Skill
Skills are talents that Sims need in their everyday life and to advance in their working career.
In The Sims, only adults can earn skill points. In The Sims 2 however, any age group from Toddler onwards can gain at least some skills.
Also in The Sims 2 certain aspiration reward objects such as the Smart Milk, Thinking Cap and SimVac can also aid in the building of skills, as do the career reward objects which each focus on one skill, and all 7 main skills (Cooking, Cleaning, Mechanical, Logic, Creativity, Body, and Charisma) are covered by at least one object.
In The Sims 3, Skills have been expanded on from previous versions, integrating skills and Talent Badges of The Sims 2. They still have 10 levels of proficiency.
In The Sims 3, Sims who have maxed out any skill receive a certificate which could be sold for $1,000 (price WILL drop after some time) or hung up proudly on your wall.
Skills by game
The following Skills can be learned:
| Skill | The Sims | The Sims 2 | The Sims 3 | Age |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cooking | X | X | X | Child and older |
| Mechanical/Handiness | X | X | X | Toddler[TS2:FT] and older |
| Charisma | X | X | X | Toddler and older |
| Body/Athletic | X | X | X | Toddler[TS2:FT] and older |
| Logic | X | X | X | Toddler and older |
| Creativity | X | X | Toddler and older | |
| Cleaning | X | Teen and older | ||
| Walking | X | X | Toddler only | |
| Talking | X | X | Toddler only | |
| Potty Training | X | X | Toddler only | |
| Study | X | Child or Teen | ||
| Dancing | X | Child and older | ||
| Painting | X | X | Child and older | |
| Meditation | X | Teen and older | ||
| Pool Playing | X | Teen and older | ||
| Yoga | X | Teen and older | ||
| Parenting | X[TS2:FT] | Teen and older | ||
| Fire Prevention | X[TS2:AL] | Teen and older | ||
| Anger Management | X[TS2:AL] | Teen and older | ||
| Lifelong Happiness | X[TS2:AL] | Teen and older | ||
| Physiology | X[TS2:AL] | Teen and older | ||
| Couple Counselling | X[TS2:AL] | Teen and older | ||
| Guitar | X | |||
| Fishing | Talent badge | X | Child and older | |
| Writing | X | |||
| Gardening | Talent badge | X |
Skill benefits
A few examples for what Skills are needed in everyday life:
- When Sims know how to cook they won't burn their food so often (or even set the whole kitchen on fire)
- If a Sim is experienced in Mechanical, they can repair broken things in the household faster and the chance of electrocution while repairing e.g. a Trash Compactor or TV decreases significantly.
- Sims with high Charisma tell better stories and Jokes and are not too likely to be rejected for these interactions by other Sims they might want to make friends with.
- Sims will clean things in the household a little faster if they gained enough cleaning skill (although some think it also depends on the neatness of each Sim)
- The Body skill of a Sim is built by using treadmills, weights, or swimming. When Sims are fat, they can train and not only get thin, but also stronger. When two Sims fight with each other, it is said that the Sim with the higher Body skill is more likely to win the fight.
- The creativity skill, when high enough, will lead to Sims who create masterpieces on the easel that sell for a lot of money (sometimes as much as over 600 simoleons) or novels, that can bring in up to 3500 simoleons. Also they will get tipped higher when they play an instrument in public and might leave the place with much more money than they came with.
- If your sim has every skill maxed they will also begin a career half way into it. Also when you pick up a job at this stage the career reward becomes immediately available, enabling you to achieve all the rewards within a few days.
- Sims with high levels in a skill will unlock new abilities, for example, high level Logic allows a Sim to tutor other Sims, Cooking unlocks recipes, Fishing unlocks bigger fish.[TS3]
- Sims get a Power Study moodlet if they study at the Library.[TS3]
Skill journal
This section describes features that are only available in The Sims 3.
You do not see the skill in your bar until you unlock the first point. You can then view the skill journal. For example, in the Athletic skill journal you have your statistics: hours of cardio workout, hours of strength workout, distance jogged.
Various challenges are also available in the Skill Journal. For example, in the Painting Skill Journal, a challenge to paint thirty paintings is available. When completed, the Sim earns a reward of being able to paint significantly faster than normal Sims.
There are multiple skill challenges for each and every skill, as well as collections. All of them earn some kind of benefit, such as quicker completion, better results, etc.
Hidden skills in The Sims 3
There are some hidden skills that does not appear in skill journal but influences game outcome or Sim's behavior. There is some mod that displays these skills on skill journal.
- Chess
- Sim can play chess on the chess table board. This does not work with playing chess on the computer.
- Dancing (only goes up to level 3)
Sims can dance alone when music is on. This does not work on dancing with someone else.
- Diving (only goes up to level 5)
- Currently, there is no diving board object in Sims 3 base game, so this is not used for now.
- Hacking
- Sim with Computer Wiz trait can hack on computer and earn some simoleons.
- Homework
- Teen or younger Sim can do Homework.
- Mooch
- Sim with Mooch trait can just mooch off of its neighbors.
- VideoGame
- Sim can play video game on gaming console. This does not work with computer game or VR goggle.
- AirGuitar
- Sim will randomly play air guitar (playing guitar without guitar in hands) and gets some fun from it.
- Foosball
- Sim or Sims can play game on Foosball Table. It is not playing football or baseball with a ball.
- Collecting
- Sim can find and collect bugs and gems, rocks etc.
Community lot Skill Buildings
This section pertains only to The Sims 3.
There are certain places you can go to learn each skill:
- Athletic - Llama Memorial Stadium
- Charisma - City Hall
- Cooking - Hogan's Deep-Fried Diner or Little Corsican Bistro
- Fishing - EverFresh Delights Supermarket
- Gardening - Science lab
- Guitar - Wilsonoff Community Theatre
- Handiness - Military base
- Logic - Landgraab Industries Science Facility
- Painting - Community School for the Gifted
- Writing - Doo Peas Corporate Tower
These lessons take a few hours to complete, cost 320 - 400 simoleons and are available to Teens and above. They are also a much more efficient way to train skills, due to their price.