Every Sims 3 cheat for making money, building better, and the 'needs cheat' (2024)

Every Sims 3 cheat for making money, building better, and the 'needs cheat' (1)

Jump to:

  • Enable cheats
  • Money cheats
  • Live mode cheats
  • Cheat needs
  • Build mode cheats
  • UI cheats
  • Testing cheats

If you've been returning to life sims of years past, you'll want to brush up on all the Sims 3 cheats at your disposal. Personally, I just needed to remind myself the syntax for the move objects cheat in this one so I could get down to building freely as usual, but you may be on the hunt for The Sims 3 money cheats, or trying to fix your Sims' dismal moods by "cheating needs." The prior game in the series doesn't have quite as stacked a list of cheats as in The Sims 4, so there's a lot less to memorize here, thank goodness.

Enabling cheats in The Sims 3 is very familiar, but one thing you'll want to be mindful of is that capitalization matters in a lot of these cheats. If a cheat isn't working for you, double check you haven't messed that part up. When in a pinch, you can also use "testingcheatsenabled true" and then just enter "help" to see a list of cheats. There are more than just cheat codes to know, though. Once you've enabled testing cheats, you can trigger other effects by using Shift+Click or Ctrl+Click on certain objects and Sims, as detailed below.

How to enable cheats in The Sims 3

To enable cheats in The Sims 3, press Ctrl+Shift+C to open the cheat console. Enter the cheats below as written or by filling in relevant values and press Enter to activate them. Press Esc to close the cheat console without entering a cheat.

Many cheats won't return a confirmation message, so you'll have to pay attention to whether your household funds, Sim needs, or other values changed as expected. Some cheats, explained below, require that you first use "testingcheatsenabled true" so watch out for that.

Sims 3 money cheats

  • kaching: adds 1,000 Simoleons to current family
  • motherlode: adds 50,000 Simoleons to current family
  • familyFunds [last name] [#]: Set household Simoleons to a specific amount, such as "familyFunds Goth 40000". Remember to capitalize "Funds" or this cheat won't be recognized!
  • freerealestate: enter before placing a copy of a family in the world to buy any property for free

Disclaimer

The cheat "rosebud" does not actually work in The Sims 3, unlike in Sims 4 cheats.

Sims 3 Live Mode cheats

Every Sims 3 cheat for making money, building better, and the 'needs cheat' (2)

hideHeadlineEffects true/false
This cheat hides plumbobs over Sims' heads, but does not remove thought bubbles, which is useful for taking screenshots.

resetSim [first name] [last name]
For example, "resetSim Mortimer Goth" cancels a Sim's current action and resets their position if stuck, but does not change their needs or mood.

Ctrl+Click to remove moodlets
After using "testingCheatsEnabled true" you can hold Ctrl then left-click on any moodlet in the interface to remove it from your Sim.

How to cheat your Sims' needs in The Sims 3

To cheat the "needs" meters in The Sims 3 first use "testingcheatsenabled true" and then Ctrl+Click and drag on your Sim's need bar to change its value. You can raise or lower any of your Sim's needs this way. As mentioned above, you can also Ctrl+Click on any moodlet to remove it from your Sim.

Disclaimer

Cheating a Sim's need meter in The Sims 3 only works while Live Mode is running. If time is paused, it won't work! Trust me, I spent several minutes confused by this!

Sims 3 build cheats

Every Sims 3 cheat for making money, building better, and the 'needs cheat' (3)

moveobjects on/off
The most common Build/Buy cheat allows you to place objects more freely, even if they're clipping into another object.

disableSnappingToSlotsOnAlt true/false
This is a long but handy cheat for cluttering a build. It stops objects from snapping into slots on surfaces like tables or counters while you are holding Alt. You might use this to place objects under a table, for instance.

buydebug true/false
Allows you to buy and place "debug objects" that are normally inaccessible such as animal spawners and small clutter items. You can find them categorized in the ? symbol that appears beneath the normal Buy Mode categories.

Sims 3 UI cheats

fullscreen true/false
Forces your game into windowed or fullscreen mode.

fps on/off
This adds an FPS counter to the top right of your window.

maptags on/off
In the zoomed out neighborhood view, this disables or enables the symbols showing what each lot is. Though this works when looking at your full neighborhood while playing a household, this does not work when in Edit Town mode.

discotags
In the zoomed out neighborhood view, this makes lot symbols flash different colors, just for fun.

Sims 4 cheats: Life hacks
Sims 4 mods: Play your way
Sims 4 CC: Custom content
Sims 5: What we know
Sims 4 building tips: Renovate
Sims 4 challenges: New rules

Sims 3 testing cheats

Every Sims 3 cheat for making money, building better, and the 'needs cheat' (5)

Before using any of the cheats below, enter "testingcheatsenabled true" and hit Enter. Now you can hold Shift and click on various targets.

Swipe to scroll horizontally

Sims 3 Shift+Click cheats
TargetCheatEffect
SimModify traits for active Sim Opens a window to edit the selected Sim's personality traits
SimEdit Sim in Create A SimOpens CAS and allows you to edit anything about your Sim
SimTrigger age transitionAges your Sim to the next life stage
SimAdd to active familyAdds the selected Sim to the currently played household
GroundTeleport me hereTeleports played Sim to any location in the neighborhood
GroundBuild/Buy on this lotOpens Build/Buy mode on the selected lot even if unowned by the current household
MailboxMake friends for meAdds 5 random Sims as friends for the current Sim
MailboxMake me know everyoneAdds all Sims in the neighborhood as acquaintances
MailboxMake all happyMakes all Sims in the active household happy
MailboxMake needs staticPauses need meter decay on all Sims in the household. Reenable with "make needs dynamic"
MailboxSet careerInstantly changes current Sim's career and you can select their current promotional role
MailboxForce NPCSpawn an NPC Sim of choice like the Grim Reaper, firefighter, pizza delivery, etc
MailboxForce visitorSpawns a visiting Sim on the household lot
ObjectDelete itDeletes selected object
WorkplaceForce opportunityTriggers a workplace opportunity for your Sim's career which you can accept or reject as normal
WorkplaceForce eventTriggers a popup event related to your Sim's career
WorkplaceForce all eventsTriggers one of every possible popup event for your Sim's career

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Every Sims 3 cheat for making money, building better, and the 'needs cheat' (6)

Lauren Morton

Associate Editor

Lauren has been writing for PC Gamer since she went hunting for the cryptid Dark Souls fashion police in 2017. She accepted her role as Associate Editor in 2021, now serving as self-appointed chief cozy games and farmlife sim enjoyer. Her career originally began in game development and she remains fascinated by how games tick in the modding and speedrunning scenes. She likes long fantasy books, longer RPGs, can't stop playing co-op survival crafting games, and has spent a number of hours she refuses to count building houses in The Sims games for over 20 years.

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Every Sims 3 cheat for making money, building better, and the 'needs cheat' (2024)
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