Thinking of DeathA few players have noticed that their Sims seem to be psychic.  Is this true, or just a weird coincidence?  If you pay attention to the thought bubbles that occasionally show up for your Sims, you may start to see some interesting patterns.

In the picture above, you can see that my Sim is thinking of a gravestone.  And only an hour later (in game time), someone in her household died!  Coincidence?  I have never seen her thinking of gravestones before, and she hasn't thought about them since.

I have actually seen this happen before, but I always thought it was a coincidence.  Now I'm starting to wonder!


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This is a question that comes up a lot wherever Sims 3 is discussed.  There is a Sims 3 app for sale, usually at around $5 or $7 depending on the whims of the pricing gods.  So the question is, should I buy it?

The answer is a resounding "maybe."

The first thing you have to understand about the mobile version of Sims 3 is that it is extremely limited.  This makes sense if you think about it!  Sims 3 is a very demanding game, so the version for iPhones and iPods is very stripped down in order to run.


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Of course, after I finished my last article, I spent the entire weekend thinking of other ways you can make money!  The truth is that there are a ton of ways to rake in the Simoleons.  Which is good, because in a world where it costs $11 to make waffles, you'll need it!

1. Writing

All you need to be a writer is a computer - and it doesn't even have to be yours!  I guess Sims write their novels in Google Docs, because if you start a novel on one computer, you can access it on any other computer in town.  Visit the library if you need to use a public (free) computer.


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Hacking For Simoleons!Obviously the best way to make some Simoleons is to join a career track.  But really, how boring is that?  (Pretty boring.)  Here are some other ways to make it rain!

1. Gardening

Obviously you can grow produce and sell it.  (Tip: instead of hauling everything to the grocery store to sell, just click and drag it from your Inventory onto the "sell it" square.)  The better the quality of your produce, the more money you earn.

But I'll tell you what: my Sims are earning a fortune from their five Money Trees!  I think the best strategy is to sprint to a high enough Gardening level to grow this tree.  Then plant as many of them as you can find.  Each Money Tree will eventually drop a Money Tree seed, so you can really start your grove with just one.

2. Painting

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Death Takes A FlowerAh, the elusive and mysterious Death Flower!  What is it, what does it do, and how do you get you some?

What Is The Death Flower?

The Death Flower can be picked from the Death Flower plant, which typically blooms once.  If you have a Death Flower in your inventory when you die, there is a very good chance that the Grim Reaper will decide not to take you, therefore giving you a second chance at life.

NOTE: many people confuse the Death Flower with the Death Fish.  The Death Fish is a key ingredient in Ambrosia, which makes you magically younger.  However, the Death Flower actually staves off the Grim Reaper directly.

How Does The Death Flower Work?


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I cannot uninstall the game ...it says close other applications or finish the previous setup and then try....dont know what to do???

Help required thanks!!!

Kay is backing up her files right now!Back when I was playing The Sims (the first one), it never occurred to me to see if there was a way to back up my files.  If I encountered a major problem with the game, I had to try and work around it as best I could.  If I couldn't work around it, then I had to completely uninstall and reinstall the game.

The third time I did this was the last time I played The Sims.  Every time you uninstall the game, you lose all of your gameplay history.  I had a Sim (Bob Newbie) who was over 100 days old, which was a lot back then.  And when I reinstalled the game, he was right back to being 1 day old!  I couldn't take it, and I quit playing.

Don't let this happen to you!


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Sims 3 Propose MarriageI have heard this complaint a lot, both in person and online.  "My Sims won't marry!"  Marriage used to be such a straightforward business in The Sims 1 and The Sims 2!  Not only is it more difficult for a Sim to get married, with more factors affecting the proposal, but there are also some known bugs in the game which prevent the marriage options from showing up.

Answer 1: S/He's Just Not That Into You

Time was, the marriage and relationship options would just appear on the Romantic conversational menu after your relationship score was high enough (and it had a romantic component).  This is no longer the case!  In order to get there in Sims 3, you have to do what people are calling "spamming with romance."


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Bad Sim PhotographsOne of the many nifty things that comes with the World Adventures expansion pack is the new Photography skill.  You can buy a cheap Instamatic-style camera in all three worlds, but you can only buy the nice cameras in Egypt.  (Not sure why the nice cameras are only sold in Egypt - is Egypt some kind of bastion of photographic electronics?)  As long as you're in Egypt, be sure to pick up the Photography skill book, which is only sold in the Al Simhara book store.

The cheap cameras will get your Sim started building their skills, but the pictures they take are… pretty terrible.  Which is fine at first, because your Sim's early pictures are going to be bad no matter what!  The Photography skill is a lot like Painting that way.  


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Bust A Move!I was recently playing along, minding my own business, when one of my Sims switched their radio to the Pop channel.  I was quite startled to hear a song that I recognized (I liked it enough that I had purchased it on iTunes the week before) but in Simlish, of course!

Ever since the early days, The Sims franchise has gone the extra mile with the music on the available in-game radio stations.  EA tapped some impressive name-brand recording artists to record versions of their songs in Simlish for The Sims 3.  Even more "real" songs were added with the World Adventures expansion pack.

World Adventures is where Esmee Denters' version of "Outta Here" in Simlish came from.  If you listen closely, you may also hear chart topping songs by:


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