The Sims 2: How To Join A Club

The Sims 2 is full of secret lots unlockable only by playing through certain game mechanics carefully, with clubs being one of them. Completionist Simmers especially won’t want to miss out on unlocking hobby clubs, as there are ten of them in total, making up a whole hidden neighbourhood of lots to choose from.

Hobby clubs are a chance to meet other Sims, explore hobbies, and try new things. With one for each hobby, Sims of all walks of life can find a club that works for them, whether they’re arts aficionados or sports stars. Here’s how to get invited to FreeTime’s hobby underground.

What Are Hobby Clubs?

Hobby clubs are secret clubhouses that only Sims with the keenest interest in the pastime get to join. Every hobby has one, and they’re crammed with all the hobby and skill items that a Sim passionate about that hobby might want to use.

These clubs were added with the FreeTime expansion pack, so they’re tied up pretty tightly with the hobbies system.

They’re on secret lots, meaning they aren’t visible from a neighbourhood’s overview or map. Therefore, you can’t edit them in Buy or Build Mode. You also won’t be able to visit them unless your Sim has been expressly invited.

Who Are Hobby Instructors?

Hobby instructors are NPCs that hang out at hobby clubs. They can offer mentoring to Sims in their designated hobby to help build enthusiasm.

This isn’t always especially useful for the Sim who received the original invite, since they’re already pretty far along their hobby journey. But, Sims can bring their less enthusiastic guests along who might benefit from it.

As well as their dedication to their hobby, they have also maxed out a relevant skill. This means they can tutor other Sims who aren’t as proficient in that area.

What Clubs Are There?

Each hobby has its own secret lot assigned to it:

Hobby	Lot Name	Summary
Arts & Crafts	My Muse II	An art studio with items like drafting tables, sewing machines, pottery wheels, and activity tables for the little ones.
Cuisine	Sue’s (Secret) Kitchen	A home for all kinds of appliances and kitchenware, including a chocolate manufacturing facility, and a resident cooking judge for contests.
Film & Literature	Desirable Discourse	A combination of movie theatre and library for Sims who prefer to get lost in fantasy. There’s also a kitchenette and bar.
Fitness	Platinum Gym	A sports complex featuring a swimming pool, gym, and obstacle course which can only normally be unlocked through the military career.
Games	Games of Glory	A rec centre complete with an arcade, pinball machines, PCs, a swimming pool, and other games like chess, and billiards.
Music & Dance	My Muse I	A multilevel venue offering music rehearsal spaces on the ground floor and a ballet studio upstairs. There are pianos, synthesisers, and a DJ booth.
Nature	Peerless Park	This secret hideaway is a haven of luscious green foliage and outdoor space for Sims to enjoy. There’s a koi pond, hydroponic garden, and birdwatching opportunities.
Science	Aspirational Laboratories	An unusual lot featuring a telescope, ant farms, and a variety of career-unlockable items from the medicine and science career paths allowing Sims to practice surgery and science.
Sports	Dreamy Fields	This indoor-outdoor sports centre offers football pitches, basketball courts, mini golf, and a boxing gym. It also has a grilling area and shower facilities.
Tinkering	Will’s Garage	Mechanically gifted Sims can come here to enjoy a huge train set table, remote-controlled toys, computers, and a range of appliances to tamper and trifle with.

How To Join A Hobby Club

Sims will be given the opportunity to join a hobby club once they’ve reached level five enthusiasm for a hobby. An unexpected visitor will swing by your Sim’s home and invite them once they have enough enthusiasm.

You don’t have to do anything to accept the invitation to join, and in fact, you can’t turn them down. Once this Sim has visited, you’ll automatically become a lifetime card-carrying club member.

Chance cards relating to careers and school can also invite some Sims to join hobby clubs, depending on which career track they’re in and which hobby it is. This is rarer and happens less reliably than just levelling enthusiasm.

How To Visit Hobby Clubs

After joining the club you’ll be able to travel to it whenever you want using a car, helicopter, or by hailing a cab. You can travel there in the same way you would head to any community lot.

Select your car or helicopter and use Go Somewhere. This will bring up a list of all neighbourhoods and community lots available. A new neighbourhood will be available in the left column labelled Hobbies. Select it and choose the club.

If you’re calling a taxi then grab your phone and use the Call interaction followed by Call Taxi. If you want to bring Sims with you, select them from the menu. Then, find the club in the list of lots and confirm.

Sims can also get their steps in by going to a club on foot. Click on the active Sim you want to travel with and select Walk To Lot, followed by Community Lot. This will bring up the same menu that using a taxi, car, or helicopter will.

How To Check Hobby Enthusiasm

You can check how much enthusiasm your Sim has for a hobby at any time in Live Mode. This can be a useful way of keeping track of how close you are to being invited to join your desired hobby club.

Go to the Simology panel, which is shown with an icon of a Sim’s head. Click it and then navigate to the kite icon. Select this to bring up the hobby enthusiasm panel where you can see how much enthusiasm your Sim has and learn more about their hobbies.

Clicking on one of the hobbies allows you to check if you’re already a member of the relevant hobby club.

How To Build Hobby Enthusiasm

Every hobby has its own ways of building enthusiasm. For example, cooking raises the cuisine hobby while the fitness hobby grows from working out. However, there are a few options that are common to all hobbies:

• Using a computer to learn more about the hobby.
• Reading relevant sections of the daily newspaper.
• Talking about the hobby with other Sims.

Different interactions unlock as your Sim builds enthusiasm for their chosen hobby, so keep an eye out for new options becoming available as you play. At level three in any hobby, for instance, you’ll be offered the chance to subscribe to a hobby magazine.

You can buy a lot of hobby items in Buy Mode if you have the expendable income for it. You could also try heading to the FreeTime Recreation Center, which can be added to any neighbourhood from the Lots and Houses bin.

Benefits Of Joining A Hobby Club

There are a lot of different reasons why you might want to join a hobby club, including having access to more skill items, chances to indulge in their enthusiasms, and meeting Sims with similar passions.

Access To Career Rewards

Most secret hobby lots have items on them that can only normally be unlocked by advancing through a career that is closely related to it. A Sim would have to have a long career to unlock every reward in the game, so clubs are a great way of trying them out instead.

Some of the career rewards available at clubs include the:

• SIM series Drafting Table
• Execuputter
• Schokolade 890 Chocolate Manufacturing Facility
• AquaGreen Hydroponic Garden
• Exerto Punching Bag

And more. As well as these items being fun and quirky, they also give the chance to build hobby enthusiasm and skills. Some also have buffs, making them more efficient for levelling skills or enthusiasm than some other options.

Meet Hobby Instructors

If you really want your Sim to level their skills or enthusiasm then hobby instructors are invaluable Sims to know. They can both mentor and tutor your Sim, which grows their enthusiasm and skills respectively.

You can also befriend them to help increase your overall number of family friends. Family friends are an important part of getting promoted at some point in most careers, so keeping Sims in your good books is in your Sim’s best interest.

When you find the resident hobby instructor, interact with them using the Ask function. Then, choose For Hobby Instruction. This will open up a menu with any hobbies they can instruct your Sim in.

Hobby clubs are useful for maintaining the social need and making family friends in general, as other Sims with similar interests and hobbies are also members. Visits from the social bunny will soon become a thing of the past.

Unlock Talent Badges

Spending a lot of time participating in particular hobbies and skills gives your Sim the chance to get talent badges. In turn, the badges unlock the ability to do more things. Having more robotics talent badges unlocks more options at the robotics bench, for instance.

Some clubs have items that let you work towards new talent badges. My Muse II, the club for the Arts & Crafts hobby, has a sewing table and pottery wheel where you can get badges. Using those badges lets your Sims craft more interesting things to keep or sell.

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