Beyond being a life simulation game, The Sims franchise also has some interesting quirks that players have come to enjoy over the years. One aspect of The Sims that has carried over from each iteration is the presence of a lifetime achievement system. This system helps guide players in their gameplay and how they want their Sims to act throughout their life. April 12 is National Grilled Cheese Day, and while this fact may seem out of place, it’s not—The Sims has an intriguing history with grilled cheese sandwiches and aspirations that players can enjoy not just today, but any time.
The origins of National Grilled Cheese Day are a little murky, but the message remains the same; it is a day to eat a delicious grilled cheese sandwich that’s been toasted to perfection while keeping the delicate cheese warm and gooey on the inside. Besides indulging in a grilled cheese (or two or ten), fans of The Sims franchise can play around with the Grilled Cheese aspiration in either The Sims 2 or The Sims 4. It’s a bit out of pocket, but it’s just wacky enough that it makes sense in The Sims.
The Sims 2 Grilled Cheese Aspiration
The Grilled Cheese aspiration was not present in The Sims 2 base game but instead made its debut in the Nightlife and FreeTime expansion packs. The aspiration is fairly simple to explain, as all Sims with this aspiration want to do is prepare, serve, and eat grilled cheese sandwiches. The end goal for the Grilled Cheese aspiration is to have a Sim eat 200 grilled cheese sandwiches total. Technically, the Grilled Cheese aspiration is a secret, but it’s a fairly well-known one throughout The Sims community.
Grilled Cheese can be chosen as a second aspiration without much fuss once FreeTime has been added to The Sims 2. However, making Grilled Cheese a Sim’s primary aspiration takes a bit of effort. Without using cheats, the only way to get Grilled Cheese as the primary aspiration is to use the ReNuYuSenso Orb when a Sim’s mood is below the gold level. This causes the machine to malfunction and will automatically change a Sim’s main aspiration to Grilled Cheese.
The Sims 4 Grilled Cheese Aspiration
In The Sims 2, Grilled Cheese was clearly listed as an optional secondary aspiration. The Sims 4 makes players work a little harder to unlock the Grilled Cheese aspiration, especially because it’s not listed with all the other aspirations. Sims must eat three grilled cheese sandwiches in a row in order to unlock the Grilled Cheese aspiration. The steps to complete the aspiration get progressively weirder per level. It starts out innocuous enough, with Sims desiring to talk about grilled cheese and eat the gooey sandwich, but level 3 is when things get kicked into overdrive.
Level 3 of the Grilled Cheese aspiration requires Sims to eat a grilled cheese sandwich in space, which can be accomplished by building a rocket or borrowing one from City Living’s GeekCon—that’s not the weirdest part, though. The final task of the Grilled Cheese aspiration is discussing grilled cheese with the Grim Reaper, meaning someone has to die to fully complete the aspiration. It’s up to players if they want to find an Elder who may already be on their way out or find a Sim worth sacrificing to see the Grim Reaper. Either way, once the Sim has talked about grilled cheese sandwiches with the Grim Reaper, the achievement will be complete.
National Grilled Cheese Day is a time to eat some delicious sandwiches. It’s also the perfect time to play The Sims and figure out the best way to complete the Grilled Cheese aspiration. For those who can multi-task, it’s probably pretty easy to do both at the same time.
The Sims 4 is available now for PC, PS4, and Xbox One.
