The Sims Freeplay- Beginners Guide

This post has been completely redesigned and updated for 2017!

When you first start the game there aren’t many instructions as to what you need to do and how the game works so I have put together this guide to help you get the most out of the game!

Everything in red will be explained in more detail later in the post so keep reading, any words highlighted as a link will take you to a post explaining that topic in a lot more detail so if you are still unsure after reading about it in this post click on the links!

Player Information Panel 

At the top of your screen you will see a panel, this shows you your progress in the game:
1.Level and XPs- this shows you your level and how far away you are from levelling up, if you click on this you will see how many more experience points you need to be able to level up

2.VIP level- you earn VIP points when you buy items from the online store, the more you buy the higher your VIP level will be and the more VIP perks you will earn

3.Simoleons- this is your main currency in the game, click on the green simoleon symbol to buy more with real money

4.Lifestyle Points- this is a special currency, you can buy premium items with LPs or use them to speed up actions, again click on the orange LP symbol to buy more with real money

5.Social Points- this is another special currency, you earn these by completing social tasks at neighbours houses or as rewards during live events and community events

6.Town Value and Sim Count- click on this button to see your simtown information including your sim count (how many sims you currently have in your town/ how many you are allowed to add currently, this increases when you level up) as well as your town value, whenever you build a house, workplace or business or buy an item this adds to your town value, as your town value increases so does your daily simoleon reward

What is the time in the game? The time is the same as the time is for you so if its 10pm in your location then it will also be 10pm for your sims


Sim Information Panel

Your sim info panel will look different depending on the device you are playing on, on a larger device it will be a pop up tab at the bottom of the screen (shown as 1 in image above) and on a smaller device it will be in a folder on the side of your screen (shown as 2 in image above) with the simtracker included.

(3)Careers and Education– this is where you can give your sims a job, enrol them at school, send them to work or school or quit their job.

(4)Hobbies– here you can see all your sims hobbies and what level they are currently on in that hobby, click on the picture of the hobby to open up the hobby collection so you can see how many pieces they still need to collect before you will earn a reward:

(5)Relationships– relationships for the sim you are currently playing as.

(6)Life Dreams– complete the life dreams and legacies quest to get this tab. You will then be able to give your sims a life dream from here or see how far they have progressed with a life dream so far:

(7)Age Control–  complete the life dreams and legacies quest to get this tab. This tab allows you to advance, reverse or pause a sims age. Read this post for more information


Simtracker

Your simtracker will look different depending on the device you are playing on, on a larger device it will be a pop up tab on the sims needs bar (shown as 1 in the image above) and on a smaller device it will be in a folder on the side of your screen (2)

On the simtracker you can see the tasks your sims are currently doing (3) and if they have completed that action their face will flash with an XP symbol (4)

The simtracker is also used to send sims to work (click on the pulsing suitcase(5), bring a sim to the location you are currently at (using the whistle(6) and sending a sim home (click on the house with the arrow inside it button(7)

How can I send my sim to the park? Make sure they aren’t busy and go to the park, open the simtracker and click on the whistle to bring them to the park


Life Stages

When you first start the game you create an adult sim and begin the Tutorial

As you progress through the game you will unlock more Life Stages. Each life stage is unlocked by completing a main quest:

Babies– complete the Two and a Half Sims Quest to unlock

Toddlers– complete A Quest for Toddlers to unlock

Preteens– complete the Preparing for Preteens Quest to unlock

Teenagers– complete the Teenagers Quest to unlock

Ageing your Teenagers to Adults– complete the Adulthood Quest to unlock

Seniors– complete the Seniors Quest to unlock

Why can’t I complete A Quest for Toddlers yet? All main quests have to be complete in the order found in this post so you will not be able to do the Quest for Toddlers until all previous quests have been completed.


Sim Needs

Your sims have 6 needs that have to be fulfilled (the bar needs to be fully green) so they are satisfied, if they aren’t happy they mope around and take ages to walk anywhere and they won’t go to work. If you fill up all their needs almost completely (they will be inspired, being inspired is great because they earn more money and experience points when gardening and baking but also when they complete any action they will earn more XPs!)

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  1. Hunger- fridge/ plate of food
  2. Bladder- toilet
  3. Energy- bed/ coffee machine
  4. Hygiene- sink/shower/bath
  5. Social- phone/interaction with a sim or pet
  6. Fun- several things such as watch TV, check emails (but for adults and seniors I plant bell peppers)

TIP: the same symbol that appears on your sims need bar also shows in the store so you know that item will fulfil that need

To inspire a sim you need to fulfil at least 4 needs fully and for the other 2 most of the bar will need to be full.

You can inspire a sim instantly with:

  • A cupcake- this costs LPs, I wouldn’t recommend this option!
  • Rainbow cakes- if you have this VIP Perk
  • Singing salmon- if you unlock this prize when completing the Life Dreams and Legacies Quest

TIP: when you download a new update to the game it will instantly inspire all of your sims!

How can I tell if my sim is inspired? They will sparkle and the cupcake will be greyed out

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How much does an inspired sim earn compared to a sim who isn’t inspired? It varies depending on what they are doing but if you wanted to grow onions an inspired sim would earn S1,200 and 900XP whereas an uninspired sim would only earn S800 and 600XP! They will also get more XPs when completing any action, such as having a catnap they will get 99XPs when inspired instead of just 66XPs.


Star Ratings on Items

The star ratings indicate how good that item is, the more stars means the more expensive the item but also the quicker it will take to do the action. For example if you wanted your sim to read the big book of stuff:

  • 1 star bookcase would take 1 day
  • 2 star bookcase would take 21 hours 30 minutes
  • 3 star bookcase would take 19 hours

TIP: when trying to complete quests that have time limits it is always best to use items with the highest star rating you can so you can complete the quest quicker

I have found an item with a one star rating but I cannot find the same item with a higher rating, why? Almost everything in the store has a star rating so some items such as hobby items where only one item is available will have only 1 star even though that is the only item available to buy.


Cancelling/ Speeding Up An Action

To cancel or speed up an action click on the sim who is doing the action then you will see this bar appear:

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Click on the red x to cancel the action, it will bring up a warning saying you will not get any XPs for cancelling, are you sure you want to? Click yes or no

Click on the orange use button to use LPs to speed it up, it will show you on the left hand side of the button how many LPs it will cost you to complete the action early.

Click on the green arrow if you clicked on your sim by mistake and don’t want to do any of the options above.

I haven’t got enough LPs to speed up the action, how can I earn some? Give this post a read! I explain a simple way to earn LPs that you can do as soon as you complete the first main quest in the game!


Making Simoleons (money!)

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1-Daily Simoleon Reward

Click on a mailbox at the front of your sims house once a day to collect this reward, this is based on your town value so the higher your town value the more simoleons you will earn (up to a limit!)

2-Gardening

A great way to make money is to plant, seniors, adults and teenagers can plant. You will need to buy a garden patch for S20 and select the item you would like to plant, pay attention to the time, once your sim has finished gardening click on the circle plant pictures above the patch to collect your money.

Some seeds can turn into sim eating plants: Lettuce, Strawberries, Tomatoes, Eggplant, Spinach- I wouldn’t risk planting these unless you had a goal to make them, if they turn into a sim eating plant you won’t get any money or XPs from them and you will need to negotiate with the plant for 3 minutes to be able to use the garden patch again.

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3-Baking

Baking is similar to gardening, buy an oven, select baking and click on the recipe you want to bake, once your sim has finished baking click the circle food picture above the oven to collect your money!

Some items can burn: Brownies, Waffles, Donuts, Banana Bread, Rocky Road and Soufflé- I wouldn’t risk making these items unless you had a goal to make them, if they burn you won’t get any money or XPs for them and you will need to extinguish the fire for about 3 minutes to be able to use the oven again

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TIP: remember that inspired sim earn more money when baking or gardening!

TIP: you can buy seeds or recipes from the Supermarket at a reduced price!

What does the wedding cake do? Is it worth the LPs it costs to bake? The wedding cake doesn’t do anything so don’t waste your LPs on it!

4-Careers

Another way to make money is by getting your adult sims a job, to get a job click on the menu at the right hand bottom of the screen and on the jobs tab find the sim that you want to get a job and click on unemployed next to their picture, this will bring you up the list of jobs available- give this post a read for more details

Towards the beginning of the game you won’t have many options until you build all of the workplaces, once you have built them all the list of jobs to choose from is: ScientistFirefighterMusicianArtistTeacherReal Estate AgentAthlete and Politician as well as profession careers Police, Movie Star and Hospital Staff

Only adult sims can go to work but you can also send your preteen sims to Simtown Elementary and your teenage sims to Simtown High

What is the difference between careers and professions? Careers you just send your sims to work for a certain amount of hours and you cannot interact with them during this time, with profession careers you can go to work with your sims, help out the people who turn up at that workplace and earn resources to build and upgrade workstations within that workplace, click here to find out more about profession careers

5-Hobbies

Your sims can make money when completing hobbies too, when you find a new hobby item you will earn simoleons and when you complete a collection you either earn a prize or LPs. Click on the links below for information on each of the different hobbies available for sims in that life stage:

Baby: Musical Expression

Toddler: Toddler PlayhouseSeashell CollectingFinger Painting

Preteen: KarateBalletDivingFigure SkatingSeashell CollectingSkill Tester

Teen: Teen IdolCookingDivingFigure Skating,  JugglingSpell CastingBroomstick FlyingSurfingBreakdancingArcade GamerCatwalk ModelBowling, Cat ShowDog ObedienceDog AgilityArchery, Internet Kitten, Puppy PalsFashion HunterMakeup ArtistPotion BrewingSnorkellingStorytellerSurvivalist

Adult: CookingDiving,  Figure Skating,  Fashion Designer,  FishingGhost HuntingHorse TricksVaultingShowjumpingWoodworkingJugglingSpell CastingBroomstick FlyingSalsa DancingBreakdancingSurfingCatwalk Model, AerobicsBowling, Cat ShowDog ObedienceDog AgilityArchery, Internet Kitten, Puppy PalsFashion HunterMakeup ArtistPotion BrewingSnorkellingStorytellerSurvivalistPinball Enthusiast JesterHigh Striker, Chocolatier

Senior: FishingCookingQuiltingBird FeedingPinball Enthusiast Dog ObedienceStorytellerSurvivalist, Cat Show

At the start you won’t have many places unlocked to be able to do these hobbies.

NOTE: a sim can only have one hobby, you can change their hobby but they will lose all progress towards that previous hobby

Still confused about hobbies? Check out my Frequently Asked Questions about Hobbies!

Are hobbies important? You don’t have to complete them if you don’t want to but if you want to complete Time Limited Hobby Events then yes they are important, when completing a Time Limited Hobby Event you will need a sim at the highest level in that hobby and it is always best to do this before the event starts, so as soon as you can start a hobby its best to have one sim on that hobby to complete it for the first time so you are ready when a time limited hobby event starts! You can find more information and a list of time limited events here

6-Buy them

You can buy simoleon, LP and SP packs from the online store, located by clicking on the shopping cart:

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When you buy items from the online store you now earn VIP Perks, VIP perks are unlocked when you buy items from the online store with real money, anything you buy with real money now gets converted into points (the more money you spend the more points you earn) and the more VIP points you have, the higher VIP level you will be, earning you more perks! Click here for more information on the VIP Perks you can unlock!

Help I need to earn some money! Click here to read my post 15 ways to make money


Goals, Quests and Tasks

You can see all your current tasks, quests and goals in the active tasks tab:

For weekly tasks and social tasks there is an orange skip symbol, you can use this to skip a task but this will cost you 10LPs, you cannot skip quest goals.

Weekly Tasks

You will find weekly tasks in your active tasks tab, you need to complete all these goals in a week to receive a key- you use these keys to unlock mystery boxes that contain different items, the more keys the rarer and better the items! The mystery box shop is explained in more detail in this post

You can also get rewards for completing 25%, 50% and 75% of the goals.

TIP: If you cannot complete a goal you can either skip with 10LPs or wait until a new update for the game is released, when you download a new update it will complete the current weekly task you are on!

Once you have completed the week of goals you will have to wait until the next week to access the mystery box shop to spend your keys.

NOTE: these goals have to be completed in your town, they cannot be completed in a neighbours town

Find my list of weekly tasks here

Quests

There are now main quests and discovery quests.

Main Quests- All main quests HAVE to be completed in order, there is a level that quests unlock at but you still will not be able to access that quest if you are at the correct level but haven’t completed a main quest before it.

NOTE: you have to complete the current main quest before you can move onto the next one in the list:

  • Ocean View– unlocks the beach side premium houses (level 9)
  • Adulthood– unlocks the ability to age teens to adults (level 21)
  • Ghost Hunters– unlocks the ghost hunting hobby and haunted items (level 22)
  • Seniors– unlocks seniors (level 23)

For example, if you are on level 28 but are currently completing the Ghost Hunters Quest then you will need to complete this one before you can start the Seniors Quest, Bird Feeding Quest, In Stitches Quest and the final main quest Life Dreams and Legacies Quest. You will see all the main quests up to your current level in your quest queue 

These quests need to be completed in order and the next one will start as soon as the previous quest is completed.

NOTE: these goals have to be completed in your town, they cannot be completed in a neighbours town

 

Discovery Quests- these are usually unlocked by talking to a person in simtown or building a place, they can be completed in any order (apart from the ones that require another discovery quest to be completed first) and at the same time as main quests but you can only complete one discovery quest at a time. Below is my list of discovery quests to complete, click on the links to find out how to begin these quests:

  • Book Of Spells– unlocks spell casting hobby (sorcerous supplies unlocks at level 8 and needs to be built before quest is unlocked)
  • Saved by the Spell– unlocks the potion brewing hobby (complete the book of spells quest and find the wizard in the park to start)
  • A Dance To Remember– unlocks salsa dancing hobby (click on the dancers next to the thinking man statue in the park to start this quest)
  • The Grooving Guru– unlocks the Health Hub content and aerobics hobby (build the health hub from level 9 to start this quest)
  • Nanny Knows Best- unlocks new interactions for babies (find the nanny in the park to start this quest)
  • Vacationers Guide to the Outdoors- unlocks the campgrounds content (build the campgrounds from level 11 to start this quest)
  • The Sunset Mall– unlocks mall content (you need to build the mall from level 12 to unlock this quest)
  • Pretty Little Planters– unlocks a second floor to the mall (you need to build the escalator to start this quest)*
  • Super Toddler Secret Mission- unlocks the finger painting hobby (find the super hero at the stables)
  • Strange Things In Simtown– unlocks super villain outfits for your toddlers (find the super villain at the park once you have completed the super toddler secret mission quest)
  • Royal Lineage– unlocks the castle (you need to build the castle from level 14 to unlock this quest)
  • DIY Homes: Peaceful Patios– unlocks patios (you need to talk to the woman with the hard hat at the park from level 15)
  • DIY Homes: Lovey Dovey Balcony– unlocks balconies (you need to talk to the woman at the community center from level 17 once you have completed the multi story renovations quest)
  • DIY Homes: Basement of Kings– unlocks basements (you need to talk to the woman at the community center once you complete the balcony quest)
  • Extreme Home Takeover -unlocks the ability to submit your houses for other players to build (talk to the realtor in the park from level 11)
  • A Puppy Odyssey – unlocks puppies and kittens (find the puppy in the park from level 11)
  • Simtown Express – unlocks the downtown area and hospital profession workplace (build the simtown express from level 15 to begin once you have completed the mysterious island quest)
  • Sims and the City– unlocks penthouse apartment templates in downtown (you need to complete the simtown express quest first)

NOTE: these goals have to be completed in your town, they cannot be completed in a neighbours town

How much time does each quest take to complete? Check out this post for the total time each quest takes to complete

Do I have to complete a discovery quest? No you don’t! If you don’t want to complete the quest don’t talk to the sim or build the building that is needed for this quest to begin BUT once you start a discovery quest you will need to finish it before you can move onto a new discovery quest

Social Tasks

All these tasks have to be completed at your neighbours town, each goal you complete gives you a reward- some give you social points others will just earn your experience points. To get neighbours you need to connect your game to a social media platform, for example, facebook, google play games or game center.

If a neighbour doesn’t have an item you need you can add new neighbours or skip the goal for 10LPs. If you don’t want to add anyone as neighbours you can still complete tasks at the default neighbourhood Another Simtown, it is lacking a lot of items but you can find out what it contains in this post  and if it doesn’t have what you need to complete that task you can skip with 10LPs without having to visit!

NOTE: these goals can only be completed in a neighbours town, you cannot complete them in your own town

How do I visit neighbours? This post explains how to visit a neighbours town

How do I add neighbours? Check out this post on how to add neighbours

None of my friends play! What should I do? You can find loads of players on this page

What items do I need in my town to create a great social tasks house for my neighbours? Check out this post!

Why can’t my neighbour see an item I put in my town for them? You will need to connect to the cloud and save your game for your neighbours to see the most recent version of your town

Time Limited Events

A lot of the new events in the game nowadays are time limited so you will have a certain amount of time to complete an event in order to get a prize or several prizes. These will also appear in the active tasks tab when they become available, there are a few different types:

  • Time Limited Hobby Events– are hobbies that can be completed previously then have to be completed a certain number of times during the time limited event to unlock new items, for example, Long Hair Event (completing the fashion designer hobby 9 times in the time limit to unlock all 9 hairstyles)
  • Community Events– these events require you to collect lots of a certain thing such as fruit or gems to be able to unlock and build or buy new places or items on the game within the time limit, these have community prizes so all of the sims freeplay community works together to unlock these prizes as well as personal prizes, for example, Tropical Romance Island (collecting fruit to build an island within the time limit)
  • Live Events– these are similar to community events but we don’t have community prizes, only personal prizes, these events require you to collect lots of arts and crafts items to be able to unlock and buy new places or items on the game within the time limit, for example, Dream Daycare (collecting arts and crafts items to purchase all new toddler and infant items within the time limit to win the Toddler Playground House Template)

The links to all Time Limited Events can be found here, remember that they aren’t all currently available right now

Time Limited Hobby Event or Timed Hobby?

Timed hobbies are ones that need to be completed for the first time in the time limit to get a prize, for example, the time limit for the Spellcasting hobby starts once you complete the Book of Spells quest, for a timed hobby you only have to complete the hobby once in the time limit not several times like you do in a time limited hobby event.

Simtown Market Events

These appear in your active tasks tab once you start the profession careers, the aim is to use the resources you earn in the professions to earn prizes such as the boom camera:

Click here for more information on simtown market events


Family Life

Once you complete the Love Is In The Air Quest you will be able to ask sims to move in and be romantic! To interact with another sim have the sim with the plumbob above their head click on another sim and select one of the interactions.

There are 3 different kinds of relationships:

  • Friendly- these are green interaction bubbles
  • Rude- these are red interaction bubbles
  • Romantic- these are pink interaction bubbles

 How do I make my sims roommates?

If you want a sim to move in with another sim then you need one to be nice to the other until they reach the good friends milestone, then you will get the option to move in

How do I make my sims partners?

If you want your sims to be partners and living together then you will need one sim to be romantic to the other until they reach the partners milestone, then you will get the option to move in

NOTE: the sim who asks is the house they move into and the last name they will get, for example if John Smith asked Jade Road to move in they will move into Johns house and she will become Jade Smith even if they are only friends

NOTE: You can only have 4 sims living in a house at one time

There are different interactions for different life stages and relationship milestones, read my Relationships post for my full guide to all the interactions

Marriage

Once you complete the Love Is In The Air Quest you can marry your sims. It is best to ask a sim to marry another sim before they live together, they are less likely to say no if they live in separate houses, it is also best to buy the most expensive ring which costs 10LPs, the better the ring the more likely they will say yes.

When you select get married it will ask you which house you want them to live in, they will take that sims last name:

 

TIP: two sims have to be married before they can have a baby

Check out my post on getting married here

Divorce

If you don’t want your sims to be married anymore you can get them divorced, you won’t be able to move one of the married couple out of a house without getting them divorced first, this post explains how to get your sims divorced

Having a Baby

Once you complete the Two and a Half Sims Quest and you have a married couple in your town you can add a baby! Adding a baby will cost you 3LPs until you complete the Life Dreams and Legacies Quest, then it will cost simoleons (the amount varies depending on how many sims you have in your town already)

  1. Place crib in the house of a married couple otherwise you will not be able to add the baby
  2. Click on blue add sim symbol
  3. Click add on the pop up, the baby will take a day to arrive
  4. After a day the add symbol will now be green, click on this
  5. You will be taken to create a sim, name and customise the baby before clicking on the green tick in the corner to add them to your town

Once you complete future quests you will be able to age your baby through the different life stages:

  • You can bake a birthday cake using an oven for 5LPs to turn a baby into a toddler (once a quest for toddlers has been completed)
  • Then to a preteen (once preparing for preteens has been completed)
  • Then to a teen (once teenagers has been completed)
  • Then to an adult (once adulthood has been completed)
  • Then to a senior (once seniors has been completed)

You can find more information on birthday cake ageing here

Pets

Once you build the pet store you can buy cats, dogs, puppies and kittens! Most of them cost LPs.

Decide on the pet you want then choose the house you want the pet to live in (you can only have 2 pets per household)

Cats and dogs find money and sometimes LPs around your houses! The most expensive the pet the more LPs they are likely to find

Read my Guide to Pets for loads more information

You will also be able to buy Horses at the stable, find out about horses here


Houses

Building a house- Click on the blue or yellow house add symbol to choose a house from the list, pick the empty lot if you want to build your own house. If this is greyed out you will need to finish constructing another building first as you cannot build two places at once or if you have no other places building you will need to level up before you can add a house as you are at your house limit for the current level.

 

Below I’m going to link all of the important posts for creating houses, make sure you check them out before you start (if you make mistakes it can be very expensive to redo!)

Building, Deleting and Resizing Rooms– the first steps to building a house!

Buying, Selling and Storing Items– learn how to place items in your house, sell unwanted items and store items to use them later!

Adding Stairs– once you complete the Multi Story Renovations Quest you will be able to add stairs to your houses, this guide shows you step by step how to do that!

Adding Poolsonce you complete the It’s All Going Swimmingly Quest you will be able to add pools to your gardens, learn the basics as well as some great tips to creating pools with an island in the middle!

Adding Patiosonce you complete the DIY Homes: Peaceful Patios Quest you will be able to add patios to your gardens, check out my step by step guide to that and a video from me on how to have different styles of patio paving next to each other!

Adding Balconiesonce you complete the DIY Homes: Lovey-Dovey Balconies Quest you will be able to add balconies to your houses too, again my guide will walk you through how to do this!

Adding Basementsonce you complete the DIY Homes: Basement of Kings Quest you will be able to build basements underneath your houses! Check out my guide for how to do this!

Have you built an amazing house you want to share with others? You can Submit Your House to the Sims Freeplay team to review and decide if it should end up in the architects homes tab for other players to build, find out how to do that in this post!

 

If you don’t want to create your own there are lots of premade house templates to choose from, you can still edit them! Below I have listed all my house guides, as well as guides for the penthouse apartments and houseboats. You can see my opinion of each house and pictures of them to help you decide which ones you would like to build:

House Guide Part One

House Guide Part Two

House Guide Part Three- Templates

House Guide Part Four- Penthouse Apartments

Houseboats Guide


Adding New Sims

When you first build a new house you will get empty house options (options that appear when a sim isn’t living in the house) the most important option is adding a sim:

Add a sim- select this option to be taken to the create a sim menu, customise your adult sim then add them to the game (this is free)

NOTE: you can only add an adult sim for free to a house, you will need a married couple to add babies that will age into children!

I don’t like my sims name can I change it? Yes you can, you can click on your sim and select ultimate makeover, this will cost you 12LPs but you can change their name, gender and skin colour

Can I delete a sim? Yes you can, click on your sim and next to their name you will see a red cross, click on this and your sim will be deleted from the game


Places in Town

There are 3 areas in your town:

  • Simtown– your main place in town
  • Mysterious Island– complete the Mysterious Island Quest to unlock
  • Downtown- complete the Simtown Express Quest to unlock

Places In Simtown (you need to complete quests and other requirements before you can build most of these places): 

Places On the Mysterious Island (you need to complete quests and other requirements before you can build most of these places): 

Places In Downtown (you need to complete quests and other requirements before you can build these places):

How much does it cost to build a place and how long will it take to build? The price and time vary depending on how many others of that type of building you already have in your town, for example, everytime you build a new house the price will increase for the next house but not for workplaces or businesses and everytime you build a new workplace the price will increase for the next workplace but not for businesses or houses.


Saving to The Cloud

Saving to the cloud is probably the most important part of the game because if you don’t save to the cloud and something goes wrong you could end up losing your whole game (yes, this has happened to me before). It also allows you to transfer your game data onto another device

The first thing you need to do is connect to a social platform for example, facebook or game center (this depends on the device you are playing on) this is explained in the adding neighbours post

Once you have done that you can go into the settings in the game (the 3 white dots button) and click on the cloud button, you can now select upload save data and your game will save, its very quick and simple so make sure you save often!

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TIP: once you have added an item to your house for a neighbour to use you will need to connect to the cloud so they can see the most up to date version of your town and be able to use the item

More information on the cloud can be found here


Important to Know

  • When you complete the last main quest, Life Dreams and Legacies your sims will age automatically and they will die, please check out my Guide to Life Dreams and Orbs and FAQs about Life Dreams so you know what to expect- there are also some tips in that second post to stop your sims ageing!
  • Blue footprints appear in a speech bubble above your sims head when you are trying to do an action that isn’t accessible to your sim, this could mean that the item they want to use is blocked, move the item so your sim can access it and try again

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  • Red crosses appear in a speech bubble above your sims head when you are trying to do an action that your sim cannot do, for example a toddler cannot use a shower so if you were playing as the toddler and you clicked on the shower this red cross will appear.

simsredcross

  • Firemonkeys are the creators of The Sims Freeplay so if you have any technical issues for example if you lose the save data for your game then please contact them, details on how to contact them and the information you will need to provide can be found in this post if it isn’t a technical issue feel free to ask me!
  • Windows Phone Players may not have all the features mentioned here as they have stopped updating the game on windows phones- you will still be able to play the game you just won’t receive any future updates or new content.
  • You will need to keep your game updated to be able to access the new content and events available, this page explains how to update your game
  • Remember to save to the cloud regularly as explained above so you don’t lose any data
  • This blog is constantly updated with information on new content but I also update all of the older posts to make sure they are still up to date, I do have hundreds of posts so this can take a while, if you notice anything that is no longer correct please let me know and I will update it as soon as possible!
  • All my sims freeplay posts can be found on this page

Other Helpful Links:

Loading Screen Tips Explainedever wondered what all those loading screen tips mean, this post explains!

Symbols Explainedthis post shows you all the main symbols in the game

Updating the Game

Contacting Firemonkeys

Want to Contact Me? You are always welcome to ask me questions but it would really help me out if you check out the FAQs post first as it may have already been answered, if not then click-> Contact Me! – or just comment on this post and I will get back to you as soon as possible. If you are looking for a certain sims freeplay post try checking this page before asking-> All My Sims Freeplay Posts


Updated: July 2017

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426 thoughts on “The Sims Freeplay- Beginners Guide

  1. I have a social task that says have a preteen have a triple-fudge hot chocolate and I went to my neighbors and I clicked on the coffee machine and it said nothing like triple-fudge hot chocolate help how do I complete this task?

  2. I have done the “Watch cat videos” part of the weekly task 3 times now, followed by then checking my e-mail because the task is worded “check your e-mail, but before you do, watch cat videos”. It takes an hour and 40 minutes each ti,e and it hasn’t registered that I’ve done it at all after three times and all those hours lost. Any thoughts or ideas please?

      • The game did an update yesterday and it finally registered that I had completed the task. I knew I was doing it right, but wasn’t sure as the wording in the task actually said FUNNY cat videos and each computer I’d done it on simply said cat videos. But it updated and popped up saying I’d done it. All good…..until the next time anyway. LoL

      • Well I got the reward so I guess I can stop wasting time on tasks that will complete themselves. LoL Good to know 😉

  3. Only 4 sims per household but why then is the 2-floor mansion offering 3 children bedrooms? A yellow infant one; a blue toddler one; a pink teen one.
    How do you get 2 parents with 3 children then?

  4. Hey, I am having trouble figuring out how to send my Sim to certain locations like the park. How do I do this so I can complete the fishing hobby task.

  5. I still don’t know how to get my sims to start being romantic, I have 6sims already and they are best friends with each, but I just can’t get pass that.

  6. Oh I also forgot, I’ve never seen the option to ask a sim to move in, and none can make a double shot 😭 I’m so sad.

  7. Hey I was just wondering if you can help me out on the new download. I can’t place any new fences or gates how do I do this? If completed the quest so I have everything

    Thanks 🙂 x

  8. Having trouble finding the telescope to star gaze in neighboring town. Anyone know where it is?

  9. I have a weekly goal to make a preteen or teen write in their diary. But, everytime i click on the preteens bed and select the write in diary option blue footrprints appear above the preteen. I have 3 preteens and i have tried it for each one but the same thing keeps happening. Plz help.

  10. I am wanting to make balconies and basements for my homes but don’t know where to go. I completed both quests and I’m at level 46. Any and all help is appreciated!

    • You need to go to the house section of the home store, there you will find tabs for basements and balconies, I have just posted a youtube video explains how to build patios, balconies and basements: youtube.com/watch?v=RqEw5YA6cDY

  11. do you always have to build a house to get a new sim?
    and can i demolish my old building? kinda regret keep buying unfurnished studio, should’ve save my money and buy the better house instead sigh……

  12. Hi, I was wonder why I can’t watch videos to get free LPS an other things but my sister can watch them but I can’t please help

  13. Hi, thanks for making this blog. It’s really useful. I have a problem with my adult sims. I bought a one-bedroom home, which comes with a Sleepy Head Bed. This used to be the bed for my adult sims, but now that I renovated the whole house, I want to use it as the bed of my preteen. Problem is, I bought a new bed for my adult couple, but when I make them woohoo, they would head to the Sleepy Head Bed. Is there any way to make my new bed the new “master’s bed”? It’s kinda awkward seeing them woohoo in a bed where their child sleeps. Lol. Thank you!

  14. I bought a chess table and when i make someone try to play on it a bubble appears above their head with a chair in it. I dont know what to do. Plz help!

  15. I have to get a teen or preteen to write in a diary on a bed but both of mine refuse to do it why?? This is for a weekly quest. Can you help please.

  16. i’m not a beginner but i’m not gettiing any closer to the prepering for preteens quest .
    when you buy a pile of clothes can a sims tidy it up or is a decoration?
    and can preteens fall and can two preteens jump on a bed

  17. I have a question. Do you or anyone on here know why some of the activity icons under your sims name flash (just highlighted green) when you first select them. I initially thought that meant they needed those things but mine does it even when they’re full. And not all of them just a few or maybe even one.

    • Its just a small glitch, it doesn’t mean anything, it usually happens when one sim is increasing their needs and you switch to another sim you still see the flashing from the previous sims needs

  18. On the App Store when I was updating the app it said one of the new updates for the game is see if your baby “can be the next Mozart”?? What does that mean?? Can my baby play music ??

  19. I’m playing sims free play on Android I am at the make a baby stage but first I have to look on the internet n make coffee I bought the computer n coffee maker but every time I tell one of mynsims to do it they say no and three little blue dots appeared above their heads help please

  20. Hi, I have 2 sims in different houses. However, when I switch between them, the section at the tope where the simoleons, xp, lp and such are located do not change. So it appears both my sims are “sharing” the same money, xps, etc. Am I doing something wrong?

  21. Hey, can you tell me is the town value important? Because I needed some cash and sold a lot of items, but I’ve noticed that my town value decreases. Is that a big problem?

  22. Hey. I cant open my sims app for more than a week now and i cant remember the last time i uploaded the saved data to the cloud. So i’m thinking to just uninstall it and try to install the app back. Will i have to restart the game from the level 1 back or can i just continue my progress from the last automatic saved data?
    FYI I’ve just finished all the quests and now im trying to get all the life orbs. It would be frustrating to start all over again.

  23. Is it easier to get LPs further in the game? I only get one here and a few there once in awhile with videos and downloading apps and it makes the game less interesting. Any advice?

  24. Hi Charlotte,

    Sorry this is probably the wrong place to post this, but why can I comment on some of your pages but not others?

    For example I’m able to comment here but I wasn’t able to comment on:
    https://thegirlwhogames.wordpress.com/2015/03/11/the-sims-freeplay-visiting-neighbours/

    I tried from both my desktop (Windows 7) and my Android phone, both using Chrome browser, but the “comment” panel doesn’t appear and when I click “leave a comment” nothing happens.

    Thanks,
    Adam

      • Okay, thanks for letting me know 🙂

        In that case I’ll ask here, I had a question about visiting neighbours….in the article you say “They will go home on their own when they have been in a neighbours town too long” – do you know how long that is? I have had a sim in a neighbour’s town for a few days now and they haven’t returned. They are busy though. If a sim is busy will they never return? If they aren’t busy how long will they stay? I looked through the post and earlier comments but didn’t find the answer to this.

  25. Can you have four adult sims live together? Or is it just the parents and two children that you can have to reach the four max sims per house? You rock by the way! I have used your site so many times 😀

    • Well the more sims you have the more money they can make, but to be honest I wouldn’t waste money building cheap houses just to add them, the point of the game is to build up a great town with nice houses

  26. Hi my sons sim in a new game won’t move, he needs to go to the toilet but he just stands there giggling around. I moved the toilet to all different locations but he just won’t move from that one spot.
    Any ideas on what to do?

  27. Hey guys im on level 15 i have completed the quest for preteens but no other quests have come up i have ipad air so it should be updated ive completed past quests as well can you help???

  28. I have lots of spare simoleons, but my friend is a beginner and her sims are quite poor. Is there a way I can give them simoleons or inventory items?

  29. Hello, thanks for your blog it helping me a lot especially on my main quest and can you give me some tips..

    I’m lvl 16 player and got 8 sims with baby out of 16, should I make more houses to get sims or not?
    Should I build other building? I’m afraid to build one because it is getting more expensive and so hard to get simoleons.
    and where should I spend my LPs?

    Thank you..

  30. hey I just want to now if I have more than five houses but I haven’t build children store, pet house, market etc. Does the cost of children store, pet house, market etc will be more expensive? Thank you 🙂

  31. I need more social points and to earn the next one I need to talk in a neighbours mirror but I can’t find the mirrors anywhere I didn’t even know the sims had mirrors and I can’t skip it because I have like one LP maybe not even that much

  32. Is there any other way to get VIP points other than spending real money? Next to my VIP total (4) is 165/200. I assume it means I need 35 more of something to get another VIP point but the number doesn’t seem to change.

  33. I’m finally level 55 I have like almost every item been play this game for about a year now. Facebook Alvin Isaiah Williams
    Gamecenter TheAlvinWilliams I accept your request asap.

  34. I’m stuck on a mission involving going to a neighbor’s town. I’ve got ‘social task’ telling me to ‘practice guitar in a neighbors town’, I haven’t got any neighbors on my game save for the one everybody has when they first start, I’ve gone there and looked and looked for a guitar everywhere, in the community hall, the park, the sims houses, clicked on myself to see if it was an option in there (nothing came up, I thought something would ’cause you can click on a sim you’re selected as in your own town.) and even went through the ranks of freindship with one of the neighbor’s sims, carefully looking at the relationship building activities (be nice, complain, etc.) to see if it was one of the options, but it wasn’t. So I’m stuck. Please HELP!!!

  35. Love your blog! I have just started playing the sims free play, so I don’t have money to make a lot of houses. I made two sims good friends, but option ‘ask to move in won’t appear. Do I need to level up or complete a specific quest to move in sims together?

  36. I am level 29 and I have a 3 floor ocean view estate house and I want to buy more items but I go to the home store to buy something and I can only buy objects I already have in the house.
    How can I fix this.
    Please help.

    • It may be you have reached the cap for the amount of objects you are allowed to place in a house at one time, the only thing you can really do is remove some items you don’t want from the house and see if you can then buy or place different ones

  37. How do you know what time it is? I need to cook my neighbours a BBQ at 6am-10am…?

  38. In my game i got 2 tasks first place the baby in highchair and i click on the mother holding the baby and then the chair to put baby in the high chair but it do’snt work y ??? And then i got a a task where my sim had to drink a herbel tea i click on the tea maker and then make a herbel tea and it also does’nt work ! A logo of 2 feet comes above the sim’s head and they don’t do that work ! Why is that? :/

  39. Hey! I have been playing Sims Free Play for a while now and your blog has really helped me to complete all of the quest on time. I have recently encountered a problem I can’t seem to fix. Two of my married sims were having a baby and I accidentally deleted the two parents before the baby was finished. The crib that the baby was growing in went away and now I can’t add another sim or another baby because the game says there is already a baby being added in the town. I have looked in all of cribs in town and I don’t see a baby in route anywhere. I have put all of the cribs in to inventory and gotten them back out. I even got two other sims married and moved them into the house that the baby was growing in and bought a new crib. There aren’t too many sims in the house and I am 4 sims under my town limit. I uninstalled and reinstalled tha game and still get the message that says a baby is already being added. Any advice on how to fix this problem? If I need to contact EA games, how do I contact them? This game is my guilty pleasure and this issue has gotten me stuck! Thanks in advance

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