There are a lot of symbols in the sims freeplay and you may be unsure what some of them mean, if so give this post a read!
PLAYER GAME INFORMATION BAR
This can be found at the top of the screen, there is no longer a clock but just remember that the time in the game is the time it currently is for you (if it is 8pm for you then it is 8pm on the game)
On the bar you can find your:
-CURRENT LEVEL AND EXPERIENCE POINTS (XP)
The circle around your level shows your XP, when the blue line fills the circle you will level up.
OR you may notice the circle has different sections to it, this means you have to complete a number of level up requirements, not just collect XP before you can level up:
-VIP LEVEL
When you purchase items from the online store for real money you earn VIP points, the more points the higher level you are, unlocking you more perks.
-SIMOLEONS
Simoleons are the main currency in the game. Click on the + to buy more for real money.
-LP- LIFESTYLE POINTS
Another currency used in the game, more expensive/ premium items cost LP, Click on the + to buy more for real money.
-SP- SOCIAL POINTS
Another currency used in the game, earn these by completing social tasks in a neighbours town. Click on the + to buy more for real money.
-SIMTOWN INFORMATION
Click on the last symbol to open up your simtown information, this includes your towns sim count (level up to increase this) and your town value (building places and buying items increases this)
Town Value- you can see how much a building will increase your town value by looking for the town value symbol (1), building will then increase the town value shown on your simtown information screen (2)
SIMTRACKER
- You can find the simtracker in the blue folder in the bottom left hand corner of the screen (1)
- On the simtracker you can see the tasks your sims are currently doing (2) and if they have completed that action their face will flash with an XP symbol (3)
- The simtracker is also used to send sims to work (click on the pulsing suitcase(4)) or school (the pulsing academic cap (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)
- The green box is the sim that you are currently controlling (8)
SIM INFO PANELS
Your sim info panels can also be found in the simtracker folder (1)- (2)Simtracker- see above for more information
- (3)Occupations- 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)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:
- (6)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
- (7)Relationships- relationships for the sim you are currently playing as.
AGEING
Around their face on the simtracker there is a circle, the more actions they complete the more the green line will spread clockwise around the circle, when it reaches red you know that your sim will age soon
PREGNANT SIMS
Pregnant sims have an extra ring around their face on the simtracker, once this is full and turns red your sim is ready to give birth
BABY BONUS
Complete Pregnancy Events in the time limit to earn the baby bonus, you will see this as a gold ring around your sim on the simtracker. Sims with the baby bonus will earn more experience points when they complete actions, complete actions faster, are not affected by low motives (low needs) and they will have these bonuses for life!
NEEDS
Sims have 6 needs, if their needs are unfulfilled they become sad and will complete actions slower, which is why it is important to know what the needs are and how to fulfil them.
The top picture is the needs for that sim and below that is a picture of an item that fulfils each of those needs, you can tell if it will fulfil a certain need because underneath the price of the object the same symbol you can see in the simtracker is shown here.
- Hunger
- Bladder
- Energy
- Hygiene
- Social
- Fun
when you click on an object in the game the symbol appears again to tell you which need it will fulfil
INSPIRED
Next to your sims needs there is a sparkling person symbol (1) if you click on this you will get two options, cupcake (2) or rainbow cake (3) Both of these options are used to completely inspire that sim (fulfil their needs)
Sims who are inspired complete their actions faster!
The cupcake costs 5LP to use while the rainbow cake can only be used if you have purchased items with real money to unlock the VIP Perk for rainbow cakes, this post explains VIP Perks in more detail
Inspired sims will have a green background on their simtracker picture and will complete actions quicker
Normal sims will have a white background on their simtracker picture and will complete actions at normal speed
Sad sims will have a red background on their simtracker picture and will complete actions at a slower speed
BODY TYPES
Instead of male and female sims they now have masculine or feminine body types which can be selected in create a sim and you will see these symbols throughout the game:
EVENT TASKS
The Event Tasks (1) shows when time limited events are available in the game, the first tab Event Tasks (2) will show when Simtown Market, Live Events, SimChase and Influence Island Events are available and Upcoming Events (3) shows which events are coming up and the dates they begin
QUEST TASKS
The Quest Tasks (1) show you what main, discovery and feature quests as well as main events you have to complete in the game, these aren’t time limited so will be there until they are completed. The first tab Quest Tasks (2) will show any quest you are currently working on as well as Weekly Tasks and Social Tasks. The Progress (3) tab shows how much of the game you have completed and the Simdex (4) shows your progress at each level in the game. Click here to learn more about the Simdex
There is an orange skip symbol on your weekly and social tasks, you can use this to skip a task but this will cost you 10LP to skip a weekly task and 1LP to skip a social task:
If you have main quests left to complete you will also see them here, next to the main quest task you are currently on it will say ‘quests waiting in queue’. They will only appear in the queue once you are on the level for the quest to unlock, so I am currently on level 13 and still on the money grows on trees quest so I have 8 quests in my queue waiting to be completed.
These quests need to be completed in order and the next one will start as soon as the previous quest is completed.
FREE SIMOLEONS & XP BUTTON
On both the event and quest tasks screens you will see the EARN button in the corner (used to say free), click on this to get a reward for watching a short video:
ACTION OPTIONS
When your sim is completing an action you can click on them and the bar above will appear, in the middle it tells you what task you are doing, how many XP you will receive when complete and the time the task will take. If you just want to look at the time left you can click on your sim to view this then click the green button on the right hand side to close the pop up. But if you don’t want your sim completing that task anymore you can click on the red cross to cancel the task (you will not earn the XP when you cancel)
If you want your sim to finish the action quickly without cancelling (great for completing quests in time limits) you can click on the orange LP button, next to the button it tells you how many LP it will cost you but it is one LP for every hour so any time up to 1 hour 59 minutes will cost you 1 LP. It is one extra LP for every full hour so if a task has 4 hours 20 minutes left it will cost you 4 LP to speed up or if a task had 23 hours 59 minutes 59 seconds left it would cost you 23 LP.
Some tasks will require you to use SP to skip rather than LP
Some short actions in the game can now be skipped for free rather than costing LP, you will see the blue fast forward button next to these actions:
EXCLAMATION MARK BUBBLE
These will appear on an object that is needed to complete a task you are currently on. Click on the object to complete the task:
BLUE FOOTPRINTS
These appear in a speech bubble above your sims head:
They appear 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, rotate an item and try selecting the option again.
RED CROSS
These appear in a speech bubble above your sims head:
They appear 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.
DAILY REWARD
The daily reward is delivered to a mailbox at the front of your sims house once a day, this is based on your town value so the higher your town value the more simoleons you will earn (although there is a cap on this at around S7,000 so you cannot receive more than that unless you started playing before the cap was added)
CAMERA
This is used to take pictures of the gameplay without all the information that usually appears on your screen:
ZOOM IN/OUT
Clicking on these will zoom you right in or right out of the gameplay, you can zoom with your fingers if you just want to zoom in or out slightly.
FLOOR LEVEL BUTTONS
Down the side of your screen you will see a button similar to one of these above, the floor you are currently on will change what the button says:
B= Basement
1= Ground floor
2= Second floor
Click on the up or down arrows to move up or down a floor
Remember you need to complete the Multi Story Renovations Quest before you can add extra floors to your houses
ADD HOUSE
Standard house lots have a blue circle and are 18 x 18 (1) and premium house lots have a yellow circle and are 18 x 36 (2) Click on one of these to choose a house from the list, pick the empty lot if you want to build your own house. If you are currently building another house (3) or building the option to add a new house will be greyed out (4) you will need to finish construction first before you can add a new house as you cannot build two places at once. If you aren’t currently building but still can’t add a house you will need to level up before you can add a house as you are at your house limit for the current level.
EMPTY HOUSE
This symbol shows you that a house is empty so you can add a new sim, if the add a new sim option is greyed out you are currently adding a baby to your town or you are at your sim limit for that level, level up to be able to add another sim. Click here to see all empty house options
WHO IS IN A HOUSE CURRENTLY?
On the town map you can see how many sims and pets are currently in a house, the person symbol shows the number of sims and the paws symbol shows the number of pets (you can only have two pets brought from the pet store living in each house)
HOUSE/ BUILDING REVENUE
This is money and XP you receive when you build places in simtown, some places will only earn you simoleons (2) or XP (3) but some places earn you both (4) To collect the revenue click on the buttons with these symbols above the building. The more expensive the place was to build the more simoleons you will receive. If there isn’t a simoleon or XP symbol there will be a green ring filling around the icon instead, come back once the ring is completely green to collect the revenue:
Collect All Revenue: If you are VIP level 6 or over you can collect all your town revenue with just one tap on the collect all button:
HOME STORE SELECTION OPTIONS
While you are in the home store mode you will be able to click on items in the house and several options will appear. The rucksack button (1) is your inventory, click on this to store the item in the inventory section of the home store, you can use your inventory to move items from one house to another, you will not have to buy the item again, it will be free from your inventory. The tick (2) places the item, it will be greyed out if you cannot place the item because there is something in the way.
The red simoleon button (3) is what you press if you want to sell the item, the amount of simoleons you will receive for selling the item is shown next to the button, this will be less than what you paid for the item. The 4 arrows button (4) allows you to move the item, but you can just click on the item itself to move it. The curved arrow (5) allows you to rotate the item, some items do not have this button if they cannot be rotated. Finally we have the duplicate button (6) this allows you to easily buy the same item again without searching for it in the store.
Once you click on the duplicate button it will go green and the copy will appear, click the duplicate button to buy that item. If you have the same item already in your inventory you will be able to use the duplicate button to place it for free
If you are buying an item you will only have 5 buttons as you cannot store it in your inventory before you have brought it and the tick button will show the price it will cost you to buy the item next to the button.
OVEN FIRES
Whenever you bake something on the stove that has the red fire triangle symbol it means that it could cause a fire, if it does start a fire you will not earn the simoleons or XP you would have got if it didn’t burn and you will need to extinguish the fire before you can bake on that stove again.
SIM EATING PLANT
Some seeds you can plant on the garden patch have a green monster triangle symbol on them, this means that they could turn into a sim eating plant instead of the plant. If this happens you will not earn the simoleons or XP you would have got if it didn’t turn into a sim eating plant and you will have to negotiate with it for 3 minutes before you can use the patch again.
MONUMENTS AND RESOURCES
Once you complete the Mysterious Island Quest you unlock 4 monuments on the Island:
1.The Riches of Terra- Resources needed are Pickaxe, Gold, Granite
2.The Flames of Wisdom- Resources needed are Igneous Rock, Bronze, Magma Embers
3.The Tempest of Bliss- Resources needed are Onyx, Bamboo, Essence of Wind
4.The Springs of Fortune- Resources needed are Limestone, Chisel, Pearl
You will find these items randomly when you complete actions, the symbol of the resource you have found will appear above your sims head who found it:
Click here to read my Mysterious Island Monuments and Volcano post
SIM SIGN RESOURCES
Once you complete the Teen Idol Quest you can start building the sim sign, the resources needed for that are:
- Magazine Photoshoots
- Radio Interviews
- TV Show Cameos
My Sim Sign and Teen Mansion post explains about this in more detail
HAUNTED ITEMS
Once you complete the Ghost Hunters quest you will unlock haunted items, once placed in your house you use these items to search for ghosts to be able to complete the Ghost Hunting hobby. In the home store there will be a picture of a red ghost on any item that is haunted. NOTE: these items will flash every so often after being placed in your houses which can be an issue for some players so please bare that in mind.
SETTINGS AT BOTTOM OF SCREEN
While at a sims house you will see 5 options on the bottom of your screen:
-HOME STORE (BUY MODE)
The chair with the lamp symbol is the home store. This is where you customise the house you are currently in, you can do things such as redecorate, buy new items and add swimming pools, patios and even balconies! (once you complete the quests that unlock these)
-TOWN MAPS
The locations symbol is the town maps. Click on this and a pop up will open for you to select where you want to visit: Town, Mysterious Island, Downtown, Sim Springs, Party Boat.
- You can also visit the mysterious island by clicking on the bridge on the town map:
- You can also get to downtown by clicking on the train station:
You can also get to sim springs by clicking on the bus stop near the science center:
- The world symbol is the party boat. When you have neighbours you can visit the party boat once a day to collect money rewards, the more neighbours you have the more rewards you will get. A present symbol will appear when you can collect the rewards.
You can also visit the party boat on the town map.
-ENVELOPE
The envelope symbol is your inbox, in here you can find out what has happened since your last play session, for example, who has completed a task or finished a shift at work. (It is the same as the pop up that appears when you open the game)
-ONLINE STORE
The shopping cart is the online store. The online store is where you can purchase items for real money, read this post for more information.
-SETTINGS
The 3 dots will take you to the settings menu:
Resume Game- click this to get back to gameplay.
Options- here you can change the volume of the sound effects and music as well as changing the language. You can also choose if you want to receive notifications from the game.
You can reset your game from here too, if you do this you will delete your whole game.
Info- this tab includes information such as terms of service, end user license agreement as well as help information.
If you restart your game you can restore purchases you made on your device previously on this tab.
The about section includes your player ID which you will need to contact EA if you have technical issues with your game, read this post for more information on how to do that
Support- clicking on support will take you to the firemonkeys support page.
The Cloud- this is very important as this is where you save your game! You should be doing this at least once a day so you do not lose your game if your device ever crashed or broke. Read this post for more information about the cloud
Account Manager- this is where you sign into your accounts such as Facebook or Game Center to allow you to save your game with the Cloud as mentioned above.
You will not see furniture or town map buttons when you are on the town map you will instead see the collect all revenues button which we talked about earlier in this post:
If you find any other symbols in the game you are unsure about please let me know and I will add them to this post
Last updated: March 2024
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The Girl Who Games 