Like the console version, GBA/N-Gage version gameplay is objective-based – every time the player completes a series of tasks, the game progresses. The Game Boy Advance and N-Gage version puts the player's Sim in 'SimValley' for a summer holiday. Aside from the objectives, gameplay is similar to previous Sims titles.

Furnishing items are unlocked through the completion of different objectives. The player's objective is to complete each career track, unlock and buy back everyone's many possessions, and become rich enough to evict Malcolm from his mansion and move their own Sim in. In the console version, Malcolm Landgraab is going around his neighborhood, stealing items in return for unpaid rent. The Game Boy Advance and Nintendo DS version of The Urbz: Sims in the City, released in 2004, serves as a sequel to this version. The Game Boy Advance and N-Gage version has its own storyline. However, it was shut down on Aug(the same day The Sims Online shut down). The PlayStation 2 version once featured the option to play online.

There are two modes: Bust Out Mode, which has mission-based gameplay and Freeplay Mode, which is open-ended gameplay very much like the original The Sims PC game. As the title suggests, Sims can get out of the house to visit other locations such as Shiny Things Lab or Casa Caliente. It featured the same 3D environment and engine the past game did, however adds several features from The Sims expansion packs: Livin' Large, House Party, Hot Date and Superstar. It is the second title in The Sims console series and the first The Sims title not released on Windows PC. The Sims Bustin' Out is a video game that was released in 2003/2004 for the PlayStation 2, Xbox, GameCube, Game Boy Advance, & N-Gage.

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