Simmers, time to rewind the clock and let your imagination run wild!

With the new The Sims 4: Adventure Awaits expansion pack comes an old favorite (or not so favorite) item – the Imaginary Friend! With some of us turning our clocks back around this time of year we thought it would be an interesting idea to take a step back in time to The Sims 3, more specifically The Sims 3: Generations and the Imaginary Friends that came with that pack!

Few things in The Sims 3: Generations are as mysterious and beloved (or feared if you ask LilSimsie) as the Imaginary Friends. They begin as a harmless toy doll, given at birth or gifted to your toddler, that will grow into an invisible companion, a loyal helper, and, with a little science, a real and playable Sim.

This guide walks you through everything you need to know about Imaginary Friends in The Sims 3: Generations, from receiving them to bringing your Imaginary Friend to life.

What Are Imaginary Friends?

Let’s start at the beginning with what an Imaginary Friend in The Sims 3 actually is. The Imaginary Friend is a unique life state introduced in The Sims 3: Generations which begins as a toy doll mailed to a newborn or toddler. When nurtured properly, this doll can come to life, interact with your Sim, and even transform into a fully functional Sim later on.

Only the Sim who owns the doll can see and interact with their Imaginary Friend until it’s made real. Once “made real,” the Imaginary Friend becomes a controllable household member with needs to fill and a whole new life to live.

How to Get an Imaginary Friend

There are two ways that we know of for your Sim to receive this special doll. When a baby is born, a mysterious package may appear in the mailbox. Once your Sim collects the package the Imaginary Friend doll will appear in your babies inventory.

Tip: The gift isn’t guaranteed so saving your game before the birth of your new little Sim and reloading can improve your chances of receiving one.

Sometimes, with a bit of luck on your side, toddlers created directly in CAS may start with an Imaginary Friend doll already in their inventory.

Tip: If your Sim did not get one, try moving the family out and back in again, it occasionally resets and triggers the doll delivery. A work around or trickery one might say but, either way, you could get a doll if that is the goal!

Waking up the Imaginary Friend

To bring your Imaginary Friend to life from the doll state, your Sim must bond with their new friend as a toddler and as a child, in-between living their daily lives and keeping those needs up. In the beginning and starting as early as possible, you should name your doll and assign its gender (we know… The Sims 3 days *sigh*). Play and sing to your Imaginary Friend while your Sim is a toddler to get that bond nice and strong.

When your Sim ages up from a toddler to a child, place the doll on the ground beforehand (do not leave it in your inventory!).

Tip: If the doll stays in the Sims inventory during the birthday transition, it may get “stuck” and never come to life.

You’ll soon receive a notification along the lines of:

“It seems [Imaginary Friend Name] has become a very special friend…”

Once that message appears, your Sims Imaginary Friend will spring to life! (Much to your horror or delight, depending how you feel about them…)

It’ll be invisible to all other Sims apart from your child Sim and will follow them almost everywhere they go. And when we say follow we mean strut… Imaginary Friends like to strut around with a little bounce in their step for added imaginary fun.

Living with an Imaginary Friend

When active, the Imaginary Friend behaves like a loyal invisible companion. From the fun side of things like playing tag, pillow fights, and tea parties, to the mundane house chores like helping clean up dishes and toys, even grabbing your Sim a snack. Your Imaginary Friend is here to stay and keep you company… unless you choose otherwise. If your Sim tells their Imaginary Friend to “Go away” then the Imaginary Friend will go back to doll form unless called upon again.

Don’t forget that other Sims cannot see the Imaginary Friend, only your Sim whose Imaginary Friend it is. If others see your Sim talking to themselves then they very well may wonder if they are really ok, or losing their minds just a little bit.

Since other Sims cannot see the Imaginary Friend they cannot give commands, ask anything or engage in anyway (because really, for them, there is nothing there). Your Imaginary Friend cannot travel or leave the lot without you, so don’t worry they won’t be running away anytime soon! They also cannot be controlled by the player since they are imaginary, though one less sim to worry about right now in terms of needs, right?

A fun note to keep in mind is that the Imaginary Friend grows and ages with your Sim. So when your Sim is a child, so is the Imaginary Friend and when they age up to teenagers, so do the Imaginary Friends!

Bringing your Imaginary Friend to life

Once your Sim has grown up and bonded deeply with their Imaginary Friend, you can bring them to life permanently. Don’t be fooled though, this requires effort, science, and a strong friendship. There are two ways to bring your Imaginary Friend to life. The first is to build your Sims Chemistry Skill up and discover a lot of new potions, you’ll need to keep experimenting until your Sim unlocks the Imaginary Friend Metamorphium potion (possibly around logic 7 or 8). Now that you have your potion you need to make sure you have a very close friendship with your Imaginary Friend, preferably best friends if you can, then there will be a social option for “Offer to make real”.

Choose this, and your Sim will give the potion to their Imaginary Friend. who will then transform into a real Sim, fully playable, with unique traits and appearance.

The other way to turn your Imaginary Friend real is to find a Rainbow Gem which is a rare gem that can be found by collecting, consignment shops, or occasionally by exploring. Don’t be fooled, when we say rare we mean rare, if you have enough Lifetime Happiness Rewards you can obtain the “Collection Helper” trait which helps you find collectables on the map view.

Life After Being A Doll

Once real, your Imaginary Friend joins the household as a normal Sim (taking up a household slot). Your Imaginary Friend can now switch between Sim form and toy form if you click on them and should retain a quirky and fun ragdoll-inspired appearance. The Imaginary Friend turned Sim can now also have romantic relationships, marry another Sim, and even have children of their own!

Fun fact: Imaginary Friend offspring sometimes inherit colorful hair, unusual eye colors, or slightly “doll-like” features. Not always… but sometimes so keep your eyes peeled.

Common Issues and Fixes

Imaginary Friends that won’t come to life probably stayed in your toddlers inventory as a doll during the aging up process. To solve this either try to reload or revert to an earlier save and make sure the doll is on the ground. If the “Offer to Make Real” interaction is not available it might be because your Sims relationship with the Imaginary Friend is too low or your Sims household may be full (remember that the Imaginary Friend takes up a Sim slot when they become real). To avoid this, make sure you have a good relationship with the Imaginary Friend and make sure there is a free slot in the household.

Tip: Always save before birthdays or transformations to avoid losing progress due to bugs.

Extra Fun Facts

If twins are born, it’s possible for both to receive their own dolls. Imaginary Friends cannot drown, burn, or die until they are made real and once real, they can pursue careers, attend school, get married and even start their own families! Was your Sim abducted by aliens and did they have a baby? Fear not, even alien babies can get an Imaginary Friend doll!

And just like that we have come to the end of The Sims 3: Generations guide to Imaginary Friends! Did you ever play with Imaginary Friends in The Sims 3? Did you find it challenging or was it quite an easy process to go through all the steps? Let us know in the comments down below!

Plus Imaginary Friends were just added to The Sims 4: Adventure Awaits so take a look at our Sims 4 Imaginary Friends guide here.