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The Sims 4 Adventure Awaits: Crystal panning, explained

A Sim crystal panning in the riverbank in Gibbi Point in The Sims 4: Adventure Awaits. It's a clear, blue day with the horizon in view.

Unsurprisingly, The Sims 4: Adventure Awaits gives your Sims access to loads of new adventurous activities. Among them is crystal panning, which is a fun new way of finding collectables lurking just underneath the water’s surface.

The only catch with crystal panning is that you have to know exactly where to do it. It’s not the hardest spot to find, but it’s also a totally underadvertised activity, meaning that if you didn’t know what you were looking for then you’d probably never find it.

What is crystal panning?

Crystal panning is an outdoor activity in Gibbi Point’s own Crystal Valley. You can do it by using a special interaction on a pool of water near the Fearful Fish Lounge.

Panning for crystals gives you the chance of finding crystals in the water. It’s not a specific skill, so much as a local pastime influenced by luck and perseverance. 

Luck, you say?

So, the ways that crystal panning can be influenced by luck are two-fold. Firstly, it’s random which crystals you’ll uncover, with some crystals being much more common (or rare) than others.

Secondly, if you have Enchanted By Nature then the full luck mechanic can kick in to influence your likelihood of finding a hidden gem. To illustrate, if your Sim has a lucky day, then they’re more likely to find a rare crystal like Plumbite or Jet.

Sims with the Collector trait will also be more likely to find more crystals while panning. This is because they have a boost when it comes to finding collectables. You can only get the Collector trait by havign a Nature-related Aspiration, like The Curator or Freelance Botanist, so if you want to reap the benefits be sure to pick one for your Sim.

Who can go crystal panning?

Any Sims who have reached the Child lifestage and beyond can enjoy rummaging around in the mud for treasure. A true activity for the whole family.

How to pan for crystals

Crystal panning is simple if you know where to look. Once you find the right spot, you just need to select the pool over wherever you want your Sim to pan and use the Pan for Crystals interaction.

Panning for crystals works a lot like swimming and other water-based activities, so the exact location you click on the pool matters. Where you click decides where your Sim will pan.

Where to go crystal panning in Gibbi Point

Travel to a lot in Gibbi Point’s Crystal Valley neighbourhood. You can pick anywhere, but the Fearful Fish Lounge is a public lot in the area, so that might be a good place to start. Zoom out really far and scroll upwards (or north) over the bridges and into the woods.

You’ll find the riverbank pretty quickly. This shallow, muddy area is exactly where your Sims need to be to go crystal panning. If you still can’t see it, try clicking on random shallow areas in the water to see if the interaction is available. You can pan wherever you want around there.

What can Sims find while crystal panning?

All sorts of things. Mainly crystals, of course – especially common ones like Quartz. That’s not all you’ll fish up, though. If you’re unlucky, you might mostly find upgrade parts and rubber ducks.

I guess that’s not so bad, really. Rubber ducks are cute. And I’m sure your fridge needs an upgrade.

A few items I found while getting my Sim to crystal pan for an afternoon include:

  • 2x Peach (The crystal. Inexplicably, actual peaches aren’t in The Sims 4)
  • 2x Quartz
  • Orange Topaz
  • Rose (Again, the crystal, not the flower)
  • Various potions
  • Assorted toys
  • Earbuds
  • A Voidcritter card

Can you get rich from crystal panning?

I’d definitely say so. Crystals are a vital way of making money early on in any save, which is something I’m sure you’ll be familiar with if you enjoy rags-to-riches challenges. Crystal panning just gives you a much faster way of finding them than scrabbling around whatever rocks have spawned around Oasis Springs will.

So saying, despite crystal panning generally being quicker than waiting for rocks to spawn, it can still take you a while before you find the good stuff. There’s also a reasonable chance that your Sims won’t find anything at all. If you’re planning on making much money from it, then I’d suggest you give your Sims the best chances possible by waiting for them to have Good Luck.

Crystal panning is also totally free to do, meaning any items you sell from it make a massive profit margin. This really sets it apart from activities like painting or knitting, which can have some substantial overheads.

Written By

Toni is a writer, content creator, and simulation fanatic. He started playing The Sims 1 in the early 2000s when expansion packs still only cost a fiver and the inflatable sofas were contemporary.

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