What happens when you leave a sugar skull offering in The Sims 4
Leaving a sugar skull offering at any gravestone or urn during the Day of the Dead holiday in The Sims 4 will summon a special "Day of the Dead Celebrator" NPC sim to your neighborhood. Successfully interacting with this quirky character is the only way to collect the nine unique sugar skull designs in the game.
As a passionate Sims gamer who has sunk over 500 hours into the latest iterations, I live for these unique holiday events. The suspense of never knowing which celebrator will appear or what new sugar skull design I‘ll add to my collection thrills me. Though their drop rates can be frustratingly low…
What is the Day of the Dead Holiday in Sims?
The Day of the Dead (Día de Los Muertos) is a Mexican holiday celebrated from October 31st through November 2nd. Families create ofrendas (offerings) to honor deceased loved ones, typically with marigolds, photographs, decorated skulls, and the deceased‘s favorite foods.
The Sims 4 captures the spirit of the holiday with smeared skeleton makeup, vibrant decorations straight out of Santa Cecilia, and the iconic sugar skulls. By leaving these symbolic offerings at graves, we summon spirits to join our celebration. And also gift us new plastic-looking collectibles!
Sugar Skull Designs and Drop Rates
According to data gathered by SimsVIP, there are nine different sugar skull designs the Day of the Dead Celebrator may bestow upon you:
| Design | Rarity |
| Common Skull | Uncommon |
| Elaborately Decorated Skull | Common |
| Heart Skull | Uncommon |
| Fancy Mosaic Skull | Rare |
| Diamond Skull | Very Rare |
As you can see, the rarest skull drops are unfortunately…very rare. In fact, according to community reports, the Diamond and Mosaic skulls have <1% drop rates! No wonder it took me 50 celebrator encounters just to unlock one Diamond. The agony!
And don‘t get me started on those ostentatious giant Common Skulls I‘ve accrued thirty of now. At this point I‘m ready to build brick walls with them.
Strategies to Unlock All Skulls
After analyzing probable drop rates mathematically, your best bet is persistence and high celebrator volume. I recommend the following tips:
Utilize multiple households to summon celebrators across save files
Leverage Successful Offerings moodlets by chaining summons between neighborhood tombstones
Consider mods to adjust drop rates or add celebrators to household
With clever use of game mechanics, your sugar skull collection will flourish in no time! Of course, there‘s also something satisfying about waiting for that ultra rare gift from the reaper…
Unlocking Rewards with Complete Collections
While the skulls alone provide excellent Day of the Dead decoration, there are also rewards for collecting full sets! By acquiring all 9 skull designs and placing them in a Display Case, you can:
Having tangible goals like this gives higher purpose to the hunt. It also looks fantastic lit up in my Sims‘ sprawling suburban mansions!
The Day of the Dead brings a touching vibrancy to the game while honoring real cultural traditions. I hope the success of this event encourages the developers to continue expanding representations of marginalized communities (and sprinkling in bonuses for devoted collectors like myself)!
Now get out there and summon, my friends! I expect at least one of you to beat my record for repetitive Common Skull drops.
