How to complete Anansi’s Trials in The Sims 4 Royalty & Legacy

In The Sims 4 Royalty & Legacy expansion, there’s now a whole new world of exploring your social standing, noble ranking, dynasty prowess, and focusing on your rise to the top (and stepping on people’s heads to get there). Amongst all the scandal and bravado, there are new mysterious events to uncover called Power Shifts.

From pulling the magical “Simcalibur” sword from a stone to kissing frogs and turning them into a Sim you can romance, Power Shifts are often fairytale inspired but not all of them are good. In fact, there’s one Power Shift that’ll encourage you to cause mischief, be deceitful, and spread secrets: Anansi’s Trials. This crafty spider character wants to reward you for being naughty. So, it’s time to spin your very own web and unlock a new Trait.

Anansi’s Well location

(Image credit: Electronic Arts)

Where is Anansi’s Well?

In Ondarion, the world in the Royalty & Legacy expansion, travel to the Darong Dynasty residence located in Dambele. It’s a massive mansion also called Dambele Palace.

Once there, head left slightly from the main residence and you’ll see Anansi’s Well hidden within a courtyard. The well is unique, displaying a spider-like structure at the top and is situated within a spiderweb of tiles surrounding it. You’ll also notice spiders crawling around the well that your Sim may well be frightened of.

How to complete Anansi’s Trials

First, you need to interact with Anansi’s Well by selecting “Examine Anansi’s Well”. A poem will pop up that reads: “Anansi, sly weaver of tales untold. Calls forth a Sim both curious and bold. To enter his Trials is to dance with the sly, Where riddles twist under the spider’s eye. The wise earns boons from challenges met, But careless Sims find tangled debt.” This marks the first of many riddles.

You can then ‘Ask for Anansi’s Advice’ which will cost you one Simoleon. This isn’t a necessary part of the trials, but may help you solve clues or hint at things that could happen deeper within the Trials. You have to wait a while before you can ask for more advice, but the advice does seem to be different each time.

Trial One: Weave a Story

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To accept your first trial, select “Trials…” then “Trial One: Weave a Story”. You’ll notice the other three trials, but you can only complete them in order.

The riddle is as follows: “Spin a tale with wit and weight. Speak a story, and let Anansi decide your fate.” You’ll also notice a moodlet that says you’ve started the trial and you’ve got three days to complete it. So, it’s best to get to work.

For this riddle, you need to find a Sim and tell them a story in the “Friendly” section of the interaction menu. It doesn’t matter where you head, but I opted for Ye Olde Voyager, the new bar in Verdemar. A nearby option would be the new Backroom lot that appears to be a library, that has a hidden nightclub on the floor below.

Once you’ve told a stranger a story, Anansi will pass judgement. Fortunately, it seems he’s pretty pleased with most stories you tell. You’ll get a Confident moodlet and be able to move onto the next trial.

Trial Two: Offer a Secret

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Head back to Anansi’s Well and this time select the second Trial. The riddle here is: “Whisper what hides beneath your smile. Hold a secret too tightly and the web may twist, but share it and Anansi’s favor finds you.” It seems Anansi loves secrets and it’s time for you to share a secret with someone.

First, you’ll want to have a secret to share and that’s done in a number of ways in the Royalty & Legacy expansion. You can simply select “Gossip…” and ask Sims for secrets (as long as you have mutual acquaintances), you can research your own family tree in the Family Tree Compendium, or you can buy secrets from the Information Broker on a computer.

After sharing the secret, you’ll get Anansi’s approval and a Fine moodlet allowing you to move onto the third Trial. Back to the well!

Trial Three: Spin the Web

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For Trial Three, the riddle is as follows: “Weave a trick. Twist a thread. Let another stumble while you rise. Let Anansi judge if you are clever enough to dance in the web.”

For this one, you don’t have to be part of the Noble career, but it does unlock a new interaction if you want to give it a try. Then, you can “Lie About Royal Lineage” under the Mischief category. Alternatively, you can always “Lie about Career”.

Anansi loves it when you tell a lie, proving your deceitful nature, and prompting him to open up Trial Four.

Trial Four: Fulfill The Thread

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The fourth and final Trial will take you a little longer, unless you’re already skilled up in Writing. The riddle reads: “Gather the words that linger in your mind, and bind them to the page. If written with excellence, it will endure gracefully in Anansi’s web. This is your final trial.”

For this, you need to write a story, but, not just any old story, an excellent one. So, you’ll need to get your writing skill up. I tried writing a book at level 1, 2, 3 and 4 and Anansi didn’t like them. At skill level 5 though, I wrote a book that was of “Excellent” quality and he finally gave me the reward for completing his trials. If you really don’t want to spend time on the writing grind, you can always use Sims 4 cheats to increase your skill level.

Anansi’s Trials rewards

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Once you’ve completed all four of Anansi’s Trials you are rewarded with the Threadshifter Trait. This trait will allow you to shift Favor and rewrite your social standing.

To do this, you’ll have a new interaction when you click on your Sim that says “Shift Favor”. By selecting this option, you can switch between having Favor with the Commoners and Favor with the Royals, depending on what suits your situation. You won’t be able to do this whenever you like though, you’ll have to wait a while between each swap.