The Sims 2 for PlayStation Portable is a role-playing simulation game presented in third-person perspective. Unlike other versions, it features a pre-built home for customization without aging, marriage, or children. Players engage in mini-games for conversations and jobs, while building relationships to achieve goals and earn Sanity Points. Completing tasks fills a sanity meter, affecting gameplay consequences, including hospitalization or alien abduction. Unique to this version are Secrets hidden in Strangetown, enhancing gameplay exploration.
The PlayStation Portable version of the game is played in third person. The game contains elements of role-playing games and has more of a solid storyline the player is required to navigate through in order to unlock most of the things available in the other versions.
The option to build your own home is replaced by a pre-built home where you can customize the furniture and decor. Conversations and jobs are carried out via a mini-game function. The player's character does not age, nor are they able to marry or have children, but they can have a significant other and `WooHoo`.
Relationships are mainly used for the point of solving goals, though a close friend may move in with the player after progressing in the game. When the player completes a goal their sanity meter, represented as a Plumbob, will fill up slightly and if the player actively doesn't complete their goals the sanity meter will rapidly deplete until the player is hospitalised or abducted by aliens.
The player can also earn `Sanity Points` by completing goals which they can use to unlock special perks. Another feature unique to this, and the Nintendo DS, version are `Secrets` which the player can find scattered around Strangetown or by socialising with characters.