Cats, dogs, and horses
The Sims 3: Pets (Kjæledyr) adds cats, dogs, and horses as playable household members. Players design their animals in Create-a-Pet, where they can adjust coat patterns, breed, body shape, and color. Horses are exclusive to the PC and Mac versions and come with their own skills, including racing and jumping. An Equestrian Center lets players offer horses for stud or mare services, with studs earning payment for their owners.
Small animals such as birds, lizards, rodents, turtles, and snakes can be purchased or found outdoors. These minor pets are not directly controllable and do not count toward the household cap.
Pet traits and household limits
Pets develop traits dynamically as they perform certain activities. Sims can scold or praise behaviors to influence how quickly traits are picked up, giving players direct control over a pet's personality. Some traits are species-specific, and certain pairs conflict with each other.
The expansion raises the maximum household size from eight to ten members. Up to six of those slots can be occupied by pets, with the rest filled by Sims.
Appaloosa Plains and unicorns
Kjæledyr introduces Appaloosa Plains, a new world set in a Midwestern ranching town nestled between green hills. The world takes its name from the Appaloosa horse breed.
Unicorns appear in the wild and can be befriended and added to a household. They arrive with advanced racing and jumping skills and possess magical abilities, including the power to bless or curse Sims and pets and to make plants grow or die.
SimGoodie coverage
SimGoodie's restored GamesCom preview covers household limits, Create-a-Pet, pet traits, and the Appaloosa Plains world. For more on The Sims 3 expansions, see the Generations pre-release interview.