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Hobbies are shipped with The Sims 2: Freetime. They are fun pursuits for Sims. Sims gain enthusiasm in hobbies by performing related activities. There are ten hobbies: Arts and Crafts, Cuisine, Film and Literature, Fitness, Games, Music and Dance, Nature, Science, Sports and Tinkering.
As Sims master activities they will unlock new interactions and uncover secret lots. A Sim has a predestined hobby and will gain enthusiasm in it faster than others. When a Sim first tries an activity in their predestined hobby, a chord will play, and a message will appear stating that the Sim is excited to try this activity. Once a Sim's predestined hobby has been revealed, the enthusiasm meter for that hobby will be outlined in silver.
Most, though not all, hobbies have special "idle" animations that Sims will occasionally perform if they have enthusiasm in that hobby. This can be a way for a player to discover what hobbies a townie or NPC has enthusiasm in.
Players can usually determine what a Sim's predestined hobby is by looking at their interest and personality panel, as the interests and personality usually relate to their predestined hobby.
| Hobby | Personality | Interests |
|---|---|---|
| Cuisine | Neat, Lazy | Food |
| Film and Literature | Shy, Lazy | Entertainment, Culture |
| Tinkering | Shy, Nice | Toys, Work |
| Sports | Active, Grouchy | Sports |
| Music and Dance | Outgoing, Serious | Entertainment, Culture |
| Fitness | Outgoing, Active | Health |
| Arts and Crafts | Sloppy, Nice | Fashion, Culture |
| Science | Neat, Serious | Sci-Fi, School |
| Games | Playful, Grouchy | Entertainment, Toys |
| Nature | Sloppy, Playful | Animals, Environment |
A Sim's predestined hobby and level of enthusiasm for each hobby can also be changed in SimPE.
Unlockable Interactions
All hobbies can unlock these interactions:
- "Talk about Hobby" (unlocked at level 1)
- "Read Section ..." in Newspaper (unlocked at level 2)
- "Subscribe to Magazine" about hobby (unlocked at level 3)
- "Browse Web About Hobby" (unlocked at level 4)
- "Share Hobby Tips" with a Sim (unlocked at level 6)
- A Sim with this interaction unlocked may autonomously share tips with others who are doing a hobby activity
- "Blog About Hobby" on the computer (unlocked at level 7)
- "Instruct in Hobby" (unlocked at level 9)
- "Be in the Zone"
Hobby specific interactions:
- Cuisine: Serve "Chip", "Cheese" and "Appetizer" platters (unlocked at levels 3, 5, and 8, respectively)
- Film and Literature: Participate in Book Club (unlocked at level 3)
- Science: Search for Constellations, Search for Planets, Search for UFOs (unlocked at levels 3, 5, and 8, respectively; requires a telescope)
- Nature: Go Hiking (unlocked at level 3), Collect beetles, butterflies and spiders (additional possibilities are unlocked at levels 5 and 8)
- Fitness: Go Jogging (unlocked at level 3), get Protein Shakes from the refrigerator (unlocked at level 5)
Notes
- In practice, "Participate in Book Club" causes the "Discuss..." option to appear when clicking on a bookshelf. The player will be able to choose which genre to discuss, and which Sim to discuss it with. If any Sim-written novels are in the bookshelf, they can be discussed as well. After the first two Sims sit down to discuss the book, the Sim who initiated the Discuss interaction may invite additional Sims into the book discussion, making this interaction a useful activity for developing multiple Relationships .
Secret Lots
Only members of the Hobby Club have access to these lots. Meet Instructors and other enthusiasts, interact with hobby specific objects, enter food or dance competitions, etc.
- Peerless Park (Nature)
- Will's Garage (Tinkering)
- Games of Glory (Games)
- My Muse - Music & Dance Studio (Music and Dance)
- Aspirational Laboratories (Science)
- My Muse II - Arts and Crafts Studio (Arts and Crafts)
- Sue's Secret Kitchen (Cuisine)
- Platinum Gym (Fitness)
- Dreamy Fields (Sports)
- Desirable Discourse (Film and Literature)
Hobby instructors
Instructors (which are internally referred to as iconic hobbyists), sometimes colloquially referred to as Hobby Stalkers by the community, are NPCs that can be found on the secret lots and can instruct Sims in their hobby. These Sims are easily encountered, usually when they walk into a house uninvited to shake the hands of a skill-building Sim and leave again. Much like the Coach, an instructor is usually an annoyance if the player is currently uninterested in raising hobby skill or if the Sim has other activities lined up. Otherwise, these Sims are useful as friends for careers or as highly skilled instructors who can tutor Sims on hobby lots, as they have a related skill at level 10.
Unlike other Sims, instructors can give hobby instruction regardless of the enthusiasm level of the Sim who is looking for instruction, and can give instruction to children.
Instructors can be fairly useful for career purposes. In addition to counting toward the needed number of family friends, befriending an instructor in a hobby related to the career track a Sim is working in decreases that Sim's family-friends requirement by one. However, some careers such as Law, Politics, and Business are not related to any hobby, so Sims in those careers cannot get this benefit. It appears that Sims will retain this benefit even after they are no longer friends with the instructor.
| Hobby | Associated Career Track |
|---|---|
| Cuisine | Culinary |
| Film and Literature | Entertainment, Journalism, Show Business |
| Tinkering | Intelligence, Military |
| Sports | Athletic |
| Music and Dance | Music, Dance |
| Fitness | Adventurer |
| Arts and Crafts | Artist |
| Science | Science |
| Games | Gamer |
| Nature | Natural Scientist |
When the secret Hobbies sub-neighborhood is first associated with a given neighborhood, the hobby instructor for each hobby is randomly chosen from a predefined pool of three Sims, and will remain the same for that neighborhood. The randomly chosen instructor will be given maximum enthusiasm in the lot's hobby and a plaque signifying excellence in that field. If activities that build talent badges also build enthusiasm in the lot's hobby, it appears that the chosen instructor will be given gold badges in those fields, provided that the appropriate expansion pack is installed.
Instructors are not encountered outside of their secret lot unless they are visiting a lot for hobby-related reasons. However, Sims can invite them to their homes or to other lots. Becoming friends with an instructor will help to gain promotions in its associated careers.
Chance Cards
With The Sims 2: FreeTime , Sims can encounter chance cards related to their hobbies while they are at school or work. As with other chance cards, they can choose one of two options, or choose to ignore the card. Here's a table of the possible results for each hobby:
 | ||
| You're asked to review an art piece in the bosses office and it's horrible. | Say Something | |
|---|---|---|
| Success: |
% | |
Failure:  Demoted
|
% | |
| Don't | ||
Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| A party is up and you're given to option to help with the decorations. | Volunteer | |
Success:  |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Let Her Do It | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| It's Halloween and you don't know whether to wear a costume to work or not. | Wear to Work | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: Demoted
|
% | |
| Don't Wear | ||
 |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| In art class you are given a choice to paint an abstract elephant or a realistic elephant. | Abstract | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Option 2 | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| You're creating a class banner and you need an adhesive to put it together. | Glue | |
| Success: |
% | |
 |
% | |
| Tape | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| You've been doodling in math class and you're called to answer a question. | Show Teacher | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Attempt Answer | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
 | ||
| Your sim is ordered to pick up food. Do they get pizza or ethnic food. | Pizza | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Ethnic Food | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Your sim wants to congradulate a peer for getting married. | Nectar | |
| |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Blender | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| |
% | |
| Your sim is at a BBQ. | Burgers | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Salad | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Your school meal is boring and your sim wants to spice it up. | Ketchup | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Salt and Pepper | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Your sim volunteers to make brownies. | Make it Alone | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Have Family Help | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Your sim is in charge of the cafeteria. Does he or she get students to help or order frozen food to bake. | Make Food | |
| |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Buy Frozen | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: Nothing happens | % | |
 | ||
| A co-worker suggests a movie marathon. | Accept | |
| |
% | |
| Failure: Demoted
|
% | |
| Decline | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| |
% | |
| Your boss wants to borrow a novel to read. | Lend it | |
Success:  |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Keep it | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| You're trying to gather a group for a film festival. | Post it | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Cube to cube | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| |
% | |
| A classmate has seen a movie you haven't seen. Lie and say you've seen it? Or dismiss the movie. | Seen It | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Dismiss It | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| A classmate hates books and comes up to your sim. Do you try to reason with him or her or do you agree. | Reason | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Agree | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Your called to discuss your opinion on old-fashioned media. | Educational | |
| |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Obsolete | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
 | ||
| You're on lunch break at work, and you've bought an off-colour fish that's supposed to be healthy. | Eat the fish! | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Skip the salmon | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Someone at work challenges you to a thumbwrestle. | Accept the Challenge | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: Demoted
|
% | |
| Decline the Challenge | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: Demoted
|
% | |
| There's a charity walk at your work place, but your ankle is broken! | Do the walk | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Rest the Ankle | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| The school is serving an off-colour fish that's supposed to be healthy. | Eat the fish! | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Skip the Salmon | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Someone at school challenges you to a thumbwrestle. | Accept the Challenge | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Decline the Challenge | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| There's a charity walk at your school, but your ankle is broken! | Do the rally | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Rest the ankle | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
 | ||
| You've won a game of marbles | Take them all | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Distribute them | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| You're playing a game at work. Do you show the boss or cover it up? | Show boss | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: Demoted
|
% | |
| Hide from boss | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| |
% | |
| You're invited to a poker tournament. | Go | |
| |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Don't go | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| You're playing a game of bingo with the boss and have a winning move. | Lay down bingo | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Let boss win | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: Demoted
|
% | |
| You're giving a report. Do you use game metaphors or stick to facts? | Game metaphors | |
Success: |
% | |
Failure:  |
% | |
| Scientific fact | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| You're given the option to choose a game to play. Either kickball or dodgeball. | Kickball | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Dodgeball | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| |
% | |
 | ||
| You're listening to music and a co-worker is interested. Do you share your headphones or lie about it? | Give headphones | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Lie about music | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: Demoted
|
% | |
| You bought tickets but it turns out they're not for the concert you thought they were. | Ask for Discount | |
| |
% | |
| |
% | |
| Accept price | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| |
% | |
| A dance party has starting in the office. Join in or ignore it and keep working? | Join | |
| Success: |
% | |
| |
% | |
| Stay Seated | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Which instrument do you want to practice? | Cello | |
| Success: |
% | |
| |
% | |
| Trumpet | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Your sim is given the option to join the dance team or the Gymnastics team. | Dance team | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Gymnastics Team | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Your sim's band is playing and one of the songs is inappropriate. Do you play it as it is or tone it down? | Rock out | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Tone it down | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
 | ||
| You find a rare bug on the morning hike. You can alert professionals or retrace your steps and try to catch it. | Retrace steps | |
| |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Alert the pros | ||
| |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| A co-worker has an incorrectly labelled bug box. | Correct Mistake | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Tell Coworkers | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| An exclusive bug box is available. | Purchase box | |
| Success: |
% | |
| |
% | |
| Pass it on | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Your sim sees kids torturing ants. You can report them or deal with them yourself. | Tell on them | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Stomp over there | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Your sim wants to join a club. You can join an existing club or start a new one. | Pay fees | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Start new organization | ||
| |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| You're in charge of gardening at the school and there's a pest problem. Order organic pesticides? Or leave the garden to fend for itself? | Organic pesticides | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Fend for itself | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
 | ||
| Sim and a small group of co-workers have a side project they do during their lunch break. They are building a model rocket on the roof of the work building and today's the launch day. Sim has also been experimenting with a fuel that Sim has been making himself/herself. Her/his fellow teammates are a bit skeptical about the idea. Should Sim add the experimental fuel or go with the generic one? | Experimental Fuel | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: Demoted
|
% | |
| Generic Fuel | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| A co-worker offers a stargazing trip. | Go stargazing | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Don't go stargazing | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| |
% | |
| Your boss tasks you with a presentation on DNA. Do you spice it up with pictures? | Add pictures | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: Demoted
|
% | |
| Go with basics | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| An untrustworthy classmate asks to borrow homework. | Yes | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| No | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| You're given an offer to join a study group. | Join | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Don't join | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| |
% | |
| You're given an option for a lab partner. you could pick a friend or a smart kid. | Buddy | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Smarts | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
 | ||
| You're playing a game of soccer in the afternoon during your lunch break at work. | Slide tackle! | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: Demoted
|
% | |
| Stay on feet | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| A game is on during computer class. | Watch the game | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Pay attention | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| In a game of football, the star player is injured. | Play the star | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Bench him | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| You're playing a game of soccer at school in the afternoon. | Slide tackle! | |
| Success: |
% | |
| |
% | |
| Stay on feet | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| A game is on during a meeting. | Watch the game | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: Demoted
|
% | |
| Go to meeting | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: Demoted
|
% | |
| You're playing tag. Do you attack the fast kid or the slow kid | Fast kid | |
| Success: |
% | |
Failure:  |
% | |
| Slow kid | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
 | ||
| The office microwave is broken. You could repair it or call for help. | Tinker | |
| Success: |
% | |
| |
% | |
| Call support team | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Instructions for machinary have been lost. You could build it without instructions or get help. | No instructions | |
| |
% | |
| Failure: Demoted
|
% | |
| Call company | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| An employee has left a model train behind. You could play with it or wait until he or she comes back. | Play with it | |
| Success: |
% | |
| |
% | |
| Wait till later | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| A kid has bought an RC car for show & tell and your sim wants a closer look. | Ask now | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Ask later | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Your sim could fly a helicopter in and get test questions. | Sneak a look | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Don't do it | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| In shop class, your sim thinks of improvements to make for the project. | Stick to plans | |
| Success: |
% | |
| Failure: |
% | |
| Make it exciting | ||
| Success: |
% | |
| |
% | |