How to Activate Cheats in The Sims 4 and Which Ones Are the Most Helpful in Gameplay

Game cheats are a tale as old as time (sort of). Regardless, they’re there to help players in a multitude of ways. Sometimes they’re there to give players a leg up in a hard story-driven video game and other times cheats can give players access to more ways to level up and power through different experiences in said game. In The Sims 4, though, cheats are there to enhance your Sim’s life and make your experience building their setup a bit easier. 

So how do you go about activating cheats in The Sims 4? It’s really not that hard, and once you get the hang of it, it’s second nature. Here’s a rundown of how to do it on PC and on PS4, and some handy cheats to get started. 

Cheating in The Sims 4 makes gameplay all the more fun

So, again, in The Sims 4, cheats are there to give players more options. The Sims 4 is a life simulation game, so depending on how much money you have, where your Sim lives, their job, or their skill levels, their life can be a walk in the park or it can be kind of horrible. Horrible for a Sim, that is. 

So with cheats, players are able to give their Sims the monetary boost they deserve without actually working for it. This can get players brand new appliances in the home, buy food so your Sim doesn’t starve and die and end gameplay, and extra Simoleons can also buy some luxury items like a gaming system or treadmill to gain skill points. So even if you just want that extra kick of riches to buy those items in Build and Buy mode without waiting to rack up the Simoleons yourself, a cheat is good for that. 

Cheats are also available to edit a Sim’s typically uneditable features after they’re set. Or place things within your house where they overlap with other objects. Other cheats can allow you to buy land without a price limit. There are tons and these don’t even include mods. This is all just with the regular game. 

Here’s how to activate cheats in The Sims 4 on a PC, PS4, and XBOX

So, getting into how to do it. As stated before, it’s pretty easy. So easy, in fact, that’s it’s built into the game, basically. You don’t have to go fishing into a backend code or something. EA themselves have instructions on how to do it, even.

To activate cheats in The Sims 4 on a PC or Mac, you have to be in-game mode already playing. To open the “Cheat Console” type in “Ctrl + Shift + C.” The dialogue pops up in the top left corner (it’s a long, thin, white box). This is where you can type in said cheats to unlock a ton of fun things. The type “testingcheats on” or “testingcheats true” and hit “Enter.” To turn cheats off, you can type “testingcheats off” or “testingcheats false,” according to Ultimate Sims Guides.

After all codes, hit “Enter” and your cheat will be activated. To close the dialogue box, so it disappears, type “Ctrl + Shift + C” again. 

If you need a visual, this YouTube video is a good idea on how to do it. 

As IGN reported, to activate Sims 4 cheats on PS4 and Xbox One, you have to be in the game like with PC and Mac but instead, make sure you hold down all four triggers at once. So that would be “L1, L2, R1, and R2” for PS4 and “LT, LB, RT, and RB” for XBOX. Then follow the same instructions as before; type “testingcheats on” or “testingcheats true” and hit “Enter.”

As Alpr.com reported, Achievements and Trophies could be disabled if players use cheats in The Sims 4 on PS4 or XBOX, so be warned. That’s not an issue on PC or Mac though. 

What cheats are there? Are they the same as mods?

Now onto the fun stuff. What cheats can players use? Below are just a few to get started and are pretty popular. 

• Type in “rosebud” or “kaching” gives you 1,000 simoleons instantly
• “motherlode” for 50,000 simoleons
• “FreeRealEstate On” in order to move into any residential lot despite cost. This is great for starting off in the game and you have no money, but want to move into a big house or a 50×50 lot or something like that. To turn this off and go back to normal, just type, “FreeRealEstate Off.” NOTE: For any of these that need an off switch, this is typically the case, switching from On to Off in the code. 
• “bb.ignoregameplayunlocksentitlement” will unlock career items in build mode. So things that you can’t buy unless you’ve passed level 10 of a career. 
• “bb.moveobjects on” allows players to move objects in your home anywhere you please. So if your dresser needs to be flush against your bed to make your mirror fit, but the regular game won’t let you, this cheat is for you. 
• “bb.showhiddenobjects” will show hidden Build and Buy mode objects. These are typically items for clutter or objects that are used to build the world but aren’t typically available to buy and put in your home. But it’s great for realism. 

There are loads more cheats. Ultimate Sims Guides has a great cheats page with more and they’re sectioned off by expansion pack, career, and more.

Cheats are not the same things as mods. As stated before, cheats are just codes that gamers can type in, enter, and the game already has actions that The Sims 4 knows how to perform. Mods are things that players have to download on separate sites and input into their personal EA Sims folder and install on their own. It completely alters gameplay and introduces brand new aspects into the game. You can use cheats and mods simultaneously, but they’re not the same thing.