The Gremlins lot challenge is one of the most frustrating challenges in The Sims 4. If you’ve never played with it enabled, you might be surprised by just how much chaos it can cause.
Before adding the Gremlins lot challenge to your Sim’s home, it’s worth knowing exactly what you’re signing up for.
This guide explains how it works, what to expect, and how to deal with the constant trail of broken objects.
The Gremlins Lot Challenge Explained
Household appliances and plumbing will break every night at 12 AM on lots that have the Gremlins trait. Gremlins mysteriously come out at night and destroy your Sim’s home appliances and plumbing, but you can never catch them in the act.
Your Sim will find a bunch of broken objects in the morning that they’ll need to repair fast.
Instead of getting ready to go to work, your Sim has to spend ages repairing broken fridges, stoves, sinks, toilets, showers, bathtubs, computers, you name it.
By repairing broken objects, your Sim will quickly level up their Handiness skill and get new upgrade parts in the process.
Hire a Repairman
If leveling up your Sim’s Handiness skill is not a priority for you, hire a repairman. They can take care of the mess that Gremlins have caused overnight.
Keep in mind that if you add the Cursed trait, the repairmen will get electrocuted when they try to repair the objects that Gremlins broke.
Create a Handiness and Repair Club
If you installed Get Together, and you want to speed things up, you can create a Handiness and Repair club.
Gather all the club members at your Sim’s house and have them repair the items the Gremlins broke overnight. Have them come back each morning.
In this manner, your Sim can take care of other important things such as making money.
The Gremlins destroy household appliances regularly, so the club members may never leave your house. They’ll be extremely busy repairing the things that Gremlins trashed.
How to Get Rid of Gremlins in The Sims 4
To remove the Gremlins challenge in The Sims 4, enter Build Mode and change the lot trait. Click on the House icon located in the top left-hand corner and disable the Gremlins challenge.
Go back to Live Mode, save your game just to be sure, and load it again.
So Annoying
Many Sims 4 players are convinced that Gremlins make lots unplayable. They break all the household appliances every night, forcing your Sim to spend most of their time on repairs.
Most Simmers decide to move to a lot that has Gremlins out of pure curiosity, thinking they’ll also max out their Sim’s Handiness skill in no time.
However, after a few break-and-repair cycles, they get tired of Gremlins and either move out or disable the Gremlins trait.
What do you think about the Gremlins lot challenge? Love it or hate it? Let me know in the comments below.
Editor’s Note: This guide was updated in August 2026.