If you think that all the speculating and looking for hints in absolutely everything that comes from The Sims 4 HQ is all for nothing, you might be in for a surprise.
While there is a lot of completely wild speculation which we like to indulge in just because it’s a decent workout for our brains, there is a very good reason we look for clues about upcoming content in things like build/buy items and books Sims like to read.
So while the Paranormal Plates that came with Snowy Escape and the Snapper Security Window from Island Living might or might not hint at a Happy Haunts and the return of the burglar NPC, there’s a good reason for us thinking it might mean something.
Ever since The Sims was first released over 20 years ago, there have been so-called ?easter eggs? littered through the game. These are not always references or hints about new content, though. Sometimes, as we?ll explore in this article, it’s simply a reference to some of the game’s characters themselves.
There are few characters in The Sims as iconic or well-known as Bella Goth, so it is unsurprising that she features frequently in many of the game’s references – both subtle and some that are perhaps more convulted.
Bella Goth in The Sims
Bella and Mortimer appear in a movie poster alongside Bob Newbie and a monkey in a movie poster released with The Sims: Superstar expansion pack.
Called Two Men, A Woman, and One Monkey, the movie poster’s description reads: “In this hilarious and light-hearted TV series, two men, a woman, and one monkey were randomly picked from a pool of contestants to share a house for one month. Follow them through the good times and the hard times as they try to live their lives with their new house-mates.”
Bella Goth references in The Sims 2
In the second edition of The Sims, things get a bit weird. Bella Goth is missing. There have been several sleuths who believe they have cracked the case since then, but let’s just focus on some of the references to Bella in The Sims 2.
Bella the statue
The Sims 2: Apartment Life introduced the Belladonna Cover neighourhood. While the name of the neighbourhood is quite obviously a reference to Bella, there is also a statue of a woman holding a plumbob. The woman is, of course Bella Goth herself.
Bella in a snowglobe
Modders doing the most for the game isn?t anything new either. Mod The Sims, a popular site for CC and mods to this day, has had creators digging around in-game files ever since klapaucius was a cheat. One such find was a broken snowglobe with Mortimer and Bella inside of it. The globe was discovered in The Sims 2 and you can find it over on Mod The Sims.
Bella the Hula Zombie
While this might just be a quirk of the game, the Hula Zombies that appear in the game as NPC look remarkably like Bella Goth. The Zombies appear with the Grim Reaper when they come to take away an elder Sim who has died of old age and reached a Platinum or Gold Aspiration level.
Some players believe that the resemblance is simply down to both Strangetown Bella and the Hula Zombies using the same pre-made face texture (things weren’t quite as sophisticated in CAS back in the day). But as we know by now, is anything straightforward with this game?
Bella on the milk carton as a missing person
Perhaps one of the most commonly known easter eggs of The Sims, Bella Goth appears as the missing person on the milk carton in The Sims 2.
Bella in the hot air balloon
Eagle-eyed Simmers spotted two mysterious figures in the hot air balloon in The Sims 2, one with a stark resemblance to Bella. The other is a mystery person in a blue shirt. One theory goes that this was her trying to find her way home. Others, well, they aren?t so pleasant(view).
Bella in the bookcase
In The Sims 3, Bella is a child and known by her maiden name, Bachelor. There’s a book called “Where’s Bella?” that appears on the bookcase as well as “Murder in Pleasantview” by Alexander Goth. Some Simmers theorise that there’s some sort of whacky time travel going on and the book was written by the very same Alexander Goth that is Bella and Mortimer’s son.
Everybody knows in The Sims 3
In the Private Investigator career in The Sims 3, a Sim will sometimes quip: “This reminds me of when Bella went missing? I need to keep looking,” while on the hunt for clues. Again, it’s a bit strange, since The Sims 3 has Bella only as a child. Unless, you know? time travel.
There are many other such hints involving Bella. From the song ‘For Bella’ that can be played in the Piano in The Sims 4, to paintings, photos and the mysterious gravestone in Lunar Lakes. It’s a wild ride once you fall down the rabbit hole, though, so take the plunge with caution.
[H/T: Mod The Sims YouTube, The Sims 1, thesimsfandom]