The Sims 2 Cheats: All Codes For Legacy Edition

EA is partying like it's 2004--and that's because the publisher is celebrating the 25th anniversary of its juggernaut franchise The Sims with brand-new re-releases of The Sims and The Sims 2 that include all their DLC and work on modern systems. Since it's been quite a while since most of us have messed with The Sims 2--EA stopped supporting the title when it released The Sims 3 back in 2009, after all--we could use a bit of a helping hand as we revisit this old classic. Fortunately, we've still got plenty of The Sims 2 cheat codes to work with.

Fortunately, The Sims 2 has a lot more cheats than The Sims 1 did. Like a lot of first sequels, The Sims 2 is where the series really established most of its norms--meaning that the way you can cheat in The Sims 2 is pretty similar to how you can cheat in The Sims 4. Because of that, in general, The Sims 2 is a lot easier to go back to now than The Sims 1 is.

But there is one thing that has stayed the same from the start: You press ctrl+shft+C to open the console where you can type in your cheat codes. No need to mess with any game files or anything like that--the console works by default. Once you've opened it up, just type in one of the codes below and have fun. Just keep in mind that The Sims 2 doesn't tell you if you typed it correctly, and it can be case-sensitive about some of the codes, so be sure to enter them exactly as written below.

There are two kinds of cheats in The Sims 2, the first being the kind you type into the console, and the second being interface-based. We'll start with the codes.

Cheat code	Effect
kaching	adds 1,000 simoleons
motherlode	adds 50,000 simoleons
familyFunds [last name] [number]	sets the given family's funds to the stated amount
maxMotives	fills all needs for all sims on the current lot
motiveDecay [on/off]	toggles need decay for all sims on the current lot
aging [on/off]	toggles aging for all sims on current lot
disablePuppyKittenAging [on/off]	toggles aging for pets
aspirationLevel [0-5]	sets the selected sim's aspiration meter
aspiration points [number]	adds aspiration points to the current sim
unlockCareerRewards	unlocks items you'd normally have to level your career to earn
setHour [0-23]	set the time of day according to a 24-hour clock
slowMotion [1-8]	slows down the game--the higher the number, the slower it goes
stretchSkeletion [multiplier]	makes the selected sim taller or shorter--1.5 makes you 1.5x taller.
moveObjects on	allows you to pick up or delete any object--this is different from MoveObjects in The Sims 4
setQuarterTilePlacement [on/off]	allows much more granular placement of items in build mode
boolProp testingcheatsenabled true	enables cheats that you activate by shift+clicking on things

As was the case with The Sims 1, the moveObjects cheat here is not the same moveObjects in The Sims 4, which lets you place build objects closer together than the game's grid normally allows. In The Sims 2, this cheat is instead for literally moving or deleting any object in the world.

Interface cheats in The Sims 2

That last cheat is of particular interest to us here. On top of the cheats listed above, there are a lot of other cheats in The Sims 2 that you can activate by holding shift when you click on a sim or object in the game--doing so opens a new, cheat-focused pie menu that will allow you to change all sorts. In order to access this other group of cheats, you'll need to enter boolProp testingcheatsenabled true in the console, and that will activate the ability to use these UI cheats. For the most part, you'll be using cheats that you find by shift+clicking on a sim or a sim's mailbox.

There are two additional console commands that unlock some extra options. There's addNeighborToFamilyCheat [on/off], which will add an option to add a sim to a household when you shift+click them; and there's ageSimsCheat [on/off], which will let you set a sim's age. Scroll on for a list of stuff you can do with this other type of cheat.

What to click	Option	Effect
Any sim	Set age	choose the sim's current life stage
Any sim	Set birthday	makes today the day the sim ages up
Any sim	Set aspiration	change the sim's lifetime goal
Any sim	Add to family	adds the selected sim to your household
Any sim	Change suit	change the sim's outfit
Any sim	Kill	kills the sim
Any sim	Make vampire/Cure vampire	turns the sim into a vampire or back into a human
Non-household sim	Make sim my contact	adds the selected sim to your relationships list
Non-household sim	Make furious with this sim	makes your sim really mad at whoever you clicked
Non-household sim	Add to family	adds selected sim to your household
Any plumbing object	Set state of cleanliness	makes your toilets, sinks and bathtubs dirty or clean
Mailbox	House > Make all happy	fills needs for everyone in your household
Mailbox	House > Make all needs static	freezes needs for entire household
Mailbox	House > Make all needs dynamic	turns needs back on
Mailbox	Neighborhood > Make me know everyone	adds everyone in the world to your relationship list
Mailbox	Neighborhood > Make friends for me	makes everyone on your relationship list your best friend
Mailbox	Neighborhood > Invite all neighbors	every sim in the neighborhood shows up at the current lot
Mailbox	Make NPC	spawns an NPC of the specified type
Mailbox	Make Pet	spawns a pet of the specified type

And with that, you've got everything you need to get your Sims 2 dynasty up and running. If you need them, we also have a list of all The Sims 1 cheats.