The Sims 4’s gnome population first took a turn for the mischievous when the Seasons expansion pack was released a few years ago, and now that Enchanted by Nature has revisited them in a big way, there’s never been a better time to learn how to stay on the good side of these puckish little garden ornaments.
Sentient gnomes have three behavioural states: when they’re neutral, they’ll teleport around your home lot not doing anything much, although they will occasionally place themselves somewhere inconvenient, like blocking the refrigerator or preventing a sleeping Sim from getting out of bed. Appeased gnomes become friendly towards your Sims, with their exact behaviour determined by the reason and method through which they were summoned. Angered gnomes become evil, however, and they’ll begin systematically breaking everything your Sims own until a member of the household successfully pleads for forgiveness.
In short, The Sims 4’s temporarily-sentient garden gnomes can be a helpful presence around the house, but can also get really annoying if you’re not careful, and things go much more smoothly when you know exactly what gift to appease each gnome with.
How to appease the gnomes in The Sims 4
Garden gnomes aren’t sentient by default in The Sims 4, but they can become so under a couple of conditions.
The first, introduced way back in the Seasons expansion pack, sees gnomes briefly gain the ability to teleport around your home lot – even spawning in trios if you don’t already have some around – during in-game celebrations that include the Holiday Gnomes tradition. They begin behaving neutrally to your Sims (albeit often getting underfoot), but if correctly appeased they will spend the rest of the day dropping seasonal seed packets all around the house. Anger them with the wrong gift, however, and you’ll have an evil gnome on your hands.
With Enchanted by Nature installed, gnomes can also be granted temporary sentience using Fairy Dust, which allows your Sims to summon them to life for help with tasks such as gardening. However, it’s now also easier to end up with a destructive gnome on your hands, especially thanks to the new luck system, which will potentially spawn evil gnomes out of nowhere just to torment Sims who are having a particularly bad day.
To appease any sentient gnome, simply click on it and select an appeasement gift from the options in the radial menu. You will always have the same six choices: Coffee, Fruitcake, a Future Cube, Pie, Salad, or a Toy. Somehow, your Sim will produce these offerings without even having to pay for them, so the only issue is whether the gnome in question is inclined to accept the gift you chose.
In the table below is every gnome in The Sims 4 that can be obtained via Build/Buy or woodwork crafting, along with their preferred appeasement gifts. Note that while it seems that gnomes actually have a group of three gifts that they will accept, reports vary as to whether each gnome also has a most-preferred gift type within that category, possibly based on an older version of the game where appeasement conditions were much tougher. Where this is the case, the ideal gift for each is listed in bold:
| Gnome Name | Appeasement Gift(s) | Add-On Pack |
|---|---|---|
| Bare Essentials Gnome | Pie, Salad, Toy | base game |
| Bearly Gnome | Pie, Salad, Toy | base game |
| Captain Gnome | Pie, Salad, Toy | Growing Together |
| Chuck Wagon with Trailboss Gnome | n/a (cannot become sentient) | Horse Ranch |
| Don’t Fear the Reagnomper | Pie, Salad, Toy | base game |
| The Ghastly Ghostly Gnome | Coffee, Fruitcake, Future Cube | base game |
| Gnome Matter What, I’m Still Your Baby | Coffee, Fruitcake, Future Cube | base game |
| The Gnome Wolf | Pie, Salad, Toy | Werewolves |
| Gnomebody Loves Mushrooms Like a Gnome | random | For Rent |
| Gnomedalf | random | Enchanted by Nature |
| Guardian of the Gnomelaxy | Coffee, Future Cube, Toy | base game |
| Happy Gnome Garden Pal | Coffee, Fruitcake, Future Cube | base game |
| Happy Gnomiversary! | Coffee, Future Cube, Toy | base game |
| Herb the Posy Protector | Pie, Salad, Toy | Cottage Living |
| High-Rider Gnome | random | base game |
| Mr. Floppy the Gnome | Pie, Salad, Toy | base game |
| “Onward” The Adventurous Gnome | random | base game |
| PlantGnome | random | Enchanted by Nature |
| Poolside Gnome | Coffee, Pie, Toy | base game |
| Right Side Up Gnome / Upside Down Gnome Decor | random | base game |
| Strictly Business Gnome | Coffee, Pie, Toy | base game |
| Sweetest Little Gnome | Pie, Salad, Toy | Little Campers |
| There’s No Place Like Gnome | Coffee, Fruitcake, Future Cube | base game |
| Very Fairy Gnome | random | Enchanted by Nature |
Appeasing The Great Gnome in The Sims 4 Enchanted by Nature
With Enchanted by Nature installed, you can find The Great Gnome statue in the Coast of Adhmor neighbourhood of Innisgreen, just next to Gnum Gnum’s Specialty Food stall.
As a unique piece of world furniture intended for use outside of the game’s editable lots, this statue cannot be crafted, purchased without the use of debug mode, or summoned to help with household tasks.
However, Sims with the Now You Gnome reward trait from the new pack can attempt to appease it by gifting it coffee, pie, or a toy in exchange for a random reward of a crafting material or collectible.
Miscellaneous gnomes in The Sims 4
Finally, note that the following gnome-adjacent decor items cannot become sentient or be appeased in The Sims 4:
- Gnome Simmi / Golden Gnome Simmi: can be obtained as part of the Simmi Capsule collection from Snowy Escape but is not technically classed as a gnome.
- Chuck Wagon with Trailboss Gnome: can be obtained from Build/Buy or crafted via Woodworking like other items classed as garden gnomes. However, presumably due to the gnome itself being just part of a more elaborate design, it does not possess full gnome functionality.
- Gnome-Shaped Gemstone: can be crafted with the Gemology skill from Crystal Creations but is not technically classed as a gnome.
- Gnome Sculpture: can be crafted with the Pottery skill from Businesses & Hobbies but is not technically classed as a gnome.
Fans of fantastical life states in The Sims 4 should be sure to check out our guide to becoming a PlantSim in The Sims 4, as well as our comprehensive guide to summoning every NPC ghost in The Sims 4 Paranormal Stuff.