To become a zombie in The Sims 3, you need the Supernatural expansion pack, and the easiest routes are drinking a Zombification elixir made with the Alchemy skill or getting bitten by a zombie during a full moon. In The Sims 3, zombification is mostly a temporary condition rather than a permanent life state, so it wears off unless you use the rarer potent version. This guide covers every method, which Sims are immune, how long it lasts and how to protect a household that would rather not join the undead.
What You Need First
Zombies are a Supernatural feature. Without that pack none of the methods below exist in your game. Supernatural also added the lunar cycle, alchemy, witches, fairies and werewolves, and it ships with the world Moonlight Falls, where the Elixir Consignment Store and other supernatural venues are already placed.
Age matters. Community documentation for the game says babies, toddlers, children and pets are never affected, zombies aim their bites at adults and elders, and most occult Sims shrug off zombie bites, although some (fairies and witches, for example) can still be turned by elixirs or the witch ritual.
Method 1: Zombification Elixirs (Alchemy)
Alchemy is the most controllable route. Buy an Aleister’s Alchemy Station in Buy Mode in the Hobbies and Skill category, then have your Sim use it to research alchemy and build the skill.
- Zombification Elixir: community documentation puts this at Alchemy level 3, brewed from a mandrake root, any mushroom and any insect. It turns the target into a zombie temporarily.
- Potent Zombification Elixir: a level 9 recipe learned from a recipe book sold at the bookstore or Elixir Consignment Store, not through research. Per the same documentation it makes the change permanent until cured.
Your Sim can drink the elixir to zombify themselves, or throw it at another Sim. At Alchemy level 5 they can also mix it into a drink and hand it over, which is the sneaky way to do it. If you want to reach the potent recipe faster, our skill cheat guide shows how to max Alchemy, and the Alchemy career guide explains how to earn money from potions at the same time.
Method 2: A Zombie Bite on a Full Moon
When the lunar cycle is on, zombies rise from the ground around town on full moon nights. A zombie will try the “Braiiins” attack on nearby adult and elder Sims. A Sim who is bitten collapses, is pulled under the ground, and climbs back out as a zombie.
To try this deliberately, check the moon phase indicator, keep your Sim outside on a full moon night and let a zombie reach them. Per community documentation, the bite only works on ordinary humans: vampires, werewolves, witches and fairies brush it off. If your Sim is already an occult, use an elixir instead.
Method 3: The Reanimation Ritual (Witches)
A witch can cast the Reanimation Ritual on a tombstone to raise the dead Sim inside it. The Sim comes back, but as a zombie. You need a witch with enough spellcasting skill to have learned the spell; our witch guide covers how to become one and level up magic.
Community documentation adds that if the ritual backfires, the caster can end up zombified themselves, which is another way in if that is what you are after.
Other Ways It Can Happen
- Brain Freeze a la Mode. Per community documentation, this quick meal carries a very small chance of zombifying whoever eats it.
- The Dream Pod from Into the Future. A bad result from dreaming about the supernatural can briefly turn a Sim into a zombie, according to the same sources.
- Store content. Some Sims 3 Store items, such as a voodoo doll curse, can zombify a Sim when Supernatural is installed.
How Long It Lasts and What Changes
A zombified Sim gets green-grey skin, black eyes, a shambling walk and a negative “Zombified” moodlet. Their social options shrink to groans and the bite attempt, they will eat garden plants on the lot, and community documentation says they cannot travel to other worlds, shop or WooHoo while the condition lasts.
Exact durations vary by source. Community documentation lists a temporary zombie state of up to around two in-game days for bites and the basic elixir, shorter for the Dream Pod, and permanent for the potent elixir. Because it is tied to the moodlet, removing the moodlet ends it.
To reverse it early, a Cure Elixir, a Potent Cure Elixir or a witch’s Sunlight Charm all work. Our dedicated guide to curing zombies walks through each fix.
Keeping Zombies Away
If you would rather avoid them, open Options, then Game Options, and set the lunar cycle to hold on a phase that is not the full moon. Community documentation also notes zombies rarely spawn inside fenced gardens. For other ways a Sim’s life state can change, see our vampire guide and werewolf guide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which expansion do I need to become a zombie in The Sims 3? The Supernatural expansion pack. The base game and other packs have no zombies.
Can a vampire or werewolf be bitten into a zombie? According to community documentation, no: occult Sims shrug off the bite. They can still be zombified by an elixir or, in some cases, the witch ritual.
Is being a zombie permanent? Usually not. Bites and the regular elixir wear off; only the Potent Zombification Elixir makes it stick until cured.
Can children become zombies? No. Per community documentation, babies, toddlers, children and pets cannot be zombified by any method.
How do I stop full moon zombies? Set the lunar cycle in Game Options to a single phase that is not the full moon.
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