000 at the end of everything to return the parents safely. Pulling income from a part-time job is very important, or Sims can have side hustles. Sims can also sell any garden ingredients, finished artwork, and books. A quick way to reach this milestone is to sell all furniture and build items after completing all the other goals. Getting to $15,000 will be easy work if it's a fully furnished home.

After reaching every goal before the child or teen ages up, players will be notified that the scenario has been completed, the teen and child will get their reward traits, and the adult Sims in the household will come back and be playable again.

The Sims 4 is available now for PC, PS4, PS5, and Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S.

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