The Sims on Gamecube: Cool Tricks and Glitches

So you've been playing The Sims for a while and have gotten tired of it, right? Me too. That's why I wrote this article. With hours upon hours of experimenting, I have discovered a few fun, weird things that can be done on The Sims. These things are for the Gamecube version, so I don't guarantee that they will work on any other version. I hope you'll try a few of them yourself, and squeeze every drop of playability out of the game.

Section One: Sim-foolery

All the "tricks" in this section that require trapping your Sim(s) in some way can kill the affected Sim(s) if they are trapped for too long (they starve to death). In these cases, the Sim(s) will not die as long as they are trapped, but as soon as they are set free, they'll curl up into a little ball and get a visit from the Grim Reaper.

In order to perform all of the tricks in this section, you will need to use what I call "Blocking Items" - items that keep your Sims from moving about freely. By placing these items in strategic places, you can trap your Sims, as explained below. You can use any of the following items as Blocking Items for tricks in this article:
Walls/Fences (good for blocking one whole side in most cases)
Rosebush (outdoors use only)
Boxwood Hedge (outdoors use only)
Llama Lawn Ornament (outdoors use only)
All Seats/Beds
All Tables/Surfaces (unless Sim is in a chair)
All Decorations (except rugs and wall decor)
Every Floor Appliance
Every Plumbing Fixture that sits on the floor
All Floor Lamps (including Garden Lamp - outdoors use only)
Every Miscellaneous item that sits on the floor (except for Toy Box, Sprinkler, and Meet Major Domo)

1. Nothing Special (these don't look too cool, but they're fun)

Swimmers Forever (Any Pool; Any Sim)
You've bought that expensive pool, so you might as well use it! Throw a party and get a few of your friends to go for a swim, and while they whoop it up, place Blocking Items right on the edge of the pool. Completely surround the pool with items, and the partygoers will swim forever.

Sitting Pretty (Any Non-Reclining Chair/Non-Loveseat Sofa; Any Sim)
Is your Sim hyperactive? Do you just want it to sit down and shut up? As soon as its behind hits a chair or sofa, place a Blocking Item on the square directly in front of them, and they will stay put. If the Sim is in a chair, it will get up when it needs to use the bathroom, unless you use something like kitchen counters to block the front and both sides of the chair, so it can't shimmy away sideways to have an accident on the carpet.

Sandy Dandy (Sandbox; Any Sim)
The dry, gritty version of "Swimming Forever." Get one or two Sims to play in the Sandbox, and while they're making a beautiful sand pyramid, block the two spaces behind each Sim with Blocking Items. If you trap them, then hit the "B" button to make them stop playing in the sand, they will continue to play, but not actually make anything.

Sit Ups (Exerto Bench Press; Household Members Only)
Is your Sim a workout nut? Does it love to benchpress and jog on the Treadmill? Why not give your athletic Sim a treat by letting it do sit ups? Just stick your Sim on the Exerto Bench Press and place a Blocking Item on either side of its feet. When the Sim is done working those biceps, it'll sit up with a breathy "Phew," then lay right back down, and sit up again. This doesn't increase your Sim's Body skill points, but I'm sure they'll appreciate the change of pace.

Stagnant Water (Any Oblong Bathtub; Household Members Only)
Nothing says "I'm in touch with nature" like a festering pool of stagnant, algae-encrusted water. But in the world of The Sims, stagnant pools and hot tubs remain eternally clean. Oddly enough, water-filled bathtubs do so as well, even after your Sim has finished bathing. To create this amazing phenomenon, place any Sim into an oblong (oval) shaped bathtub, then place a Blocking Item on either side of the tub, adjacent to the facet. After your Sim gets all squeaky clean, it will climb out of the bathtub, but not be able to let the water out, and you'll have a pretty tubful of sparkly, steamy water. As a bonus, if you squint your eyes just right, it looks a bit like a tubful of homemade Moonshine. Naughty Sims!

2. The Wax Museum (if only you could charge admission)

Toilet Statue (Any Toilet; Any Sim)
If you like toilet humor, this is right up your alley. When a Sim sits on a toilet, it can't get back up if something is in front of it. Use this to your advantage to make a fun and silly Sims museum. Doing this in your mansion gives it a rare, one-of-a-kind-treasure effect. To start your museum, build a few small rooms where you want your living statues to sit. Place one toilet and door in each room, than make some scrumptious viddles and throw a party. Your party guests will gobble up the food and naively make their way to your toilets. After they sit down to do their business, remove the walls and doors from each room and place a Blocking Item in front of each Sim. They won't be able to leave the pot! Try different "seating" arrangements for some cool effects. You can place your seated Sims around a Tappanyaki Table, for instance. If you leave your guests on the toilets for too long, they will starve, and die as soon as you release them. To prevent this in Play the Sims mode, just save your game, exit to the neighborhood, and evict them from their houses. They will also vanish from yours, and they won't die. How generous of you.

Tub Statue (Any Bathtub; Household Members Only)
Tired of having to remind your Sims to take their baths? Why not trap them in a tub and keep them soapy fresh? Make your Sim get into any bathtub. Once they've settled down, place Blocking Items on the sides of any oblong tub, near the Sim's head. For the Hydrothera model, flank the faucet with Blocking Items. Your Sim will finish bathing, then sit perfectly still, looking sparklingly clean in the steamy water.

3. Eternal Rest...sort of (Any Bed; Household Members Only)
Sims need sleep, and lots of it. Being the benevolent Sim master you are, I'm sure you'll enjoy giving your Sims oodles of sleep with this trick. Let your Sim snuggle down under the covers of any bed, then place Blocking Items on either side of your Sim's feet. You will only need to block one side if they are in a 2-Sim bed. Once your Sim's sleep meter is full, it will wake up, realize it is trapped, then go right back to sleep. Your bed-ridden Sim will continuously alternate between sleeping and sitting up to yell at you in
frustration. Just ignore them. Deep down, they appreciate that fact that they get to lie around in bed all day doing nothing.

4. Blah Blah Blah...(WhirlWizard Hot Tub; Any Sim)
Is your Sim unpopular? Do its neighbors hiss at its jokes and walk away during conversations? It looks like your Sim is a loser, but don't worry, because that can be fixed! Simply buy a WhirlWizard Hot Tub and throw a party. Once at least three guests have arrived, lead your lonely Sim to the bubbly hot tub and wait for others to join in. Surround the full hot tub with Blocking Items, and its users will sit there chatting until you release them. This is a great way for the lazy Sims caretaker to force some people into being friends with any Sim. While in the tub, motives do go down, so take care not to accidentally starve the very Sim you are trying to help.

Section Two: Housing Projects

One of the most addictive aspects of The Sims is Build/Buy Mode, where creative Sims masters delight in building awesome dwellings for their digital minions. By now, you've probably built a few hundred Sim homes, and you're running out of ideas. Try these on for size, and give your favorite Sims bragging rights in the neighborhood.

1. The Smallest House (Various Items; Household Members Only)
As far as I can tell, the smallest house that you can make while also giving a Sim everything they need is a 3x3 block (a square house with 3 sections of wall on each side). Place the following things along the walls of the tiny house: a dishwasher with food processor on top of it; any fridge; any recliner; one door; a phone or alarm; one toilet; a shower; and a small entertainment device, such as a bookcase or black and white TV.
The smallest house only holds one Sim.

2. Fenced In (Any Fence; Any Sim)
If your Sim is too poor to afford proper walls, but is tired of people walking through its bedroom, a simple picket fence boundary might help. Lay picket fences on your plot of land, as if they were walls, and they will keep annoying sounds like TV broadcasts and booming stereos away from snoozing Sims. A lovely fence boundary provides a Sim with just enough privacy to use the toilet and take a bath as well. Just remember to place a proper section of wall where ever you want a door to be, and your Sim will have a somewhat private, somewhat drafty home to call its own.

3. Mazes (Various Items; Any Sim)
It gets pretty boring watching Sims walk in straight lines all the time. Throw a little curve into their everyday activities by separating rooms with winding passageways. For example, place your Sim's bedroom in the far corner of their yard, and run a winding hallway made of fences or walls from the bedroom door to the bathroom. You can also make a pretty garden maze outside with benches, hedges, and various plants. Watching
your Sims navigate a maze on their way to the kitchen isn't as fun as watching mice who often get confused by dead ends and trick passageways, but it does add a little extra flavor to any Sim dwelling.

4. Go Sim Yourself! (Any Item; Household Members Only)
Life is good, but digital life is better. Digitize your life by building a Sim version of YOU! Build your dream house, get your dream job, or laze around all day in the hot tub. Make friends, party, and dance dance dance! You can even make a Sim for every member of your household, recreate your home, and live out your normal life as a Sim.

Section Three: The Glitches

A game with as much to offer as The Sims is bound to have a glitch or two. Here a few that you can recreate whenever you like.

1. Trial By Fire (in real life you'd go to jail for this)
Do you like to burn your Sims? You do?! You're sick!! But anyway, here's a little trick for all you digital pyromaniacs out there. If you use any of the tricks from Section One of this article, except "Sandy Dandy" and "Sitting Pretty," you can char your poor Sims and see a small glitch in the process. Just trap your Sims as described in Section One, keeping one free to light a fireplace strategically set near your trapped Sims. Put a Deck Chair right in front of the roaring fire, and wait for it to kindle. With any luck (for you,
anyway), the chair will burst into flames, and the inferno will quickly travel to your defenseless Sims. Anyone stuck in a bed, chair, tub, workout bench, or on a toilet will just go about their merry business until they catch on fire, at which point they will stand up where they are and burn, screaming in pain (how could you?!). Sims trapped in a hot tub will stand up and start yelling as soon as the fire starts, but not be able to get away. You will be left with piles of ashes and some shiny new tombstones. Have fun polishing
those stones, murderer.

2. Walk Through Doors
Sims are amazing creatures; they can do things that real humans can't, like sit on the toilet for 10 days straight. Even more impressive is their ability to walk through doors. To witness this amazing feat, build a hallway out of walls. make it at least 4 blocks long and 3 blocks wide. Place three stretches of wall inside the hallway, so that the hall looks like it has 2 adjoining rooms inside of it. Put a door on each of the walls you've just added, Lining them up so a Sim could walk straight through them without having to turn. Now for the part that makes the magic: remove one section from the middle wall in the hallway (remove just the wall, not the door). You should now have a hallway at least 3 blocks wide with 3 stretches of in it. Each stretch of wall has a door and the doors line up in a straight line. The middle wall should have one section of wall missing from it, but still have a door. Once you've got it all set up, command your Sim to walk through the hall. If it walks from one end of the hall to the other, your Sim will open the first door, and walk directly through the second door without opening it. Ta-da!

3. The Great Sim-dini!
As if a Sim walking straight through a solid door isn't impressive enough, they can also disappear! Just sit your Sim on a toilet or in a tub and block them in, then save, exit, and re-enter the house. Look at where you left your Sim - there's nothing there! But remove the Blocking Item to free them, and violá! Your Sim appears out of thin air. Amazing!

There are probably many more unusual things you can do in the Gamecube version of The Sims, and I hope this will keep you busy for a while and possibly rekindle your love for the game. This game can be played a million ways, and the possibilities are even greater when you use these cool tricks in the world of The Sims.