In a rare coincidence, three teenager simultaneously free from mood swings! From left Didrik Itland, Cosmo Trismegistus and Amorita Trismegistus. All of these are imaginary characters and created by the game, by the way.

I spent much of the day playing games. I’m not proud of it or anything, but I’m still like that much of the time. I grow up, it seems, but slowly. In any case, why not share my experience with the curious visitor.

Some days ago I bought two more expansion packs for The Sims 3, namely Generations and Pets. These are old enough now to go for half price. To be honest, I only bought them because the newer versions of user-made game worlds require them, specifically this time Meadow Glen Updated. Meadow Glen was my favorite world, more so than the ones that came with the game. But the version I had did not have the buildings of the Late Night expansion, or even Ambitions. The available version required the other two I mentioned as well. So do other game worlds of good repute, such as Union Cove.

Anyway! I disliked the Pets expansion to the original The Sims, and barely tolerated the one for The Sims 2, so I generally avoid keeping pets in The Sims 3 even when I have that expansion. It pleases me to see raccoons appear, though. Some of my best friends are Raccoons, albeit in a spiritual sense. I think of tipping the trash can as “the sacred ritual of opening the ever refilling Heavenly Bread Basket”. ^_^

Generations, on the other hand, is an expansion that does not really have an equivalent in the first two series. Both Sims 2 and 3 are already generational: Sims start as someone’s pregnancy, become babies, toddlers, children, teenagers, young adults, adults, elders and ghosts. Adults can have children (and so can elder males), and the cycle starts over again. So why make a whole expansion pack out of it?

Well, it is probably not the biggest expansion pack ever made, but there is a scattering of interesting stuff throughout the sims’ lifetime. Children have more things to do, like tree huts, sandbox, invisible friends and after-school activities that can improve their skills and let them socialize with other kids. Conversely (and ironically in the extreme), if you really don’t want to have the kids around the house, you can sign them up for boarding school! They will gain various benefits, depending on the type of school. Ideal if you dislike children. (Or your sim does … “dislikes children” is an actual trait which sims may have, for instance if they grow up badly at some stage of their younger life. Or if you pick it for them.)

With teens there are even more after-school activities, and even go to a school dance, which mercifully takes place offscreen with only text messages shown. When the parents are away, the teens can arrange parties.  They also wake up some days in a rebellious mood, and will wish to play pranks, snub someone, end friendships, cut their hair or sneak out at night. Probably even more, I generally ignore these wishes. Pranks are not easy to ignore though, because the teen will do some of them on their own if you don’t keep an eye on them.  Once again, you can spare yourself the pain by sending them to boarding school. They will gain skills and hopefully also get traits appropriate for their education. On the other hand, when you keep them at home, you have more control over what they learn, they may even contribute a little cash from part-time jobs or painting, writing, gardening etc. And they can learn to drive a car, a rather amusing experience. Be sure to visit the bathroom first!

Once your sim is an adult, life is more normal. That is, unless you decide to take up a career in daycare. The only new career in the expansion, it is possibly the most demanding of them all (point for realism there, I’d say). Parents come and drop babies and toddlers at your door, and you try to keep them reasonably happy and ideally make them like you, so you can earn money and make progress in your career – so even more parents will drop even more children at you! Not for the faint of nerves. You eventually get school children as well. Ideal for people who really, really want to have lots of friends. Well, if you succeed.

There is a new “Nurturing” trait that lets you interact better with children, your own or others. There is also a lifetime happiness reward that make you better at child care. Even so, I don’t see this being a big hit. I recommend all girls in the civilized world to play it by the time they reach biologically fertile age though.

Death is rarely a welcome friend, even to sims, although some meet their end more stoically than others. Luckily for them, unlike us, there is a lifetime reward that freezes aging, so they just don’t get older. It takes a lot of happiness and should probably only be used if you play some kind of supernatural character (like, say, Hermes Trismegistus…), as it messes up the whole generational thing. Of course, you could stop all aging in the game already in the basic game, but what this reward does is let one sim remain young (or old, perhaps more likely) while everyone passes them by.

Actually, even if your sim does not have enough lifetime happiness before they are old and gray, do not despair! There is yet another lifetime happiness reward that can reset your age to the first day of young adult. If you live long enough as an elder, you should be able to get it, unless your life is miserable indeed.

But wait, there is yet another way to get the youth elixir! You can make it with the chemistry set. Messing with it long enough will let you discover a number of elixirs, from the utterly useless (like stink bombs) to the miraculous (youth elixir, and the elixir that can make an imaginary friend real).

Oh wait – imaginary friends. Yes, they are here for the first time ever. It has become a tradition to include a “supernatural” creature in each expansion. (World adventures had mummies, Ambitions robots, Late Night vampires,  and Pets has unicorns.) The imaginary or invisible friend is however not absolutely certain to appear. There is a only reasonably good chance that a new child – born or adopted – will get a doll in the mail. If they play with it a lot, it will become an invisible friend when they grow up from toddler to child, or soon after. They will now play tag and pillow fights and sometimes talk together. When the child is the selected character, this looks normal enough, except the friend looks like a big rag doll. When you have selected anyone else in the family, however, the friend is invisible and the child seems to behave rather insanely. (I am one to talk, comments a voice in my head.)

The invisible friend will age up with you, at least to teen, possibly even longer, I am not sure. But at some point you get a quest to create the potion that makes it real, unless you have already discovered it with the chemistry set. Then the ragdoll turns into a normal sim the same age as your child. Once they reach the appropriate (?) age, romance can develop between the child and its former doll. I am not sure what to say about that! Well, apart from calling someone “doll” will never be the same again. Then again, kids today have probably not even heard that use of the word…

I could probably think of more if I kept at it, but I think this is plenty from me. It is just a game, after all… just a game… just don’t tell my sims that!