If you’re looking for a mobile version of the much-loved desktop game franchise, you’re in luck with two options available: The Sims FreePlay and The Sims Mobile. Both are free-to-play on mobile and each game preserves the general vibe of the original PC game series. But, with two seemingly similar options, the main difficulty is knowing which mobile Sims game to choose.

To help you decide between The Sims FreePlay and The Sims Mobile, we will explain the fundamentals of each game, compare the differences between the two, and ultimately help you choose the best mobile Sims game for you.

What Is The Sims FreePlay?

Released in 2011 for iOS and followed by an Android release in 2012, The Sims FreePlay was designed as a complementary mobile version of the current desktop game at the time, The Sims 3. The Sims FreePlay mostly mimics a downsized version of the classic Sims games, with gameplay focusing on creating and designing homes, expanding your neighborhood, and completing tasks to level up.

After creating and customizing your first Sim, moving them into a home, and decorating, gameplay begins just as you would with the desktop Sims: by interacting with various objects in your home and engaging in activities such as cooking, watching TV, or going to work.

Completing tasks, goals, and activities and making friends will earn you Simoleons (in-game currency), XP, and levelling up. The more you play, the more you unlock—from new items and houses to whole islands. You can expand your town with new homes as well as workplaces and community areas.

The Sims FreePlay can be played offline (with limitations) if you don’t have internet access. But, as with most free mobile games, The Sims FreePlay utilizes microtransactions to tempt players into spending real money to progress the game, which does require an internet connection (find out why mobile games have microtransactions). In addition to microtransactions, watching in-game adverts is a free alternative to gain more XP, Simoleons, and in-game prizes (think furniture and decorations).

The Sims FreePlay is about expanding your neighborhood and taking part in limited-time events, quests, and hobbies that run in real-time, making it a compact version of The Sims PC games.

Download: The Sims FreePlay for Android | iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)

What Is The Sims Mobile?

The Sims Mobile joined the Sims franchise seven years after The Sims FreePlay in 2018, with the aim of offering fans a more modern version of The Sims to play on the go.

Still free-to-play, The Sims Mobile steps away from the classic format of the desktop Sims games. You have just one household to manage, and the main focus is to develop and maintain relationships with other Sims, whether that’s the non-playable Sims or other real-life online gamers who appear in your Sims world.

The graphics were also given an overhaul for The Sims Mobile, with advanced lighting and shading to enhance the realistic effects, a fully 3D environment, and more detailed characters and designs.

Once you’ve created your first Sim and picked your first home, The Sims Mobile will run you through a mandatory tutorial of general tasks and goals you need to complete. Gameplay is paced, with actions completed immediately, and you can progress with tasks swiftly.

The main downside to The Sims Mobile is the persistent microtransactions and ads, with frequent pop-ups interrupting your game. These demand real money as well as SimCash, which can be earned by playing through the game. The Sims Mobile is also dependent on an internet connection, meaning you can’t take your game offline.

That said, The Sims Mobile is easy to get started with, and, for anyone who isn't a fan of time-limited events on mobile games, playing the game feels smooth and without constraints.

Download: The Sims Mobile for Android | iOS (Free, in-app purchases available)

What Are the Differences Between The Sims FreePlay and The Sims Mobile?

Although The Sims FreePlay and The Sims Mobile are both based on the same PC game franchise, there are some striking differences between the two mobile games themselves:

• The Sims Mobile provides players with 3D environments and the ability to interact with the Sims world from multiple angles. The SimsFreeplay is mostly 2D, but offers an older and more classic Sims game style
• The Sims Mobile features smoother animations and more realistic graphics and environments than The Sims FreePlay.
• The Sims FreePlay operates in real-time with limited-time events, whereas you can complete many quests instantly in The Sims Mobile.
• The Sims FreePlay focuses on house design, completing quests, and developing hobbies. The Sims Mobile has fewer customization features, but more focus on social interactions and developing relationships with other Sims.
• The Sims Mobile offers just one Sim house to play with, whereas The Sims FreePlay gives you up to 34 Sims and homes to interact with.
• The Sims FreePlay has more hobbies and career paths for players that aren’t available in The Sims Mobile.
• While you can play The Sims FreePlay offline, The Sims Mobile is an online game that enables you to play alongside other real-life players.

As both mobile games are free-to-play, you will still be bombarded with ads and microtransaction prompts during gameplay. This—along with the trapping of real-time demands of both The Sims Mobile and The Sims FreePlay—is an example of how mobile games can be bad for your health and the dangerous temptation of spending real money in a virtual world.

How Do the Mobile Sims Games Differ From the Desktop Sims Games?

Attempting to compare The Sims FreePlay and The Sims Mobile with The Sims 4 (or any other desktop games within the franchise) is like comparing apples and oranges. For starters, the processing power needed to run The Sims 4 is much higher than the requirements for either mobile game. The hardware capabilities, controls, and pricing between PC games and mobile games are vastly different, so it's difficult to give a head-to-head comparison.

That said, as far as mobile spin-offs from favorite console games go, both The Sims FreePlay and The Sims Mobile hit all the right spots. You still need to monitor and fulfill your Sims needs (for example, Social, Fun, Hunger, Hygiene, Bladder, and Energy needs). Cornerstone features—such as Simoleons, the Simlish language, and customization features—are also preserved in the two mobile games.

Both The Sims FreePlay and The Sims Mobile share some similarities with the desktop game, albeit with limitations. This is to be expected, however, and bearing this in mind, it's clear that both mobile games provide decent portable forms of the PC game.

The Sims FreePlay vs. The Sims Mobile—Which Game Is Better?

Choosing between The Sims FreePlay and The Sims Mobile is ultimately down to your personal preferences.

If you’re after a classic Sims-style game where you can manage multiple characters, expand your Sim world, and have the option to play offline, The Sims FreePlay is ideal. But, if you want a modernized version of the PC game with better graphics and the ability to interact with other real-life players, you may be better suited to The Sims Mobile.

As both mobile games are free-to-play, you can always try both to find your preferred portable version of The Sims.