The Sims Mobile is basically a combination of The Sims FreePlay and Sims 4. There’s also some brand new stuff, like creating and customizing a Sim in more detail, building houses, playing alongside friends, all with more focus on continuing your family’s legacy into multiple generations.
One key difference between the two games is Sims FreePlay is developed by Firemonkeys and EA. Sims Mobile is developed by Maxis and EA, the creators behind Sims 4, which is why the two games share assets. Another difference revealed so far is the multiplayer element. Play directly with other players online and even start a relationship with another player's Sim. The third key difference suggested in the trailers appears to be more detailed customization in a variety of aspects, Create-A-Sim in particular. The UI looks more like Sims 4 than FreePlay. For example, players don’t have many body type of facial feature options in FreePlay. Sims Mobile reportedly has a body slider. Just like The Sims 4, Mobile has a complex aging and a system of interactions with more depth.
There are some similarities between the two mobile games too, though. Like Sims FreePlay, Sims Mobile is in real time, which, based on forum reactions, appears to be a huge deterrent for a lot of Sims 4 players. However, that’s the free to play formula. Pay to win, or wait. It will be interesting to see if Sims Mobile is as painful in that respect as Sims FreePlay is.
While you can take a look at the list of Sims Mobile features rumored so far here, there’s not much known about the exact differences between the two mobile games because barely anyone has played it yet. Right off the bat, though, it’s clear the graphics are much better due to the Sims 4 influence. But to be fair, FreePlay was created in 2011. That’s a long time ago and the game has come very far.
The biggest question is if Sims Mobile will rely as much on microtransactions. Also, whether or not Sims Mobile will stray away from the one click, drag and drop approach. They should if they hope to lure in Sims 4 players who get bored extremely easily with the mobile adaptation. FreePlay is also centered around quests and events and completing actions to get rewards. It’s hard to work outside of those deadline restrictions if you want to progress. What’s so great about the Sims has always been the lack of restriction. That’s not really the case for FreePlay, which is a lot more structured than the PC game.
Hopefully, the storytelling for Sims Mobile was developed with Sims 4 players in mind, and not just Sims FreePlay fans who desperately need a graphics update and want some of the same features Sims 4 offers without having to buy expansion packs and have a decent PC. However, for those who have spent a lot of time and money on Sims FreePlay, this may be a slap in the face if it's not significantly different. It’s also unfortunate for players who would have rather had a Sims 4 console release. Granted, Sims Mobile will be much more profitable and the Sims has never played better on a console.
This story is developing. Stay tuned for updates and confirmation of features when EA makes their official announcement.
