The Sims 2: Nightlife/Aspirations

The Grilled Cheese Aspiration is generally considered undesirable, but confers some minor, unique benefits. It is not available in any of the Aspiration menus (which pop up when a Sim is created, grows into a teen or finishes junior year at university). However, it can be gained using a cheat code or when the ReNuYuSenso Orb fails.

It has been suggested that the Aspiration was inspired by the frequency with which some Sims made the sandwiches autonomously in the original Sims 2. Alternately, the inspiration may have been the Maxis tradition of making grilled cheese sandwiches for all employees when a milestone approaches.

Wants and fears


Grilled Cheese Sims are preoccupied with cooking, serving, being served, eating and talking about grilled cheese sandwiches. They fear burning the sandwiches, eating burnt or spoiled ones, or being rejected for conversations about them. Their Lifetime Want is to eat 200 grilled cheese sandwiches.

Cooking and eating Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
Grilled Cheese Sims can cook Grilled Cheese Sandwiches at any time of day (they are normally available only as lunch), and regardless of Cooking skill (they normally require at least 2 points). The sandwiches are more satisfying than most dishes that can be cooked with no skill, but less satisfying than those that require high skill.

Grilled Cheese Sims receive a positive memory every time they finish a grilled cheese sandwich.

Talk.../About Grilled Cheese Sandwiches
The Grilled Cheese Aspiration brings with it the Talk.../About Grilled Cheese Sandwiches social interaction, which Sims will frequently Want to perform. This is accepted by other Grilled Cheese Sims (making the Aspiration primarily compatible with itself, like Popularity) and those with a Nice score of 5 or more.

Career and skill implications
Since Grilled Cheese Sims fear burning grilled cheese sandwiches, they should minimize the chance of this happening (which means a Cooking skill of at least 4). They are best suited to the Culinary career.

Household items needed
Grilled Cheese Sims should buy the three items needed to cook the sandwiches: a refrigerator, a stove and a clear section of countertop. If they do not already have these, they will have Wants to buy them. The more expensive the stove and counter, the more satisfying the sandwiches will be, and thus the better. The most expensive fridge is useful, as it has a larger capacity and means fewer delivery call for groceries. A smoke detector or fire sprinkler in the kitchen is also desirable, as frequent cooking increases the risk that the stove will catch fire.

Although it has no particular strategic advantage, the painting Grilled Cheese by Renu Tumush increases the Environment score and carries the aspirational theme into the décor.

Hints
Grilled Cheese Sims have very few high-scoring Wants, but can satisfy small Wants more frequently.

When the “Serve Grilled Cheese Sandwich” is present, which it almost always is, simply have another Sim eat the sandwich your Sim has prepared, and you'll net 1,500 Aspiration points. Since this want repeats almost endlessly, and six sandwiches can be prepared at once, this allows for the fastest possible scoring. This will allow a Sim to buy more Aspiration Rewards, and (if desired) successfully use the Orb to return to a “normal” Aspiration, keeping the extra rewards.

Making a sandwich count twice
The “Eat Grilled Cheese Sandwich” Want (always present) is satisfied when a Sim starts eating a Grilled Cheese Sandwich, not when they finish. This means if a Sim stops eating a sandwich and starts again, the Want will be satisfied a second time for the same sandwich. This provides easy Reward points without fattening the Sim, requiring additional cooking or depleting the fridge any faster; however, it has two disadvantages:


 * 1) The Sim must take time to put the plate down and pick it up again, and/or stand up and sit back down. (This takes an unrealistically long time!)
 * 2) It does not bring the Sim any closer to satisfying the Lifetime Want. This is based on Memories of eating grilled cheese, for which sandwiches are only counted when they're finished.