There are many ways a Sim can die.
There are also ways YOU can kill your Sims.
And there are ways Sims can (appear to) kill Sims.
Cooking fire - to avoid this, make sure your Sims study cooking and place a fire alarm.
Drowning. It is very rare a Sim will drown without "help". But if he is very tired it can happen, when hir energy is -100
Old Age. There are cheats and hacks to avoid this. If an elder Sim dies at hir allotted time, there will be an insurance payout to hir family or friends which depends on hir Aspiration level at the time of death.
Starvation. Watch your Active Sims, specially when pregnant - they are much more at risk from starvation than more lazy ones.
Run with Scissors - for teen and older Sims - download from the main EA site. The Sim drops dead, presumably after stabbing hirself. This is much more likely to kill Sims with low Logic.
Satellite - if the Sim stargazes by lying on the ground outside at night, there is a small chance a rogue satellite will fall on hir. (The survivors can sell the satellite in Buy mode for a good price!)
Fear. Sims can be scared to death by ghosts, when 3 needs drop below -90.
The revenge of the flies: In a very dirty place, with gone off food, a Sim can occasionally be eaten by a swarm of flies.
Electrocution - remember that water and electricity don't mix. Nor do Sims with low Mechanical skill and electrical devices.
Death by Rallye Forth - Open For Business - excessive use of Rallye Forth when needs are low can cause death.
Death by Hail with Seasons. If four needs drop below 50%.
Death by Freezing - Seasons again. Sim can be revived by warm weather or rain (frozen), or by another Sim using the Warm Up interaction on the sufferer.
Death by spontaneous combustion - Seasons - when a Sim gets too hot for too long. Overheated Sims die when their hunger reaches 0, but can be revived by another Sim using the Douse interaction on the sufferer.
Death by Lightening Strike - if you have Seasons. For some reason sitting in a hot tub for a very long time seems to increase the risk.
Death by Elevator - an elevator can fall and if needs are low, kill the Sim/s in it. Open For Business. There is more chance of death if Sims are woohooing in the elevator.
Death by Evil Kite - Open For Business - a form of electrocution.
Death by Sunlight - vampires only - needs NightLife. When all needs (except social and room) are right down.
Death by Cowplant - University.
Sickness. This isn't really a way YOU can kill a Sim. But it happens.
Sims' disease hits comfort, cleanliness and bladder. So if you keep your Sim well rested and clean, they will recover quickly. If a fatal disease is not treated for ten days the Sim will die. Every disease can be cured with about 12 collective (not necessarily consecutive) hours of sleep, lounging, sitting, or relaxing.
Sims' sickness is usually more cureable with later EPs. If you want a really fatal illness, you can download a hacked version from More Awesome Than You; there are two versions in that thread. One will kill far more Sims than the other so read carefully. I use the gentler of the two, which you can download here.
| Cold | Coughing, Sneezing | 1% chance of catching a cold anytime Sim goes to work or school | Highly Contagious | If left untreated becomes Pneumonia |
| Flu | Coughing, Diarrhoea | Up to 5% chance from roaches. A crazy (ie broken) Cleanbot is a very effective way to introduce this to a lot. | Highly contagious | Potentially Fatal |
| Pneumonia | Coughing, Fatigue | Source: Untreated Cold | Slightly Contagious | Potentially Fatal |
| Food Poisoning | Vomiting, Nausea | 5% chance when eating spoiled food | Non contagious | Fatal if left untreated |
| Virus | 2 random symptoms | Mishandling of Virus created with Biotech Station: severity is determined by Logic skill and manifested by darkness of the colour of the vial | Highly contagious | Potentially fatal |
See Pescado's detailed research on Sims 2 illnesses.
Fire - cooking fires are often a result of a Sim with little or no cooking skill and no fire alarm... unlucky Sims may well perish in the fire. While this is an accident, if YOU don't put in a fire alarm, you have only yourself to blame - and you deserve your Sims coming back to haunt you!
Drowning - remove pool ladder when Sim is in swimming pool. This is the oldest way and goes right back to Sims 1; was highly popular in The Sims Online (later called EALand).
Sickness - as noted above, Sims who are well rested and allowed to bathe regularly don't usually die of disease. If, on the other hand, you don't let them rest... that said, with the later EPs none of my Sims have died from the normal ingame Sims disease, even when neglected. See above.
Use the One Cheat to Rule Them All and spawn Rodney's Death Creator. This allows you to call all the death types.
Rifle from SimWardrobe.
Electric chair by Simslice.
Different styles of death produce ghosts of different colours.
| Fire | Red and smoking |
| Drowning | Blue, drops puddles of water |
| Electrocution | Yellow. Sparking and occasionally electrify. |
| Starvation | Transparent. Steals food from fridge. |
| Old Age | White |
| Disease | Green |
| Fear | Pink |
| Flies | Purple |
| Satellite | Orange |
| Hail | Dark Pink |
| Lightening | Yellow? |
| Elevator | Transparent |
| Evil kite | Yellow |
| Cowplant | Light Green |
| Sunlight | Transparent |
| Rallye Forth | Ghosts have a cone and continue to rallye (sp) forth! |
Ghosts may (will!) get jealous if a spouse still lives on the lot, particularly if she remarries; they tend to pop up in the bedroom at awkward times... or if strangers move into their houses.
If a Sim is a vampire, werewolf, zombie, when resurrected they come back as whatever creature they were, not as the "human" Sim. There seems to be no way to restore a zombie, once a zombie, always a zombie.
Ghosts get very angry if their tombstone is kicked or damaged. And angry ghosts are bad news.
Ghosts cannot cross foundation boundaries without stairs. This can slow their entry to your Sims' house. Or build them a mausoleum, and take away the stairs.
They also cannot cross pond water, or pool water without a bridge or board, just as any Sim. They CAN go through walls of houses if the house has no foundation, so making house on foundation slows their entry.
For seeing ghosts in the cemetery, have living family members visit.
Ghosts usually appear between 9PM and 5 or 6 AM.
To encourage their appearance, a disturbance in the Force helps - for
example, have a money Sim's family member waste money, or send an unmarried, childless
Sim to visit the grave of a family Sim's ghost.
In other words, irritate the ghost to cause it to
rise from its grave.
Pet ghosts will appear randomly when their masters are around.
You can use the Resurrect-O-Nomitron to resurrect Sims your Sim knew. Don't spend more than §8,513 on the Ressurect-O-Nomitron, as spending more will not decrease the chance of a Zombie appearance!
If a Sim dies on a Community Lot you can now exit the Lot without saving, and before the Ghost leaves the Lot, to return to a Sim still full of life!