How To Avoid A Burglary In The Sims 2

Things aren’t as sleepy as they seem in The Sims 2 neighborhoods of Strangetown and Pleasantview; so much so that Sims may become victims of robberies and theft. Not even the Sims of fair Veronaville are safe from being burgled of their nice computers, cars, and coffee machines.

Thankfully, your Sims can take a few precautionary measures (and proactive action) to protect their belongings from burglaries. With a little planning and some fast reactions, Sims might just about be able to salvage their things from the hands of the dreaded Russ Bear, Nery Royce, or Jenna Boyle.

What Happens When A Burglar Appears?

Often the first hint you’ll get that a burglar is nearby is a scary-sounding musical stab paired with the mini-camera focussing on the thief. You will also be blocked from entering Buy or Build Mode once they’re on the lot.

Predictably, once the burglar has arrived, they’ll stalk around the lot looking for things to steal. They make fast work of this, somehow leaving with your stuff crammed into their tiny bags.

The burglar will also appear in your Sims’ relationships bar, regardless of whether they see it happening or not.

What Will Burglars Try To Steal?

Unfortunately, burglars will beeline to whatever your Sims’ most expensive items are. This includes home furnishings, things placed outdoors, and even cars or helicopters. If you have expensive items, burglars will tend to ignore any cheaper stuff you have.

If you have expensive items in your garden, try to protect them with fenced-in areas where possible.

Which Lots Will Burglars Appear On?

Burglars can show up on most lots, including homes, owned businesses, and some university accommodation. Regardless of which lot they appear on, the mechanics work the same and the same prevention methods can be used.

Ways To Stop Burglars

There are a few ways of stopping burglars in their tracks. For most of them, you’ll need to be at least somewhat prepared in advance of the burglary happening. Whenever you move into a lot, you should try to make sure you get a phone, alarm, or even a bot.

If a burglar is caught by the police, your Sims will be rewarded with 500 Simoleons, so it’s in their best interest to try to stop the burglary if possible. Even besides the fact that they probably don’t want their stuff stolen.

Burglar Alarms

For any indoor areas, you can use the SimSafety V Burglar Alarm to scare the burglar and automatically contact law enforcement. You can purchase the alarm in Buy Mode under Small Electronics.

The alarm costs 250 Simoleons. While it’s not cheap, it’s worth it as you’ll lose more money from replacing your belongings if robbed.

Burglar alarms must be placed on the wall and they cover the entire room. If you have multiple entrances into your house, like a front and back door, then make sure you have an alarm in each connected room. The alarm will be triggered when a burglar enters that room.

The alarm has to be used indoors and won’t work outside without cheats, which is worth bearing in mind when landscaping any ornate gardens or building play areas. But, you can game it by building a room outside, placing the alarm, and deleting some of the walls.

With your alarm placed on a single wall or open room, it covers the whole lot’s outdoor area. If you put these columns near the edges of your lot, then they will trigger as soon as a burglar enters the area.

Car Alarms

If your Sim owns a car, you can get a car alarm installed for 250 Simoleons. To do this, select your Sim’s car and use the Get Alarm Installed interaction. A pop-up will appear letting you know that it’ll take 60 in-game minutes (so 60 seconds) to install.

Not only is this a really effective way of protecting your Sims’ vehicles, it’s also useful for contacting the police quickly, as it goes off as soon as a burglar is near it. This works for helicopters as well.

Landline Or Mobile Phones

You can still warn the police that you’re being burgled even if you don’t have an alarm. But, there’s no avoiding the fact you’ll need to own a phone before you start getting robbed to do so.

The easiest way of getting a phone in The Sims 2 is by buying a landline from the Electronics section of Buy Mode. You can choose from a wall-mounted or table-top model, and they vary in price from 50 to 175 Simoleons.

Alternatively, your Sim can buy a cellular phone from a kiosk on a community lot. Look out for the Sellafone Gadget Kiosk on lots like the Fresh Rush Grocery and Cold Issue Clothing, and interact with it to buy the NOYIN 2680 Cellular Phone for 149 Simoleons.

When a burglar is on your lot, use the phone to call the police under the Emergency interaction. Be careful not to do this when you aren’t being robbed, though, as you’ll be fined 500 Simoleons for wasting their time.

Sometimes when you contact the police manually, they won’t show up on time, so your best bet is still to buy an alarm if at all possible.

Using SentryBots

The main way of actively stopping a burglar, rather than apprehending them, is by building and using SentryBots. Only Sims with Gold or Silver Robotics Skills Badges can build them, but they’re super useful for keeping burglars in check.

The cops also regularly fail to actually catch burglars, so having alternative ways of dealing with robbers is useful.

To make a SentryBot, go into Buy Mode and find The Non-Deadly Robot Crafting Station under the Miscellaneous Hobbies menu. Then, have a Sim interact with the table to craft a SentryBot. Once crafted, a SentryBot will roam around the lot and make burglars run away by shocking them.

Given the workbench costs 2,200 Simoleons and the SentryBot itself is a further 720 Simoleons, this isn’t a cheap way of keeping burglars at bay. But it’s charming, and entertaining to watch it play out.

One other way of actively stopping a burglar is by using a werewolf Sim to attack them. In turn, burglars will be scared away.