Curfew
- For a related concept in The Sims 2, see Sneak Out.
In The Sims 3, a curfew is given to children and teenagers to remind them that they need to go home. A child's curfew is 10:00 PM and a teen's is 11:00 PM.
Curfew can't be disabled in any legitimate way, but it does not apply if the child or teen is accompanied by a young adult, adult, or elder. This allows objects such as tents to be used.
Teens will be brought home by the police if they stay out past their curfew. If children stay out past their curfew, they will not be brought home by the police. Instead, they will automatically go home or to the nearest adult family member. This action cannot be canceled.
If Generations is installed and a child or teen has the Rebellious trait, the chance of the police rounding the child / teen up is significantly lower.
The Bog Off, Bobby mod changes the way the curfew feature works. It is only available for The Sims 3 for Windows and Mac OS X.
When a teenager is out during curfew, it gives the pertaining moodlet until a police officer catches the Sim or the teen goes home. When he is caught, he cannot run away from the officer (unless using the testingcheatsenabled true cheat and deleting the officer, Windows and Mac OS X only) and the Sim gets a negative moodlet and a scolding from an Adult (that is able to be canceled) on the home lot.
To prevent getting caught by the curfew, use the "go here with..." action to have teens and children visit a community lot with an adult family member, and try not to stray to lots where it is more difficult for the adult to follow. This is useful when a Sim is trying to gain collectibles or is fishing away from home. If a Sim is at the graveyard mourning a dead family member, he or she doesn't get the positive moodlet for being out after curfew and won't be rounded up while mourning. As soon as the Sim stops mourning, he or she can be rounded up.
In The Sims 4, curfew is only present in the Parenthood game pack. Parents can choose when a family's curfew begins on the Family Bulletin Board, with the available options being 7pm, 9pm, or 11pm. Curfew lasts until 6am the next day.
If a Sim breaks curfew, their responsibility character value will gradually decrease. If the Sim gets caught, the parent will have the choice on if, when, and how to confront the violator.
In The Sims 3 for console and Generations, children can violate curfew in the same fashion as teenagers.
Trivia
- In The Sims 2, The Sims 4 (without the Parenthood game pack), and The Sims Stories, teens and children do not have a curfew and there were no time limits for how long they could be on community lots alone.
- This might be due to The Sims 2 and The Sims Stories handling time in a different manner to The Sims 3. Time on the home lot pauses in The Sims 2 and The Sims Stories, making it difficult to accurately draw up a curfew. However, time passes on all lots in The Sims 3.
- Children and teens caught violating curfew will be grounded if Generations is installed.