The year 2021 has essentially been the year of challenges for BitLife players. Of course, that is in no way a bad thing, because the challenges we’re referring to are the weekly events Candywriter launches for iOS and Android players alike — here, you’ll typically be given four days starting on Saturday afternoon to complete all the requirements of the challenge, and if you’re able to do that, you get one new accessory unlocked and ready to equip on any one of your Bitizens or their friends and relatives.
This week’s BitLife challenge marks a return to the world of pop culture, but instead of paying tribute to a TV show or a movie, Candywriter is paying tribute to a famous actor…who also happened to enter the world of politics. The Schwarzenegger Challenge, quite obviously, tips its hat to Austria’s greatest export to the world of entertainment, and much like Arnold Schwarzenegger, you’ll need to be a success as a bodybuilder, a success as a movie star, and a success as a politician.
Can you achieve all three before Candywriter bids “hasta la vista, baby” to the challenge? We’re here to help you do just that in this BitLife mini-strategy guide, so keep on reading if you want to quickly complete the Schwarzenegger Challenge.
Getting Started – Be Born In Austria, Have Great Looks And Average Smarts
When creating a character for the Schwarzenegger Challenge, there is no specific gender requirement, despite the fact that the Governator is male — an alpha male, in fact, if you consider his movie roles. But since you’ll need to become famous as an actor and get elected as your state’s governor, it would be best if you start out with good Looks at the very least — if you have God Mode, you might as well set Looks to 90+ and Smarts to 50+. You could also select Sports as a Special Skill, as this could help you with one of the other requirements later on in the challenge.
But you will need to at least complete high school, avoid getting in trouble to ensure that you graduate and get good grades, and make sure that your Looks are 80-90 or higher and your Smarts at 50+ by the time you’re done with high school. Going to the gym (yet another requirement) could help with your Looks, while reading a book and joining school activities could improve your Smarts if that stat is rather low at birth.
Always Make Sure You Go To The Gym Before Hitting The Age Button
The next requirement we shall be discussing for BitLife’s Schwarzenegger Challenge is going to the gym at least once for 40-plus years. If you want to be as ripped as Arnold, you’ll need to have a dedicated workout regimen, and you’ll ideally need to start young and early. The earliest time you can start going to the gym is 12 years old, regardless which country your character is from. That’s simple enough, but what could be tricky is making sure you’ve visited the gym at least once before hitting the Age button.
It all boils down to being as alert as possible — you don’t want to use the Time Machine or redo your entire life just because you missed one trip to the gym. So be sure you’re reviewing all your activities before tapping on Age — if you don’t see anything that says “I went to the gym” or something to that effect, that’s your cue to pump some iron!
Migrating to the U.S. – Getting Drafted In Basketball Or Baseball Could Also Help
Once you graduate from high school at the age of 18, you can migrate to the United States and complete the next requirement in BitLife’s Schwarzenegger Challenge. But since that will cost you some money, you could actually get to the U.S. for free if you get drafted by the game’s NBA or MLB equivalent.
That’s why we suggested playing school sports and choosing Sports as your Special Skill if you have God Mode — if you get drafted, that will automatically require you to travel to the United States (or Canada, in the event you get drafted by Toronto, though you can always quit and restart if this happens), and you wouldn’t have to pay a single cent. We haven’t seen baseball (or softball, for female Bitizens) show up too often in Austria, but basketball will often be an option in middle school and high school.
Once you make the team, be sure you are regularly practicing to. Improve your Performance, and once you get drafted, don’t stay in the league for too long. You’ll want to retire by the time you reach your early 20s in order to take care of the next requirement, which is to become a famous movie star!
The Usual Tips Apply For Becoming A Movie Star
If you’ve been playing BitLife for some time, there shouldn’t be anything new when it comes to becoming a movie star. One other good thing about being drafted by a sports league is that it could help you build your nest egg in advance of your gubernatorial run, but you’ll likely earn much of that through your film career — again, be sure you’re not staying too long in professional sports (should you take that route) and applying for the Voiceover Actor job while you’re still in your early 20s, mid-20s tops.
Keep using the Work Harder option to improve your performance, and avoid developing an addiction — go clubbing if you may, but turn down any offer to try a new drink or drug. By the time you reach your early-to-mid 30s (depending on when you started your acting career), chances are you will already be considered famous.
And if you want to improve your Fame to get those high-paying commercial shoots and earn more money per year, it’s best to have at least one social media account and to have those accounts verified. Also, write some books or do some sexy photoshoots for a quick Fame boost.
Once you’ve amassed a fortune of about $30 million to $50 million, you can move on to the next part of the Schwarzenegger Challenge, which is to run for governor and get elected. So how can you mimic that part of the Terminator star’s professional life?
Becoming Governor – Start Out As School Board Director
The BitLife universe isn’t quite like the real world — rarely do you see Bitizens following in the footsteps of Arnold Schwarzenegger and becoming governor with very little to no prior political experience. Even Jesse Ventura had to become mayor before he became Governor of Minnesota, and with that in mind, it’s highly recommended that you start your political career at the lowest ranks before having any sort of gubernatorial aspirations. That means running for School Board Director, even while you’re still a famous movie star.
That, of course, will slowly but surely take its toll on your Fame stat, but since you should have a lot of money in your bank account, you can max out your campaign budget for best chances of winning, then focus on holding Energetic or Maniacal rallies, addressing your chosen platform and your achievements within that platform, and allaying concerns about issues where your Approval Rating bar is orange, red, or nonexistent.
And if there are new laws to pass, use your best judgment — do not pass any law that may sound too frivolous or silly, and pass the ones that can obviously help people in a realistic manner. All that should ensure a high Approval Rating by the time your four-year term is over.
After serving four years as School Board Director, you can then run for Mayor and again max out your campaign budget. In here, you’ll need to be careful about the things you say or have your campaign team do, as playing too safe or playing too dirty could cost you the election! Your choice of party and platform is irrelevant — the main thing is staying true to the platform you had chosen, which means playing up economic accomplishments if your platform is Economy and allaying concerns about Crime or Education if your Approval Rating in those two areas is poor. It will be harder to get a great Approval Rating at the end of your term, but as long as it’s in the 60-70 percent range or greater, you should be fine.
Finally, when running for Governor, keep in mind that debate and pre-election performance is more important than ever, which means no bribes, no blatant mudslinging, and no questionable answers in the scenarios that come up. In terms of your budget, you can keep it in the $5 million to $10 million range — no need to max it out this time, considering how expensive a gubernatorial run is compared to a mayoral run. And last, but not least, remember that the game has long since nerfed a couple popular workarounds with elections — if you lose an election, you’ll have no choice but to try again at the same position four years later, and your entire campaign budget is gone forever!
Follow the tips we mentioned and you should be elected as Governor in your first try — once that happens, you’ve completed the Schwarzenegger Challenge, and you can do what you always do after completing a challenge — choose a prize chest and unlock a new hat or new eyewear.