As one of the best selling video game franchises of all time, and definitively the best life simulation ever, The Sims franchise was born in the year 2000. Since then, it's grown to earn over $2.5 billion in revenue, and become the root of multiple spin-offs, mods and expansions. There is no real story to the game, the plot is what you make of it. Also, much of the world is pre-made, so there are a ton of moving parts already in motion. These include unique default Sims, vibrant cities, and a plethora of opportunities to be discovered.

It's impressive enough that Will Wright, the original creator of the game, managed to design AI that so charmingly represent the human condition. It's even more amazing when you discover the more secretive and hidden aspects he and his team managed to sneak into the game. More seasoned players have likely come across a few of these gems, but many require a little more digging. Nevertheless, we'll show you how patience can be rewarded, explain some weird phenomena, and throw in a few tips and tricks along the way.

20 The Social Bunny

via: YouTube (AndroidConan)

Remember that film, Donnie Darko? If you haven't seen it, it's well worth the watch. Essentially, it's about a troubled teenager who, among other oddities, is visited by a person in a creepy bunny costume that gives him strange insights into his reality.

While not quite as dark, but almost as creepy, there is a being in The Sims 2 with a similar aesthetic known as the Social Bunny. It will simply appear when Sims that are teenagers or older are feeling down and their social need (a motivational trait) gets too low. It can only be seen by the Sim it is there to help, and is open to various interactions that will raise the Sim's social level. The Sim's social need will increase even if the Social Bunny is just in the vicinity, but neglecting to interact with it will decrease the Sim's comfort level (for obvious reasons).

19 A Depressed Clown With Good Intentions

via: Maxis

On the subject of strange NPCs that appear seemingly out of nowhere, there is another odd character in the game known as Sunny the Tragic Clown. Similar to the Social Bunny, he only appears when a Sim is in a negative mood and only if they own a painting of Sunny. Still, unlike the Social Bunny, who at least has some utility, Sunny is nothing but a pest to those around him. His attempts to cheer people up are often unsuccessful, leaving them worse off than they were before. As such, getting rid of him is often a hassle because his work is never really done. One way to remove him from the lot is hiring Clown Catchers. But still, you can't help but feel a bit bad for the guy, he's just trying to help.

18 The Miracle Of Life

via: kotaku.uk

Given that The Sims is a life simulation, it's no surprise that having children is a commonplace occurrence. However, there are certain oddities surrounding childbirth that aren't quite biologically accurate. For one, you can influence the gender of a newborn but having the pregnant Sim eat a certain type of fruit: apples for boys, watermelon for girls. It's not guaranteed, but makes one or the other more likely. If a Sim is on the Medical Career track and reaches level 5, they can tell you the gender of the baby before birth.

Say the kid is being a burden, and you wish they'd be an adult already. Just buy a birthday cake, and have the Sim child blow out the candles. Repeat until you're satisfied with their age. Gosh, they grow up so fast!

17 Secret Alien Homeworld

via: simsnetwork.com

Most players already know that aliens have been a part of the series since The Sims 2. They were at first no different than human characters other can appearance. Later updates gave them unique properties and abilities, and UFO abductions are almost commonplace. However, there is a way to visit the aliens on their own planet.

First introduced in The Sims 3 as a text-based subplot, one of the secret lots included in the Get to Work expansion for Sims 4 is the planet Sixam (Maxis, the game's developer, backwards). To find it, a Sim needs to have reached level 10 in Rocket Science to build a ship, or use the Science Active Career skill. Once there, you'll be met with a grand party, and can even take an alien home with you to join your family.

16 When The Grim Reaper Breaks The Game

via: Maxis

You're likely familiar with console commands in The Sims, allowing your omnipotence to reach new levels of power. One such command, "testingcheatsEnabled true,"  enables a kind of sandbox testing mode that disables almost all limitations. One such limitation was not being able to read the Grim Reaper's bio. When you try to do so in testing mode, you'll get the info above.

Still, this forbidden knowledge comes at a cost. Reading the bio will cause your save file to become corrupted, and you'll have to start over. But most people would say that finding out the Grim Reaper has an exceptionally average set of stats is well worth breaking the game.

15 The Lonely Island Reference

via: thelonelyisland.com

If you're unfamiliar, The Lonely Island is a comedy band; their lead vocalist is Andy Samberg who you may recognize from NBC's sketch show Saturday Night Live. In The Sims Medieval spinoff, there is a chance your Sim will dream of a bard called Andy Island, prompting an opportunity (side quest) that is likely a reference to this band. A couple of the options given are "The night starts..." and "To the good part!" which are both references to their song Jack Sparrow. A mention is made of Bikhail Bolton, which is likely a nod to Michael Bolton, who was featured in the song. An obscure reference in a spin-off to be sure, but interesting nonetheless.

14 So Happy I Could (Literally) Die

via: sims-online.com

One of the defining traits of a Sim is their mood, how happy, sad, angry, or variation thereof, they feel. It's dangerous to keep a Sim feeling negative emotions for too long, but it can also be dangerous (or funny, depends on how you look at it) for them to feel too happy. Two of a Sim's positive moodlets are playfulness and happiness. These can be increased by telling jokes or attending happy events. But, if a Sim's combined playfulness and happiness reaches 15 or higher, they'll enter a state of joyous delirium, laughing so hard that they suffocate and die. So yes, make sure your Sims aren't sad, but also make sure they aren't too happy either.

13 Censoring For Justice

via: Maxis

It's likely you wouldn't know about this one unless you pirated the game (we're watching you). Many developers have coded in little safeguards against pirating, preventing those who somehow acquire the pirated version from properly playing. These could range from mild annoyances to game-breaking bugs.

The Sims 4 has its own little safeguard. Now, normally when a Sim is nude, pixelated censoring is used to preserve their modesty. However, in the pirated version, this censoring continues to grow until it takes up the entire screen, causing the game to become almost unplayable. It's an elegant and effective way to deter pirate copies, especially since the franchise is one of the most pirated of all time given the many expansion packs that some might not want to pay for.

12 Something Off About That Tree

via: simcitizens.com

Speaking of secret areas, another amazing one in The Sims 4 is known as Sylvan Glade, which features a strange easter egg. To get there, send a Sim to the Crick Cabana lot in Willow Creek. Adjacent, you should see an odd tree standing in an empty space. Have your Sim "View" the tree multiple times, and eventually a series of strange message will begin to appear. Your Sim will also start to crawl into the tree itself, and emerge in Sylvan Glade.

This fantasy realm is full of pink trees, bright flowers, and even a crystal clear fishing pool. While exploring, you may come across some bushes next to the water. If you get close enough, a pair of red eyes will appear, and you'll hear laughter. Don't worry, they're totally harmless. Creepy, but harmless.

11 Only A Little Gay

via: Reddit (Wasting_Night)

The town of Veronaville was one of the original neighborhoods from The Sims 2. The name is based on the town Verona, from Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet. Using a third-party add-on, you can inspect detailed character information for the standard Sim population. The interesting data comes from the male Sims, who seem to have a slight romantic preference towards other males even though later on they are in straight relationships.

This may be a nod to the popular debate over the preferences of Shakespeare himself, who some considered to be gay. It could also reference the fact that in the famous playwright's time, only men were allowed to act, even in female roles.

10 The Cowplant

via: simcitizens.com

This large, bovine plant from The Sims 4 takes the shape of a venus flytrap but with the aesthetic of a cow, complete with black spots and chin udder. How to acquire one, you ask? It's quite simple. First, grab your best fisherman Sim and go to Desert Bloom Park in Oasis Spring. Second, walk to the mineshaft and you'll see a small pond by the entrance. Third, commit that Sim's life to fishing constantly until you catch a Cow Plant Berry. Fourth, plant the berry wherever you'd like. Within a few days, you'll have a fully grown Laganaphyllis Simnovorii, or Cowplant for the layman. You can also buy the plant in-game or with SimPoints but that's no fun.

Drinking the plant's milk (don't ask) rejuvenates your Sims and increases their lifespan. But be careful, the plant lures in victims with a piece of cake held out on its tongue (I don't even know) before swallowing them whole. The plant can be a loving member of the family, or an unspeakable horror, the choice is yours.

9 The Gym Is A Deathtrap

via: simcitizens.com

In real life, people go to the gym because they want to be active and fit. In The Sims 4, Sims wanted to be active and fit because they were at the gym. This small but significant difference led to quite a humorous bug in the game. As dictated by the code, Sims at the gym had an increased desire to exercise until they were exhausted just by being there. Normally that'd be fine, but the problem was that older Sims had a chance of dying when they got exhausted but continued to do physical activity. They'd be conflicted between being tired and wanting to work out, eventually causing them to keep on exercising until they died.

8 The Origin of Simlish

via: Maxis

The famous language of the Sims, Simlish, seems to be nothing more than charming gibberish. The reason for this made-up language was that the creator, Will Wright, believed that pre-set English phrases would eventually take away from the ingenuity of the game, and prove to be a hassle when translating into other languages for international release.

The design of Simlish was inspired by World War II communication code, in which soldiers would use Native American Navajo to thwart enemy code-breakers. The vocabulary draws loosely from Ukrainian, French, Latin, Finnish, English, Fijian, Cebuano, and Tagalog. Still, despite its recognizable words, Simlish has no rules of grammar, so it really can't be classified as its own language.

7 Sell Your Soul (Body)

via: Maxis

You'll need an especially flirtatious Sim for this one. As all players know, when a Sim is at death's door, the Grim Reaper appears to claim them. But, with the right stats, you can have one of your Sims (a woman) seduce the Grim Reaper and convince him to let the dying Sim live. There are other ways to bargain for life, but selling your body seems to usually be an effective method.

If you're so inclined, once you have the Grim Reaper's favor, you can even marry and have a kid with him. The child will look utterly horrifying, but hey whatever you're into.

6 Worse Than The IRS?

via: quotesgram.com

Just as in real life, paying taxes is an important responsibility in The Sims. You may believe in a tax-free world, but federal protections and services come at a price. Still, there's no reason it should be a thing in a video game. In any case, neglecting to pay your taxes results in warnings. Repeatedly ignore these warnings, and you'll get a visit from the Repo Man.

This NPC will use some kind of futuristic gun to literally make your possessions disappear and end up you-know-where (a phrase which here implies that you are the god of this game). Perhaps there'll be a future expansion with this alternate world as a secret lot, a place filled with the various confiscated items of people who didn't pay their taxes.

5 Become a Supreme Villain

via: YouTube (TropicalPenguin)

If we're being honest, as the god of your own little microcosm, it's likely you've done some things that could be considered villainous. But that's merely for your own amusement; what if you could get paid for performing vile, criminal acts? Look no further than a career as a Supreme Villain.

Your Sim will need to start out as a special agent for the good guys and start levelling up (with no small level of dedication). At level 7, you'll be given the choice to either become a Diamond Agent or Villain. Obviously, you'd choose Villain and continue to level up. At level 10, you'll max out your income, get a freeze ray, and earn the title of Supreme Villain.

At that point, you can bask in the glory of evil or become a triple agent and work for the good guys again.

4 Doll House

via: YouTube (LegitKawaii)

In the earliest stages of development, Will Wright saw his game as really more of a virtual dollhouse rather than a life simulation. His original title was, as such, Doll House. But the marketing team found that this didn't appeal to the demographic of young, male gamers. On a related note, the actual reason that video games have, until recently, been considered more for boys is simply due to advertisers over the last decade featuring that demographic in their commercials. In terms of interest and appeal, the genders are equal in their love of video games. Funnily enough, a quick YouTube search for gameplay or a Google search for actual game stats will reveal that The Sims is more popular among a female audience.

3 Finding Bigfoot

via: Maxis

Bigfoot was first introduced in an expansion pack called Bon Voyage for The Sims 2. Finding him is no easy task, but once you do, he can even become part of your family. The expansion includes a pirate ship, and inside the captain's quarters is a possible location of the map you'll need to access the secret location. You can also find the map by going for a hike or digging for treasure.

Once the map is found, head to Three Lakes and uncover the secret lot called Hidden Burrow, the home of Bigfoot himself. Despite his reputation, the creature is actually quite kind and playful. Hang out with him enough, and he'll become playable. You can even ask him to come live with you.

2 Not So Different From Us After All

via: simplypsychology.org

Human activity is governed by a system known as the Hierarchy of Needs, developed by the American psychologist Abraham Maslow. It's widely believed that fulfilling these needs is essential to our happiness. The Hierarchy is established as a pyramid, with needs more related to survival at the bottom forming the base, and more emotional and mental needs piled on top. The design implies that only by fulfilling a lower level can one focus on achieving the next.

This design also governs the activity of your Sims as well, coded as a core part of their AI. Their happiness levels depend on attaining each level in turn, though it makes sense that their functions are more strictly regulated than ours (we can be hungry and still care deeply about relationships while a Sim might not possess the same higher reasoning).

1 The Girl In The Red Dress

via: Maxis

Most players are familiar (or rather, have heard of) the enigmatic Bella Goth. We know about her wealthy family's history, and as far as her personality goes we know she is fun, romantic, and quite gregarious. The Goths exist as pre-made Sims in every game, but the exception with The Sims 2 is that Bella herself is missing. Several theories surround her disappearance, most of which involve an alien abduction, explained through this fantastically made cinematic.

Originally from Pleasantview, her character exists in the game code but can only be accessed through some third party software such as SimPE. Still, she has no memory of her past life, something credited to her alien abduction. A more interesting theory is that Maxis simply forgot to include the character in the game, and used the alien story as a cover-up.