To adopt a unicorn in The Sims 3, you need the Pets expansion pack, a wild unicorn that has spawned at night, and a Sim who is Best Friends with it. The catch most players miss is that the same Sim also needs very high relationships with three animals already in the household, or the unicorn turns down “Ask to Join Household” no matter how friendly it is. Below we cover where unicorns appear, how to befriend one, the adoption requirements, and what a tamed unicorn can do.
What You Need First
Unicorns are a feature of The Sims 3: Pets on PC and Mac. The console versions of Pets never had them, per the community-run Sims wiki. The game is no longer patched, so the current way to get the pack is the EA app (Windows and Mac) or as DLC on the Steam store page for The Sims 3. If you turned off Horses and Pets with the population controls that patch 1.38 added to the game options, turn them back on first.
A few things you do not need, despite what several content farms claim:
- No Riding skill. Unlike horses, unicorns can even be adopted by children, because the Riding skill is not part of the requirement.
- No “Pet Training” skill. The Sims 3 has no skill by that name for Sims.
- No specific community lot. Unicorns do not live at the Equestrian Center.
Where and When Wild Unicorns Spawn
A wild unicorn spawns in the evening at 8:00 PM and vanishes at 5:00 AM the next morning. It does not show up every night: the community wiki puts the chance at roughly one night in three, and early player reports agree that it can take several nights of checking.
The easiest way to find one is map view. A spawning unicorn sits under a large shining, rainbow-tinted cloud that is visible from the map, and it usually appears at a fishing spot, a beach, or open parkland. Only one wild unicorn exists per world at a time, so if you see the cloud, that is the one.
If you are new to horses in general, our guide on adopting stray pets in Sims 3 covers the stray animals that often become the three companions you need below.
How to Befriend the Unicorn
Start slow:
- Use Watch first, from a distance, so the unicorn gets used to your Sim.
- Move on to Talk To and gentler touch interactions once the relationship bar climbs. Community guides describe rubbing its neck as the next step; the options you see depend on the relationship level.
- Offer food with Feed Harvestable. According to the Sims wiki, unicorns always accept a life fruit, which makes it one of the fastest relationship boosts available.
- Keep going over multiple nights. Relationship progress carries over, even though the unicorn disappears at dawn.
Traits matter. Per the community wiki, unicorns react well to Sims with the Good trait and badly to Evil Sims, whose interactions drag the long-term relationship down. If you have both in the household, send the Good one.
Asking the Unicorn to Join Your Household
Once your Sim reaches Best Friends with the unicorn, click it and choose Ask to Join Household. The unicorn only accepts if the same Sim is also at the top relationship level (Best Friends Forever, or BFF) with three animals that already live in your household. Cats, dogs and horses all count; early player reports differ on whether small pets such as birds count, so we would not rely on them.
If the unicorn refuses, the fix is almost always the second requirement: check your Sim’s relationships panel and raise the three household pets to BFF before trying again.
Once it joins, the rainbow cloud disappears and a new wild unicorn can spawn somewhere else in town. A household can hold more than one unicorn. Some Sims roll the Fairy-Tale Finder lifetime wish, which this completes; see our guide to changing a lifetime wish in Sims 3 if you want to aim for it.
The Cheat Shortcut
If you just want the unicorn, open the cheat console with Ctrl + Shift + C on PC (Mac players report Cmd + Shift + C), type testingcheatsenabled true, then Shift-click the wild unicorn and choose Add to household. The community wiki notes this skips the requirements but does not complete the Fairy-Tale Finder wish. Our Sims 3 cheats guide explains the console in full.
What a Tamed Unicorn Can Do
Unicorns spend magical energy on their abilities and recharge over a few Sim hours. The abilities documented by the community wiki include:
- Teleport, which also carries a rider along.
- Ignite and Extinguish fires.
- Bless Flora and Curse Flora, which grow a plant a stage or wither it. Unicorns often bless garden plants on their own, which pairs well with our Sims 3 gardening guide.
- Bless Fauna and Curse Fauna, which give a Sim or pet a moodlet that speeds up or slows down skill learning.
- Cure Fauna, which removes a curse and, per the wiki, fleas on pets.
Unicorns start with maxed racing and jumping skills and, according to the same source, live about three times as long as ordinary horses. Two unicorns always produce a unicorn foal; a unicorn and a horse have a chance at one.
For more pets, occult and family guides, browse our full Sims guides hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
Which Sims 3 pack adds unicorns? The Sims 3: Pets expansion pack, on PC and Mac only. The console editions of Pets do not include them.
Why won’t the unicorn join my household? Your Sim must be Best Friends with the unicorn and also at BFF with three animals already in the household. Missing the second requirement is the usual reason for a refusal.
What time do unicorns appear in The Sims 3? They spawn at 8:00 PM and disappear at 5:00 AM, but not every night. Check map view for the shining cloud each evening.
Can a child adopt a unicorn? Yes. Children and older Sims can tame a unicorn, because the Riding skill is not required.
Can I make a unicorn in Create a Sim? Not through the normal Create a Pet options, as far as official material shows. The dependable routes are taming a wild one or the testingcheatsenabled Add to household shortcut.