A dream is a function in certain games in the Sims franchise. While Sims in most games usually only have thought bubbles above their heads while sleeping and act after waking up as if nothing has happened, a few games have dreams that do have impact on the Sim after they wake up.
The Sims 2
A Sim who woke up after having a nightmare.
In The Sims 2, a Sim can have nightmares if players haven't been taking care of them. They will have nightmares if they go to sleep with very low motives. They also have a much higher chance of having a nightmare if they passed out from exhaustion and the player made them wake up and go to bed.
They can also have nightmares if they are in an aspiration desperation or are in the red. For example, if the Sim just witnessed a death or just lost their job, they will more than likely have a nightmare.
The Sims 3: Generations
The "Dream About..." option showing up for a child Sim.
In The Sims 3: Generations, child and teen Sims can be told to "Dream About..." after they have first fell asleep in a bed. This can become a good dream or a nightmare. The Sim must be asleep in a "Dream About..." state for at least 4 in-game hours before waking up, in order for the dream to result in either outcome. However, if the player wakes the Sim manually, the outcome may not necessarily show up.
If a child Sim has a good dream, they can be told to put on a costume from a costume chest that correspond to what they dreamed about, which will give the Sim an additional good moodlet. If a teen Sim dreams about being Prom King/Queen or a Valedictorian, they receive bonus points toward becoming the accomplishment in question.
Dream options:
- Child Sims: Astronaut, Dinosaur, Royal.
- Teen Sims: Going on a Date, Prom King/Queen, Skipping School, Valedictorian.
The Sims 3: Into the Future
The most extensive dream system in the Sims franchise to date is in The Sims 3: Into the Future where Sims aged children and up can dream in the "Sweet Escape Dream Pod by Corebital Designs" about one of up to 47 possible topics, all of which will have one of 3 different outcomes each. Depending on the topics, they can affect a Sim's motives, traits, skill gain rates, score meters, physical appearances, and more.
Sims may have bad, neutral, or good dreams while sleeping in the Dream Pod. If a Sim is having a nightmare, the letter "Z" above their heads will become red; if a dream is neutral, it will become white; and if a dream is good, it will become green.
There is no minimum amount of time the Sim must dream in order to get effects from dreams, and they can get effects after dreaming for mere minutes before waking up again.
Influence dream
"Influence dream" is an interaction that affects the type of dream the Sim is having. It is only available when a Sim is dreaming. This option has four sub-options, and these options can be different depending on the dream theme. Each of these sub-options can influence the dream towards being a good or bad dream. If a player selects a good dream option, green smileys will appear above the Sim's head, otherwise bad smileys will appear.
Under normal circumstances, the top and right options are good (The knowledge of which can turn Dream about Waking Up into a gamebreaker), while the bottom and left options are bad. It is hard to tell if this is case for all players and installations.
Dream types
There are 47 known types of dreams. Due to a glitch, the "Select a dream for (...)" menu can only show up to 40 options at once, which can cut off some of the last ones in the alphabetic order, for instance "Dream about Waking Up". If this makes a dream not show up, exiting the menu and then re-entering it will usually make the missing intended dream show up again. A game mod on Mod The Sims removes the cap and makes all 47 types able to show up in the menu at once.
Motive dreams
Waking up from these dreams affects Sims' motives. Good dreams will improve the motive, usually to 100 (and give a +15 moodlet); neutral dreams increase/decrease the motives to circa 50 out of 100; while bad dreams reduce the motive heavily (and give a -15 moodlet), but not to 0 for critical motives. Many of the dreams also have motive-related moodlets on top of the dream outcome moodlets. No dreams for Entertainment are known to exist.
| Lv. | Dream about ... | Affects motive | Bad | Neutral | Good | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Rushing Water | Bladder |  "Really Has to Pee" 1h
|
Goes to circa 50 | Improves to 100 | •Not available for PlantSims.[TS3:UL] •Has no effect (but still gets the dream cloud moodlet) on Sims with the "Steel Bladder" lifetime reward. |
| Social Situations | Social | Drops to 0 +  "Desolate"
|
Goes to circa 50 | Improves to 100 | ||
| 5 | Personal Hygiene | Hygiene | Drops to circa 5 +  "Smelly"
|
Goes to circa 50 | Improves to 100 +  "Squeaky Clean" 7h
|
|
| 7 | Waking Up | Energy |  "Tired" 2h
|
Goes to circa 50 | Improves to 100 | |
| 9 | Food | Hunger |  "Starving" 24h
|
Goes to circa 50 | Improves to 100 |
Skill dreams
Waking up from these dreams allow Sims to gain skills faster (×1.75 for good, ×1.25 for neutral). But having a bad dream causes Sims to gain skills slower (×0.25). A Sim must have at least 1 skill point in the relevant skill in order for the dream to become selectable.
| Lv. | Dream about ... | Affects skill |
|---|---|---|
| 0 | A Workout | Athletic |
| Public Speaking | Charisma | |
| 1 | Advanced Technology | |
| 2 | Home Repairs | Handiness |
| 3 | Logic | |
| 4 | Painting | |
| 5 | Plumbot Construction | Bot building |
| 6 | Playing Guitar | Instrument skill |
| 8 | Fishing | |
| 9 | Cooking a Meal | Cooking |
| 10 | Writing | |
| ? | Gardens | Gardening |
| 3 | Being a Celebrity[TS3:LN] | Celebrity meter gain |
Trait dreams
Waking up from most of these dreams give Sims new traits, which replace existing "real" traits until the related moodlet expires (after which the traits are reverted back to normal). However, the effects of "Opposite Personality" and "Different Personality" are indefinite.
- Dream about an Opposite Personality (Lv. 5) - Traits that can be made opposite, can be turned into those opposites. The game claims that up to all 5 traits (excluding bonus traits[TS3:UL]) can be changed in one go, but this is rarely (if ever) the case. Known changes include:
- Athletic ↔ Couch potato
- Good sense of humor ↔ No sense of humor
- Loves the outdoors ↔ Hates the outdoors
- Charismatic ↔ Socially awkward
- Proper ↔ Slob
- Can't stand art ↔ Savvy sculptor[TS3:A]
- Party animal ↔ Shy[TS3:LN]
- Supernatural fan[TS3:SN] ↔ Supernatural skeptic[TS3:SN]
- Loves the cold[TS3:S] ↔ Loves the heat[TS3:S]
- Dream about Different Personality (Lv. 7) - Randomizes one, two, or five traits depending on the dream outcome. Bonus traits[TS3:UL] are not affected.
| Lv. | Dream about ... | Bad | Neutral | Good |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Family | Dislikes children | Friendly | Family-oriented |
| 1 | Close Relationships | Commitment issues | Over-emotional | |
| 2 | Romance | Unflirty | Great kisser | Flirty |
| 3 | Laughter | No sense of humor | Childish | Good sense of humor |
| 4 | Dumb Luck | Unlucky | Absent-minded | Lucky |
| 5 | Cleaning Home | Slob | Perfectionist | Neat |
| 6 | Heroism | Coward | Brave | Daredevil |
| 7 | Wilderness | Hates the outdoors | Green thumb | Loves the outdoors |
| 8 | Parties | Loner | Schmoozer | Party animal |
| 9 | Physical Feats | Clumsy | Couch potato | Athletic |
| 10 | Personal Finance | Mooch | Frugal | Workaholic |
| 4 | Generations[TS3:G] | Rebellious | (None) | Nurturing |
| 6 | The Stage[TS3:ST] | Social butterfly | Diva | Natural born performer |
| 2 | Fun in the Water[TS3:IP] | Hydrophobic | Loves to swim | Sailor |
Score-affecting dreams
These dreams can increase or decrease certain score meters in the game.
| Lv. | Dream about ... | Score affected | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | Career | Career/Profession performance | Not available to child Sims. |
| 2 | Co-Workers | Relationships between the Sim and their bosses/co-workers | |
| 3 | Strangers | Relationship between the Sim and a random other Sim | |
| 9 | Academics[TS3:UL] | University academic performance | Only available while at Sims University. No equivalent dream appears to exist for child/teen school Sims. |
Other dreams
These dreams can affect the Sims and the world around them in various ways, and some of the changes can be permanent.
| Lv. | Dream about ... | Bad | Neutral | Good | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3 | Sleeping with the Fishes | 1 random fish | 3 random fish | 5 random fish | |
| 4 | Body Image (Sim becomes:) |
Fat | Medium | Slim | |
| 8 | A Happy Life | 10 lifetime happiness | 100 lifetime happiness | 500 lifetime happiness | |
| 9 | Riches | §50 | §250 | §500 | |
| 10 | The Future (Oasis Landing changes to:) |
Dystopian Future | Neutral Future | Utopian Future | Not available while in Oasis Landing. |
| Sp. | The Sims 4 (Moodlet:) |
Never Enough Time for The Sims 4! | The Sims 4 is Dreamy! | The Sims 4 is Amazing! | Unlocked by using an activator device in the Crash Site. |
| 5 | Animals[TS3:P] (Moodlet:) |
Got Fleas | Bitten | Brushed | |
| 7 | The Supernatural[TS3:SN] (Sim becomes a:) |
Zombie (Eligible species only) |
(No changes.) | Toad Sim (Humans only) |
Not available to child Sims. |
| 6 | The Weather[TS3:S] (Body temperature:) |
Cold | Comfortable | Warm |
- Dream about Vacation[TS3:WA] (Lv. 6) - Increases visa points for one of the vacation destinations. The Sim must have been on vacation at least once previously in order for this dream to show up.
.package game files also mention a "Dream about Ex-Wife" interaction, but there are no known indications as of August 6, 2025 that it made it to the released version of Into the Future.
Availability by age
Some dreams are unavailable to child Sims, mostly ones regarding skills or tasks they can't learn, but also some centered around traits:
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|
The Sims 4
When this happens, the victim gains a sad moodlet and will wake his/hers caregivers awake. Children can also wake up with a scared moodlet due to a monster under a bed, which only they can see. The player may wait this out or have the child nap on the bed (the latter of which may increase the moodlet's duration), although if the player wants it to become less likely for a child to do this again in the future they can buy the 'wall defender' nightlight, and alternatively, the player can make an adult "Spray the Monster Under The Bed" or have a double. Unlike toddler's nightmares, all sleeping children on the lot will wake up as well as the child who discovered the monster. Adults can also have nightmares with the scared or terrified emotion.
The Sims 4: Enchanted by Nature
The The Sims 4: Enchanted by Nature fairy abilities include one called "Energetic Dreamer", which has a set outcome of regaining Emotional Force.
The in-game description: "Reach across the boundaries between dreams and reality and take in the Emotional Force of the collective subconscious. Whoa."
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The Sims Medieval
Occasionally, sleeping Sims will receive a message describing a dream he/she is having. The player will then be given a chance card to select one of two options in which to handle the dream. Depending on the player's selection, the Sim may receive either a "Nightmare" buff which subtracts ten Focus and lasts seven hours, or receive positive buffs or even cash.