Cheating Death, Mourning, and Ghosts in "The Sims"

Sims may not age, but they certainly can die. Sometimes Sims die in an accident, and other times it may be the player responsible for the death. If a death occurs and you decide the death will be permanent, then the family will be affected. Sometimes the family is haunted for years to come by the dead family member.

There are ways around death, however, even after the death occurs. Not all these tricks will work with all types of deaths.

The Grim Reaper

The "Living Large" expansion packs adds the Grim Reaper. He is a non-playable character (or NPC) that appears when a Sim dies. Family members can plead for the Sim's life by playing a game against the Grim Reaper. There is a fifty percent chance you'll win. If you lose, though, there is still a chance the Grim Reaper will decide against taking the Sim's life.

The Grim Reaper sim takes a break in a bathtub
 Spikeasaur / deviantart

Cheat code

You can revive your Sim from death with the move object cheat. To use the code, enter cheat mode (Ctrl+Shift+C) and type move_object on. Click the Grim Reaper and then press Delete. Do the same for the dead Sim. The Sim's icon should now have a crosshair on it. Click the crosshair icon, and the Sim will appear on the screen.

Don't save

This seems obvious, but in a panic, you may forget. If a Sim dies, and you didn't want it to happen, don't save the game! Just exit the game instead. Another reason to save often.

Graves and urns

Like humans, Sims are affected by a death of a family member or neighbor. Sims need to display their grief and pay their respects to the dead. But they do it in a somewhat different way, in that they don't have funerals. When a Sim dies, a tombstone or urn will appear in place of the body. You can move the tombstone or urn to a more suitable place or sell it. The tombstone or urn is a mourning place for the Sims. When they pass it, they will stop and cry. Some Sims will take much longer to pay their respects, while others will only take a few minutes. Generally, the mourning will only last up to 48 hours.

Graves and tombstones can be moved to a final resting spot for the Sim. However, if the family or you didn't like the Sim, you could always sell it for 5 simoleans. Neither tombstones nor urns can be bought, and once you delete one, you can't get it back.


If you choose to keep the grave of the dead on your family's lot, there is a chance the family will be haunted by a ghost of the dead Sim! You'll know a ghost when you see one. They are a green color and transparent.

Ghosts do not do much. They walk around the lot looking to scare the living. If a living Sim does happen to see one, you'll notice a scare icon in the list of actions. Hauntings are possible even if the ghost is not from the present family.