The newest downloadable content (DLC) for the “The Sims 4” called “Parenthood” was announced last week, and it revealed another layer of human element to the life simulation game. True, this is what the game had been all about in an essence, but the newest game pack poses a huge responsibility to players of all kinds, as raising children is a significant and the focal point of it all.

Get this – as a parent, whatever you decide to do, or the manner in which you choose to raise your kid, will reflect later in your offspring's adulthood.

Molding values

The good folks behind the highly successful game updated their blog earlier today to discuss Character Values. Basically, it’s the matrix in which Young Sims are gauged and will help players steer their children down the right path.

Character Values in “Parenthood” are divided into five abilities – each of them will have a positive or negative effect on Young Sims. These are Emotional Control, Empathy, Conflict Resolution, Responsibility and of course, Manners.

Good parenting is a challenge, even in video game simulations. “The Sims 4: Parenthood” will represent how your Sims play, and the outcome is based on how kids are brought up. Young Sims, both Babies and Toddlers, will start having their Character Values that players can view in their Simology panel. When they become Teenagers and eventually become Young adults, Electronic Arts said that Character Values will be disabled. Values are to become their permanent Traits at this stage and will be a huge factor in how they deal with adulthood.

Parenting affects children’s lives forever

Simmers who make the extra effort of teaching their children good manners will likely help them grow with positive Traits.

Of course, mommies and daddies will have to deal with ill-behaved children and hormonal teenagers, which is where Character Values will be most beneficial and help Simmers level up their Parenting Skills. Parents who neglect correcting kids, on the other hand, would suffer consequences.

Like real-life parenting, “The Sims 4: Parenthood” will slap Sim parents with difficult choices. A player could make a huge mistake at any given time, but it’s a good thing there’s a chance to correct it, at least when kids haven’t reached adulthood yet. The young ones will be bickering and try to bite each other, and teenagers will have terrible mood swings that parents have to deal with.

It’s up to the Simmer how he/she chooses to handle the situation.

One could take it seriously, but another hilarious aspect, gameplay-wise, is to let the children be and see how they turn out. The comment section in “The Sims” blog is quite a fun read, as some players have expressed they actually want to activate the Swearing (yes, there is one) feature. Young Sims could develop that as a reflection of their parents’ manners.

Whatever style one chooses to play “The Sims 4: Parenthood” doesn’t matter in the end, though – the parenting feature already promises an engaging gameplay. There will be a lot of stories to tell once it’s released on May 30, for sure.