In The Sims 1, you need as much help as you can get. When it comes to keeping your house nice, you have a few options. If you have the spare Simoleons, you could hire a maid, gardener, or butler. Alternatively, if you feel like adding a splash of whimsy to your household, you can hire Bonehilda or Servo to help out.
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Bonehilda is a skeleton maid who’s made appearances in most mainline Sims games. Despite her dusty appearance, she’s pretty proficient at keeping things clean. If you prefer your cleaners to shine and clank, though, Servo the robot might be more your speed.
How To Get Bonehilda Or Servo
You need to go into Buy Mode to get Bonehilda or Servo to help around the house. To get Bonehilda, go to Miscellaneous and then the Magic section. It’s the icon that looks like a magic hat. Select the coffin titled Bag-o-Bones Skeleton Closet.
Servo, on the other hand, can be found in the Electronics section under Other along with the alarms and satellite dish. Other is indicated with a plus icon. Select the Introducing Servo and place it wherever you like in your Sim’s home.
After some rigorous testing, it seems like both Bonehilda and Servo seem to be fireproof. So, even though they’re expensive, you don’t need to be too worried about losing them. Unless you move house, in which case you’ll need to buy them again, as The Sims 1 doesn’t have a household inventory.
How Much Do They Cost?
Both Bonehilda and Servo’s services have a large upfront cost, but unlike services you hire over the phone, you don’t pay them hourly. Here’s how much you can expect them to set you back by:
| NPC | Item | Cost (Simoleons) |
| Bonehilda | Bag-o-Bones Skeleton Closet | 3,999 |
| Servo | Introducing Servo | 15,000 |
Evidently, Bonehilda is much cheaper than Servo, so if budget is a consideration then it’s worth bearing that in mind.
How To Use Bonehilda Or Servo
Once you have your chosen item placed in your Sim’s home, you can ask your new friend to get to work. You do this with each of them by interacting with the item you just bought.
Summoning Bonehilda
You summon Bonehilda by knocking on her coffin-shaped closet. In Live Mode, click on the Bag-o-Bones Skeleton Closet and use the Knock interaction. After your Sim has knocked, she’ll step out of the closet and start cleaning.
Bonehilda will walk around the house cleaning either until everything is done, or until she gets distracted. Once she’s been distracted, she’ll go back to her closet and will need to be summoned again.
If you want her to clock off early and stop cleaning the house, you can click on her or her closet and use the Dismiss interaction. This will make her stop what she’s doing and go back into the closet until she’s called on next.
Make sure all messes are accessible for Bonehilda. She moves around the same as a human Sim, so she needs clear, walkable paths to be able to do her job.
Starting Servo
Servo is inside the big metal cylinder you bought from Buy Mode. Click on the Introducing Servo item and use the Turn On interaction to switch them on. With that out the way, Servo will start walking around the house.
When you’re ready for Servo to wrap up their duties, click on Servo’s case again and select Turn Off. Now that your Sim has done this, Servo will stop what it’s doing and go back to its case.
What Do Bonehilda And Servo Do?
Bonehilda and Servo do similar but slightly different jobs. As suggested by her uniform, Bonehilda is very much a maid. She cleans up around the house, but you won’t see her digging around in the garden.
Servo, however, loves to get up close and personal with your houseplants. Servo is more like a butler than a maid. They can clean, garden, and repair household breakages.
If you have a new addition in your household, then Bonehilda will roll up her proverbial sleeves and chip in. She’ll take care of any babies around the house by bottle-feeding them. Bonehilda will also kindly bring in the morning paper and Studio Town tabloid.
Servo isn’t so good with kids, and won’t bring in your morning paper, but they can socialise with your guests and serve food. To get a Servo to make your food, just click on their case again and use the Serve Food interaction.
Servo doesn’t seem to socialise with guests at parties, but if you invite one of your neighbours over to your house directly then they’ll happily talk to them. Maybe they get shy in crowds.
When Servos serve food, it won’t cost your Sim any extra money. Considering how expensive Servos are, that probably isn’t saving you money, but it’s convenient. Also, they don’t need a kitchen or buffet table to make food, so you could get rid of that altogether.
Despite their differences, Bonehilda and Servo both repair breakages around the house. If your Sim’s dishwasher or trash compactor packs in, for example, they will head right on over and fix it up for you. No need to call the repairperson again.
Bonehilda has some cute little quirks, such as waving at any headstones that might be kicking around your Sim’s property.
How To Choose Bonehilda Or Servo
Overall, Servo does a much wider range of tasks than Bonehilda, but Bonehilda is a lot cheaper. If you’re bankrolling your Sims with cheats, then you may as well get Servo. Or, if your Sims just happen to be super wealthy, then Servo is still a good shout.
While Servo is a good all-rounder, Bonehilda is more affordable and still gives you a lot of bang for your buck. If your pockets are lighter, consider going for Bonehilda. Also, if you don’t keep plants around, then there are fewer downsides to her skill set.
Whichever one you choose, it’s handy being able to get help at any hour from them, rather than waiting around for a maid or gardener to show up each morning. They’re also both really cute additions to your Sim’s home.
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