List of Easter eggs in The Sims

An Easter egg is a message hidden in the object code of a program, movie, book, CD, DVD, or video game as a joke, intended to be found by persons disassembling or browsing the code.

There are many Easter eggs in The Sims series. Some of these are hidden in the actual game play and others are hidden in the code.

The Sims

 * The Yeti from the Vacation expansion pack and the mascot of winter wonderland appears in the TV-cartoons and if Superstar is installed, a Betty Yeti film-poster is added to the game.
 * The Loch Ness Monster appears for a few seconds in the neighborhood screen in the water. The monster also appears in Downtown and Vacation Island.
 * If there is a Christmas tree, fireplace, and a table with cookies in the same room late at night, Santa Claus will come, and leave the family a present.
 * There are some real people starring in The Sims, for example Drew Carey, Marilyn Monroe, Andy Warhol, Avril Lavigne, and Christina Aguilera.
 * A highway was named after Gunther Goth; it is called the Gunther Goth Highway.
 * There are many Easter eggs with the Crumplebottom family such as the court house next to the Goth Sr, the prune tree, and the park.

The Sims 2

 * Bella Goth: There are many references to this mysterious Sim in the game. Bella Goth appears on the milk cartons and newspapers in the game. In the texture files of the fireplace, there is a small hidden picture of Bella in the right hand corner. It is rumored that Bella is hidden in the hot air balloon neighborhood object/event neighborhood object in the game; others suppose this is the Blond Bombshell from the Sims Hot Date expansion pack. Bella appears in many of the decorative photographs of the game, one being a picture of herself named "Bella Squared." She can be seen at community lots in Strangetown. With Apartment Life expansion, the neighborhood has a statue of Bella holding a plumb bob. In The Sims 2 for PlayStation 2, the name of a refrigerator is "Chow Bella Bachelor. Bella Goth Sims can be made in the Sims 2 with a combination of a red strapless top and skirt, medium skin and brown hair. "
 * Onomatology: Several pre-made Sims in the game have names that allude to a meaning. Such as Olive Specter's ghosts, 'Rigger Mortis' and 'Earl E. DeMise'.
 * The Pleasant Sisters: While watching Simstation Dance on a TV, a clip can be seen of two girls fighting. The girls look just like Angela and Lilith Pleasant.
 * Freezer bunny: Almost as common as the Bella Goth Easter eggs is the freezer bunny, representing a pink bunny cartoon and first appearing on the back of a juice carton in the community lot freezers.
 * Simpsons house: A house on the train table in free time bears a striking resemblance to 742 evergreen terrace, the house of the Simpsons family.
 * The flying pig: A neighborhood object/event released with Open for Business. Appears in neighborhoods with a water tower. It is a reference to Pink Floyd, who often used inflatable pigs as props at their concerts.
 * The spaceship: A neighborhood object/event released with Pets. When a crashed spaceship is placed in the neighborhood, a spaceship arrives with a searchlight to find the crashed ship.
 * The spaceship's number plate: Says 'anm8er' (It sounds like "animator"). When an abduction occurs on the lot and the UFO comes to return the Sim, the numberplate can be seen.
 * House Of Fallen Trees: It is unconfirmed whether or not this is an Easter egg, but there appears to be a house in the menu that, when selected and put down somewhere in the neighborhood, there will be a basement with two coffins underwater. The closest one is found in Downtown. A large house towards the west has a basement. In it are two coffins, but they're not underwater. The house in Downtown also has the graves of some of the Tricou family members in the backyard (House of Fallen Trees).
 * The pig balloon usually seen in the neighborhood view can also be seen popped and lying on a tree when a Sim adds trees to a model train set from FreeTime.
 * Furthermore, using the  cheat, the Grim Reaper's bio says that his favorite band is Styx.
 * With the Apartment Life expansion pack and moving the camera towards the sea and the upper left corner of the screen while in movie making mode (TAB), Baba Yaga's hut from Bon Voyage can be seen.
 * When reading the buyable tree trunk in Bon Voyage, messages can appear saying: DL+CG, DL+DC, DL+NC, DL+KL, a reference to all of Don Lothario's loves in Pleasantview. (Don Lothario+ Cassandra Goth, Don Lothario+Dina Caliente, Don Lothario+Nina Caliente and Don Lothario+Kaylynn Langerak).
 * Career reward: The Sims 2 logo can be seen on the lower part on the 3rd mat of the Medical career reward.
 * Maxis outfit for girls: In The Sims 2, there is an outfit for girls with Will Wright on front and a Maxis logo on the back.
 * Using SimPE or another third party editing program to open the character files of several pre-made male Sims in Veronaville (e.g. Kent Capp, Cornwall Capp, Patrizio Monty etc.) reveals that they have a slight gender preference for males at the beginning of the game, despite the fact that they are involved in heterosexual romantic storylines. This is possibly a reference to the ongoing critical debate over the possible sexuality of William Shakespeare, on whose life and plays the neighbourhood is based. Also could be referring to the fact that in those times only men were allowed to act.
 * On the counter of the hot dog stand in Apartment Life, the player can see some recognizable pictures. The pictures include the photos from the photo album of the Smith family,the Grunt family, the Lothario family, the Broke family, and many more. There are also the pictures of Romeo Monty and Bella Goth.
 * Ocasionally when playing a sound is heard, that sounds like scanning in Spore

The Sims 2 Pets (PSP)
When going to Town Square, players may get the message "Today is the Cat Day!". Oddly, this may also appear in The Sims Castaway at random times when looking inside a bottle.

Sims

 * Several of the Easter eggs have to do with the Tragic Clown - first seen in The Sims. His picture seems to have taken the place of Bella Goth on the back of the milk carton. A parody fish has the name the Tragic Clownfish. Probably the biggest Easter egg is the Tragic Clown's grave in Pleasant Rest Graveyard.
 * Vincent Skullfinder, from MySims, is buried in the graveyard.
 * In The Sims 3 the Goth family was incomplete, Gunther's sister Frida Goth was excluded from the family, however there is one Sim in Goth's graveyard named Lolita Goth and some players believe that she is Gunther's sister, but that is also improbable since Frida died as an elder and Lolita as a young adult, this allowed some players to believe that she is Gunther's ex-wife. For theories see Lolita Goth/theories.
 * In The Sims 3: Late Night, there is a possibility that Sims will exclaim, "This place is hotter than Hank Goddard that one time he caught on fire!" when visiting a random hotspot. This is a reference to Hank Goddard, Pauline Wan's fiancee. It is also possible they will exclaim, "This place is as hot as Connor Frio with a bad case of hypothermia."; as a reference to Connor Frio.

Books

 * "The Crumplebottom Legacy." This is a reference to Miss Crumplebottom or Mrs. Crumplebottom.
 * "Where's Bella?" is a reference to the Bella Goth's disappearance in The Sims 2.
 * "Murder in Pleasantview", by Alexander Goth.
 * "The Goth Account", a business opportunity book to read.
 * "The Wright Papers", a business opportunity book to read.
 * "Unicorns for Audrey", possibly a hint at Twin Peak TV series.

Decorations

 * There is a buyable painting of the Social Bunny from The Sims 2.
 * There is a buyable statue of the Laganaphyllis Simnovorii- the cowplant- from The Sims 2: University.
 * There is a statue of a Servo in the Science lab.
 * If a Sim is painting on an easel, they can paint a picture of Bella and Cassandra Goth as well as Olive Specter crying for being left at the altar by one of her husbands.
 * A large painting includes a couple on a balcony. The man has a suit and the woman has an elegant Red dress which could be Mortimer and Bella.
 * There is a buyable shelf that comes full of mementos and curios, one of which is a photograph of the young man and woman on the cover of The Sims 2: University box.
 * Under the buydebug menu, there is a small miniature version of The Sims 2 Goth Manor.
 * There is a record with a "Bella Squared" painting as the cover.
 * On the side of any bookstore, there is a poster of two people that look a lot like Pauline Wan and Hank Goddard. Another person who appears seems to be Jebediah Wilson, dressed in his doctor uniform and in front of a group of heroes.
 * Also in the Sims 3 Late Night the fountain in the center of town looks like the picture from the loner trait from Map View.

Objects

 * The Lucky Door is said to be made by Mr. McMann, from Pleasantview after he won in Bingo seven days in a row.
 * There is another door called Mags' Door, the door is in the style of the 50s and it might be a reference to Mags Newbie.
 * A double bed is made by the Lothario family.
 * Several objects appear made by Landgraab Industries.
 * Zooming in close enough to the hot air balloon that floats around reveals two figures from promotions for The Sims. The figures will always face forward. Watch this video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nQqpOThKtJA&feature=related
 * On a TV set there is a box cover of "The Sims 2 Castaway" and "MySims."
 * One of the fireplace styles is the Chimenea Muy Caliente.
 * A telescope that comes with Outdoor Living Stuff mentions Morrigan Hemlock who is a playable character who lives in Bridgeport.
 * There is an archway that is a direct reference to "Stairway to Heaven" by Led Zeppelin. It comes with the base game and is called the "Archway to Heaven". Its description is "There's an archway that knows, if you're wealthy with gold, then you're buying an Archway to Heaven". This is a reference to the first few lines of "Stairway to Heaven"; "There's a lady who's sure/All that glitters is gold/And she's buying a Stairway to Heaven".

References to EA and other EA titles

 * "Point Farmer: The Grant Rodiek Story" {Grant Rodiek is one of the producers.}
 * One of the large paintings a Sim can paint closely resembles a creature from Spore.
 * On the door to the Bistro, there is what appears to be a blue credit card sticker. When flipped horizontally, it can be recognized as the original EA games logo. (Seen in Sunset Valley)
 * There is a channel on the TV called 'Halls of History', which when turned on shows an authoritarian city from Simcity Societies.
 * One of the space rocks is named Sporecite, a reference to the EA Game, Spore.
 * When traveling to the future in Ambitions, Sims can encounter a Mass Effect reference (Some sort of Shepard saving the galaxy from an ancient machine threat), and when traveling to the past a Dragon Age: Origins reference (While traveling through the tunnels, the sim was saved by a Warden who led the sim out safely).
 * When receiving a certificate for mastering Athleticism, The athletic institute is named "Grodiek Institute", a pun off a creator of the game, G. Rodiek.
 * While it may be just a name, Morrigan Hemlock may also be a reference to Dragon Age: Origins. Not only does she share a unique first name with an important character in the game, but also wears an outfit slightly reminiscent of the Dragon Age Morrigan.
 * One of the Rocks/Metals that Sims can pick up is Tiberium, which is a reference to Command and Conquer.
 * On the Channel Trowler 27" Deluxe TV, the three disc cases that are shown on the bottom of the item are those of the MySims and The Sims Castaway games, both by EA.

Homages to art, film and literature

 * "Herding Cats: Music Edition" (Herding Cats is an album by Gaelic Storm who recorded a Simlish version of their song "Scalliwag" for The Sims 2: Bon Voyage.)
 * Some created paintings in The Sims 3 are famous paintings in real life.
 * The poster named 'Detention Hall' is a parody of The Breakfast Club.
 * Sometimes, male Sims will say "giggity" after romantic acts. This may be a reference to Family Guy character Glen Quagmire.
 * The trait "Never Nude" as well as the playable character Gobias Koffi are references to the television show "Arrested Development".
 * The descriptions of the shrubberies in The Sims 3 refer to Monty Python and the Holy Grail.

Other

 * One of the community's players found an airplane in the sky of Sunset Valley ([])
 * On the big rocks near Crystal Springs in Sunset Valley, there are alien carvings on the rocks presenting some sort of message.
 * Premade deceased Sims in Twinbrook, Barnacle Bay and Bridgeport are all light-green skinned, grey-haired, barefoot and dressed in similar hues. Also these sims share their last name with some Twinbrook families, possibly meaning that they may be related to them but oddly they don't appear in their family tree.
 * NPCs from Bridgeport and Barnacle Bay often don't have the typical and appropriate traits to the determinate NPC job, for example babysitters don't have the Family-Oriented trait.
 * There is an Easter egg in Twinbrook giving a hint of Bridgeport. See this video - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2NCgL20Lqaw
 * As the Easter egg above, if you look at the Big Bling Household in Bridgeport, you can see a description saying that no one knew how these "former Twinbrook residents came under the same roof."
 * In the theater at Bridgeport, there is a movie poster of a doctor examining a woman, as seen on The Sims 3 Ambitions box.
 * The football clips on the sports station are a game between the Pittsburgh Steelers and Jacksonville Jaguars from Madden NFL 10.
 * In CAW it says set "Beautiful Vista" buff instead if moodlet. This may give away The Sims Medieval as moodlets are called buffs
 * A playable song is named Flamenco Fever, perhaps a reference to the Caliente family.
 * All the T.V. shows are made with The Sims 2.
 * The name of the Twinbrook Stadium is Bachelor Stadium, making a reference to the Bachelor family (perhaps because Michael wishes to be an athlete).
 * The newspaper may say that Twikkii Island is the #1 vacationing island. This a reference to the island that appeared in The Sims 2: Bon Voyage.
 * When travelling to the past, the player may randomly get a message about the disappointment of the Sim that personal teleportation is still not possible 50 years after The Sims 3. This makes no sense, since teleportation does exist in The Sims 2 and can be achieved by meditating or learning the Ninja teleportation trick. Kids can also be teleported by the Social worker. Teleportation is also possible through the Teleporter Challenge Reward. Although it's possible the game means an object that allows personal teleportation.
 * Also the fountain in the center of Bridgeport from a map view vaguely resembles the picture from the loner trait in Create a Sim.
 * One of the songs used when entering the elevator for The Sims 3: Late Night expansion is one of the songs used in build mode in The Sims.
 * The cooking channel plays a song from the The Sims: Unleashed.
 * Some of the songs playing while in the neighborhood view of France are from the neighborhood view of Magic Town in The Sims: Makin' Magic.
 * Under the "Themed" category while designing objects, one pattern shows three real-life car brands: Audi, Chevy, and Lamborghini.

Llamas
The Llamas is an old joke from Maxis dating all the way back to SimCity 2000, when the speed names where "Pause", "Turtle", "Llama" and "Cheetah".

Llamas appear throughout most games of The Sims series. The theme appears as the mascot of the college in The Sims 2: University and various pictures. The pirate ship in Bon Voyage (and Hogan's Deep Sea Diner in Barnacle Bay) has a llama figurehead on it as well as the face of a llama and vegetables as the jolly roger on the ship and Mr. Humble´s computer has a picture of a llama on it. Also, in The Sims, calling to invite over a person who doesn't particularly want to accept said invitation, they will sometimes say "I'm sorry. I can't; I have to feed my pet llama," or "I'd rather play Myshuno with a pack of llamas." There is a book in The Sims 3 entitled "Llama's Rights" and Sims can imply that a Sim's mother is a llama. Another indication of the infamous Llama is on the Foosball table. It can clearly be seen on the sides of it. Also, in The Sims 3: Late Night, when a sim is using the Bubble Bar, there is a chance that it will blow a bubble in the shape of a llama. In The Sims 2 Castaway, the Llama people appear on every island. Also, in The Sims 2, Sims on the first level of in the sports career, Team Mascot, wear a llama costume. Sims in The Sims 3 can also do an interaction which is "Imply Mother is a Llama." Also in The Sims 3 Ambitions expansion pack, Sims can get a llama tattoo. The cheatcode "enablellamas on" also alludes to this love of llamas.