Sandcastles or sand sculptures are decorative objects Sims can build on sandy terrain. They appear in The Sims: Vacation, The Sims 2: Bon Voyage, The Sims 3, and The Sims 4: Island Living.
The Sims: Vacation[]
A sandcastle built using the sandcastle kit
If a lot in the "beach" themed area of Vacation Island has a rental shack, Sims can rent a sandcastle kit. Once the kit is rented, the Sim who rented it will go somewhere on the lot and begin building a sandcastle, but the player has no control over where the Sim will go. Sims with higher creativity skill build better sandcastles.
The player can direct other family members to join the activity, in which case the renter's creativity skill seems to control the quality of the sandcastle. A common problem on the Reclaimed Public Beach is that Sims will build sandcastles in spots that other Sims who want to join in can't get to.
The Sims 2: Bon Voyage[]
A Sim building a sandcastle
Sandcastle kits are no longer required to build sandcastles, but Sims can only build them on beaches. Using sandy terrain paint on other types of lots will not work. Sims also have the option to destroy the castle after it has been finished.
The Sims 3[]
A Sim playing in the sand
With the base game patch installed alongside The Sims 3: Island Paradise (patch 54), Sims are able to play on terrain covered with sandy terrain paint. They will build random sandcastle designs. They can also be directed to build specific sandcastles after having built a particular design at least once, and can be directed to destroy a finished sandcastle.
The Sims 4: Island Living[]
Two Sims building a sand sculpture
Similar to The Sims 3, Sims can build sculptures on any terrain covered with terrain paint classified as sand, and will build random sculpture designs. Sculptures take up 1x1 tiles of space, but at least 2x2 tiles are required to start sculpting. Sims can also build a sculpture alone, or with another Sim helping them, but there is no option to choose a specific design. Sand sculptures can be destroyed by directing a Sim to "monster stomp" on them.
When it rains, sand sculptures will deteriorate and be visibly damaged from getting wet.[TS4:S]