# The Sims 3

*Game* · `the-sims-3` · status: **sourced**

The third mainline Sims game, which places households in a seamless open neighborhood where unplayed Sims keep living, and replaces personality sliders with up to five traits and mood with stacked moodlets.

| field | value |
|---|---|
| year | 2009 |
| developer | Maxis Redwood Shores |
| platforms | PC, Console, Handheld, Mobile |
| subgenre | Life sim |
| sim domain | Domestic / personal, Social / interpersonal |
| player role | Caretaker |
| agency model | Direct unit control, Indirect incentive, Zoning / placement |
| time model | Real-time with pause |
| sim scale | Household / crew |
| fidelity | Stylized |
| perspective | Free 3D camera |
| win structure | Open sandbox |
| failure model | Permadeath |
| narrative mode | Emergent |
| multiplayer | Single-player |
| modding | Scripting |
| production tier | AAA |
| agent count order | ~100 |
| emergence | 3 |
| influence | 3 |
| influenced by | [The Sims 2](../game/the-sims-2.md) |
| cluster *(computed)* | C02 |
| core count *(computed)* | 3 |
| mechanic count *(computed)* | 19 |

## Summary

The third mainline Sims game, which places households in a seamless open neighborhood where unplayed Sims keep living, and replaces personality sliders with up to five traits and mood with stacked moodlets.

## Core Loop

pick traits and a lifetime wish -> moodlets from events stack into mood -> wishes and opportunities appear -> act across the open town -> earn Lifetime Happiness for rewards -> story progression advances other households

## Design Notes

Neighborhoods are seamless worlds, so Sims walk between lots without loading screens on PC, and Story Progression keeps households the player is not controlling aging, working, and forming relationships. Personality is a set of up to five discrete traits that unlock and bias interactions, and mood is the sum of moodlets, timed modifiers with named causes. Fulfilled wishes pay Lifetime Happiness points spent on Lifetime Rewards, replacing the wants and fears of The Sims 2. Off-screen story progression and wish generation are captured by the offscreen-life-progression and aspiration-wants mechanics.

## Relations

**influenced by**

- [The Sims 2](../game/the-sims-2.md)

**uses**

- [Personality traits](../mechanic/personality-traits.md) (core): Adult Sims hold up to five traits chosen from a list, replacing the point sliders of earlier games; traits add exclusive interactions and bias autonomous choices.
- [Memories and thoughts](../mechanic/memories-thoughts.md) (core): Moodlets are named, timed mood modifiers (for example Nauseous during pregnancy) whose sum sets mood, which affects performance at work and school.
- [Needs decay](../mechanic/needs-decay.md) (core): Six motives (Hunger, Bladder, Energy, Social, Hygiene, Fun) decay and spawn negative moodlets when low.
- [Smart objects](../mechanic/smart-objects.md) (supporting): Objects advertise motive, skill, and fun gains; traits bias which advertisements a Sim picks.
- [Villager requests](../mechanic/villager-requests.md) (supporting): Opportunities arrive from neighbors, community lots, and jobs, such as skill requests or overtime, and pay cash, raises, or relationship gains.
- [Career ladder](../mechanic/career-ladder.md) (supporting): Twelve base careers that branch around level 6, plus part-time jobs; a performance style (Work Hard, Take It Easy, Suck Up to Boss) trades mood against promotion speed.
- [Agent skills](../mechanic/agent-skills.md) (supporting): Ten-level skills such as Logic, Cooking, Painting, Gardening, Writing, Guitar, Athletic, Handiness, Charisma, and Fishing feed careers and opportunities.
- [Lifecycle and aging](../mechanic/lifecycle-aging.md) (supporting): Seven life stages with an adjustable lifespan setting.
- [Relationship values](../mechanic/relationship-values.md) (supporting)
- [Romance and family](../mechanic/romance-family.md) (supporting)
- [Social exchanges](../mechanic/social-exchanges.md) (supporting): Conversation menus offer trait- and mood-gated interactions whose acceptance depends on relationship state.
- [Daily schedules](../mechanic/daily-schedules.md) (supporting): Jobs and school run on fixed hours at rabbit-hole buildings, structuring each household's day.
- [Building placement](../mechanic/free-placement.md) (supporting): Build and Buy modes with Create-a-Style, which recolors walls, floors, objects, and clothing with any pattern and material.
- [Permadeath](../mechanic/permadeath.md) (supporting): Sims die of old age or of fire, starvation, drowning, or electrocution.
- [Aspirations and wants](../mechanic/aspiration-wants.md) (supporting): A Lifetime Wish is chosen at creation and short-term wishes appear from traits and events; fulfilled wishes pay Lifetime Happiness points spent on Lifetime Rewards.
- [Off-screen life progression](../mechanic/offscreen-life-progression.md) (supporting): Story Progression keeps households the player is not controlling aging, working, forming relationships, and moving around the open neighborhood; it can be switched off in the options.
- [Pause and speed control](../mechanic/variable-speed.md) (supporting)
- [Utility action selection](../mechanic/utility-action-selection.md) (supporting)
- [Modding API](../mechanic/modding-api.md) (supporting): Script mods load as packages, with frameworks such as NRaas, alongside custom content.

## Backlinks (computed)

**influenced:** [The Sims 4](../game/the-sims-4.md)

## Sources

- [The Sims 3](../source/src-wikipedia-the-sims-3.md)
- [Motive](../source/src-simswiki-2026-motive.md)

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Provenance: created in run `2026-10-24-catalog-gc`; reviewed in `2026-10-24-review-fixes`, `2026-10-25-contributor-readiness`.