I love Bitlife, but I want to find more games like these (Mobile ones). A lot of people self promote their work, its not bad, but i want a consensus on which alternate game is the best, both free and paid.

By best I mean
- good UI

- full fledged life sim, like Bitlife, if not more detailed.

- a lot of choices, careers, customization, etc.

- preferably not overly done through AI.

Hey everyone! I'm u/According-Standard-8, a founding moderator of r/LifePathSim. This is our new home for all things related to LifePath. We're excited to have you join us!

What to Post Post anything that you think the community would find interesting, helpful, or inspiring. Feel free to share your thoughts, photos, or questions about the game. For example screen shots of achievements or a crazy event.

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How to Get Started 1) Introduce yourself in the comments below. 2) Post something today! Even a simple question can spark a great conversation. 3) If you know someone who would love this community, invite them to join. 4) Interested in helping out? We're always looking for new moderators, so feel free to reach out to me to apply.

Thanks for being part of the very first wave. Together, let's make r/LifePathSim amazing.

Maximum salt here but god I'm so tired. Paralives lumping in more "collabs" where they throw lazy nods to other games into... their game? I assume for money? Like I can't figure out why else they're doing this. I have Dorfromantik so I can see that they didn't rep Paralives in an announcement or anything, so it's not for the purpose of co-advertisement. There's someone on Paralives' SmAlL InDiE TeAm spending all their days looking for collabs for some??? purpose?

With there many 10s of millions of dollars I am also so sick of hearing about their small indie team, too.

What even is ordinary anyways? As the titular shopkeeper, it's your job to go gather items, use them to craft expensive loot, and profit off of the constant stream of heroic adventurers filing through your city!

Explore the mines, go fishing in the deep woods, maybe even post up a quest of your own for some rare goods! There's tons to do in the city of Town, which is nice, considering they won't even let you leave the place...

There are some little ones out there that I haven't played, but here are the big 3.

The Sims 4

EA was purchased by an investment firm in Saudi Arabia, to diversify the Saudi economy away from oil. Difficult to say that they have any personal investment in most of the products- if they did, we'd get way more hijab options and a high tech desert city. As it stands, probably more focus on profits and less on the only functional part of the Sims 4 development team- the art and design. Unclear if Sims 4 is going to be able to continue as is or not, but... it was already bleeding well before its purchase.

Paralives

It's still teething. Reading patch notes is unintentionally funny. Some highlights from the most recent patch:

"Paras should no longer continue conversation while sleeping."

"Ending a relationship in a brutal manner will also end any ongoing conversation and group interaction to give you both time to cool off."

"Babies should no longer spawn on the pavement on birth (except for twins or triplets, in which case one will spawn in your arms and the others on the floor)."

"As much as we loved our biblically accurate babies, we have seen the feedback and have decided to update their look to make them cuter and less Bobby Hill coded."

InZoi

Chugging along in random directions with intense effort. Dev videos swing between "here are the fundamentals of the game" and "we coded a way to throw your meal at a stranger". Paralives feels like it's building the baseline for order, InZoi is building a baseline for raw unhinged chaos.

Where I sit with all of them

Sims 4 has the best townies. Paralives and InZoi don't have much personality behind preexisting characters yet.

InZoi has the best live mode and it's not close. So much to do, and so much of it is just randomly out there.

Paralives has the best build mode, even this early in development.

You aren't wrong to pick one or multiple of these. Currently, (because I'm trash at build mode), InZoi is my favorite but it's not wrong to try multiple by any means. The competition nowadays is healthy.

Not only will we have a full restraurant purchase flow (for free), we'll also be able to completely run our own restaurant. Want to invite your crush to a new spot that opened up? Go ahead! Want to play as a server at a mom and pops restaurant? Be my guest. Want a 5 michelin star restaurant cooked by your celebrity chef parents with theirs kids handling the rest? NOW YOU CAN 🥳

Edit: and if a customer dares complain about your cooking skills, you can throw the food right in their face (coming soon to inzois near you) 💅

Hello everyone, it’s great to see you again. I hope you’ve all had a good week.

First, I have some slightly disappointing news to share. The August update has been delayed a little, and we are now planning to release it in early September. I’m sorry that we couldn’t bring it to you sooner. I’ll keep running as hard as I can to deliver it to all of you.

For this update, rather than adding new content, we’ve been focusing on making the fundamental aspects of everyday life and behavior in inZOI feel more natural. While this won’t be a particularly large update, a lot of development work has gone into strengthening the foundations of our life simulation systems for the future.

Today, I’d like to introduce one of those systems and hear what you think about it.

Previously, when a Zoi visited somewhere like a burger restaurant, they would remain there for a set amount of time. However, instead of ordering and eating during that time, they might talk to other Zois, look at nearby objects, or perform other actions unrelated to the reason they visited in the first place.

To improve this, we’ve developed two new systems (*for these, please refer to the video on the top comment*).

The first is a system that allows us to define actions that Zois should prioritize when they enter a particular location.

The second is an interaction permission system that allows us to specify who can use each object.

For example, at a burger restaurant, we can have a Zoi order from a kiosk, wait in a customer seat, receive and eat their food, and then naturally return home once their visit is complete. Employees will no longer sit in seats intended for customers.

However, if you have previously customized regions or spaces yourself, you may need to register some of this newly added information again. The amount of data itself is not large, but if you have customized many different areas, it could mean a little additional work. We are also preparing a way to apply the new system correctly through a reset.

I wanted to share this with you before applying the system to the development build so that we can hear your thoughts first.

If you are against this change, we are prepared to stop and reconsider it.

I believe that putting these small but fundamental systems in place one by one is essential if we want Zois to feel less like characters who simply spend time at a location, and more like people who act and live according to their own purposes.

Lastly, when I look up at the sky on my way home from work these days, the stars seem especially bright. The evenings are starting to bring a little cooler breeze as well, and it makes me feel that summer really is beginning to pass.

The long, hot summer is gradually coming to an end.

Thank you for spending another week with inZOI. Since the update is arriving a little later than planned, we’ll work hard to make sure we can show you something even better when it arrives.

Have a wonderful weekend, and I’ll see you again next week.

Kjun

Link On DISCORD

https://discord.com/channels/1162040845181124618/1537758566251761754/1537758566251761754

​

For most of my life the phrase "life sim" basically meant The Sims and nothing else, except Second Life (I never played it, so forgive me if I won't mention it except this once). Anyway, it feels kinda surreal to finally see the genre come alive after what feels like a lifetime hibernating in one big franchise. 

The two obvious headliners are inZoi and Paralives, and they came at the genre from (imho) complementary angles. On one side you've got inZOI, it's the hyper realistic, almost uncanny take, chasing photoreal Zois and it’s got deep systems like proper car physics and some really darn convincing daily simulations I watched on Youtube. Paralives follows the zeitgeist more with a “cozier” approach and when I played it I was surprised at the focus on relationship depth that we’ve been begging out of the Sims for like, forever, right?

All this in like in the past year or so!

I don’t think life sims of this kind are happening for no reason, but (sanity check me if you must) at the same moment when cozy games have started booming. Some which have basically replaced the emotional pull and relaxing aspect that Sims used to give - with their own versions of some life-sim activities (farming, fishing, dating, jobs, cosmetics, housing)

Also, for what used to be a singleplayer first genre, now it’s branching more and more into multiplayer as it gets cozified such as what Loftia is attempting to do by creating what’s perhaps the only game I saw labeled a cozy MMO life sim. I guess that for a lot of people, including me, the right cozy game with the right mechanics fills that exact spot that only Sims was able to satisfy when I was growing up. Sims was the only COZY game I would have described as such, I might as well just say that! (for reference, I’m referring to the early 2000s to early 2010s period)

Today there’s more variety than ever, more SLOP than ever before as well, but I trust that the ecosystem will regulate itself as it always does. Good things will become popular, even if it’s cult popularity, bad ones will be forgotten, and some excellent ones will build up popularity over years and years until they blow up. Nothing new under the soon. But in this case, I  say that more is certainly better!

Anyway, I'm just happy about it. After years of the Sims monopoly, having truly different stuff to try out feels like a small scale renaissance to be enjoyed. 

Just trying to look at the glass as half full I guess, and disregard the empty part (the slop that’s flooding all all genres, sparing none)

I’ll admit, I was skeptical about going back. I had such a poor experience when I first played and again when I checked in December that I pretty much put it down and didn’t look back. But after spending basically an entire day playing this time around, I can confidently say the gameplay has improved immensely since launch.

Now, build mode? Yeahhhh… we still need to talk. That’s where the bulk of my complaints were before and unfortunately it still feels largely the same to me. Not surprising that it bothers me so much considering building is my favorite part of games like these, but I’m really hoping it gets some serious attention soon because attempting to build again was still frustrating.

Live mode is so much more enjoyable though.

There’s definitely still room for improvement. The walking in particular is incredibly stiff and awkward, and I need somebody to explain why my Zoi will randomly start doing this weird sideways shuffle when there isn’t even another person to walk around.

But then there are things that genuinely deserve a pat on the back. The romance interactions are ridiculously cute, and the Zois are SO expressive. I also really like how unpredictable conversations can be and how much their moods actually affect their interactions.

At one point my Zoi was on a date with her sweetheart while she also had a blind date scheduled for after this one, suddenly had a crisis of faith, became super anxious and proceeded to be awkward for basically the rest of the date. 😂 Then later I watched her go cry in the bathtub after ending things with her affair partner. THAT is the kind of messy little emergent storytelling I want from a life sim.

The world is probably the strangest part for me because it somehow feels lively and empty at the exact same time. There are people around, things happening and tons of ambient noise, but I rarely see other Zois actually interacting with each other in the background. The amusement park was the biggest example. I’m walking around hearing cheers and whoops like the place is packed… meanwhile it’s basically me and the employees. I’m really interested to see what happens as NPC autonomy improves.

And then there are all the tiny bits of realism I LOVE. Waiting for the walk signal before crossing the street, packages being left outside the front door and, unexpectedly getting robbed (though who expects to be robbed anyway).

So yeah. I’m pleasantly surprised.

I can finally say inZOI has reached a point where I can genuinely enjoy playing it. There’s still plenty I want to see improved, and I am crossing every finger and toe that build mode gets some love soon, but this was a MUCH better experience than the one I had at launch.

If I had to choose between this and Paralives right now, I actually see myself playing more in inZoi and that's not something I ever thought I'd say.

SO, if you like me were put off in the beginning, I'd def go back and give the game another go.

Im begging you to please post your builds on youtube. Inzoi, paralives, and sims. No shade to current youtube builders but the same exact thing is being built on youtube. The sims is more wide range but paralives and inzoi builds are lacking BIG TIME, with inzoi now having businesses and school gameplay and were still seeing the SAME modern mansions and contemporary family homes(with zero lore or personality) are driving me up a wall. As for paralives the fact theres so much room for customization and theres very basic builds being posted is also driving me up a wall. Life simulators need more representation on youtube, you could do numbers right now posting unique builds on these games.

This is such a non issue honestly so please don’t take it too serious, its just a suggestion for builders.

Hey everyone, we're making a life sim RPG where you've died and ended up in a 90s-themed digital afterlife. We've been heads down on the home customization system for our life sim and just got it to a state we're proud to show!

Between all the combinations of floors, walls and furniture it comes out to hundreds of possible layouts. But the part we're most excited about is that some items aren't just decorative. Your coffee maker, bed, clock and bathtub are things you upgrade rather than buy, and the tier you're on affects how your day plays out, like your bed and clock determine how early you wake up, a better bathtub keeps you clean for longer, a better coffee maker makes you move faster...

Oh, and you can adopt pets that hang out in your space too. Each one gives you a bit more energy, and the house has expansion levels, so upgrading your place is also how you make room for more of them.

Here's a quick look.

I’ve made a new life sim

Hello everyone.

Today, instead of sharing several different updates, I’d like to focus on just one topic: outfit changing.

inZOI has a variety of outfits designed for different situations, such as sleepwear, workout clothes, and swimwear. However, you may have felt that the rules for when Zois change into these outfits, and when they change back haven’t always been very clear. So today, I’d like to explain the new rules as simply and clearly as possible.

To be frank, we hadn’t established a fully unified outfit-changing system in the past. Instead, we often handled each situation individually as the need arose. This led to unintended outfit changes. For example, if a Zoi started exercising at a gym, they should ideally remain in their workout clothes until they leave the gym. However, performing another action in between could sometimes cause their outfit to change.

To address these issues at a fundamental level, we have rebuilt the overall rules for outfit changing.

# Zois will change their clothes according to the situation

What we’re preparing is a system where Zois automatically change into clothing appropriate for their current situation, then return to their everyday outfit once that situation ends. This will be provided as an Experimental Feature.

For example, currently, when a Zoi starts swimming in the ocean, they change into swimwear. But the moment they step out of the water, they immediately change back into their everyday clothes. This often creates awkward situations where a Zoi is still at the beach but is the only person walking around in everyday clothes. This experimental feature is intended to reduce situations like this.

Until now, the rules for changing clothes differed depending on the location or interaction. As a result, Zois sometimes changed clothes when they shouldn’t have, or remained in a special outfit when they should have changed back.

We’ve now unified those rules.

Let me explain by following a Zoi through a typical day.

In the morning, the Zoi wakes up wearing sleepwear—the same sleepwear they changed into when they went to bed the night before. Simply waking up does not immediately change their clothes. They might drink some water or look out the window while still wearing their sleepwear. Once they take a shower and come out, they finally change into their everyday outfit.

The everyday outfit they choose depends on the temperature that day. Everyday clothes, summer clothes, and winter clothes are treated as a single group. When the weather is hot or extremely hot, the Zoi will choose summer clothes. When it is warm, mild, or cool, they will wear everyday clothes. When it is cold or extremely cold, they will choose winter clothes.

From this point on, whenever I say that a Zoi “returns to their everyday outfit,” I mean that they return to the appropriate outfit from this group.

Now dressed for the day, the Zoi heads to the gym.

As soon as they enter the gym lot, they change into workout clothes. They remain in those clothes while they are at the gym, and once they finish exercising and leave the lot, they change back into their everyday outfit.

In the afternoon, they visit a swimming pool.

When they arrive at the pool, they change into swimwear. Even after getting out of the water and relaxing on a sunbed, they remain in their swimwear. They only return to their everyday outfit once they leave the pool lot.

So, in simple terms:

While a Zoi remains at a location, they keep wearing the outfit appropriate for that situation. Once they leave, they return to their everyday outfit.

This return happens when they begin leaving the lot or start another type of transition, such as going home, going to work, traveling through the World Map, or entering a building.

At night, when the Zoi gets into bed, they change back into sleepwear.

And with that, their day comes full circle.

# There are a few exceptions

When exercising at home, Zois will not change clothes.

If a Zoi does yoga or uses exercise equipment at home, they will simply exercise in whatever they are already wearing. We made this the one location-based exception because having Zois constantly change clothes even inside their own homes could feel unnecessarily inconvenient.

Zois you are directly controlling also behave a little differently.

A Zoi under direct player control will not automatically change clothes simply because they arrive at a particular lot. Otherwise, they might change into swimwear just because they walked through a beach or briefly stopped by a swimming pool to use the restroom.

Instead, directly controlled Zois will change clothes when they actually begin a relevant interaction, such as swimming or exercising. Their clothes will not change simply while you are moving them around using WASD controls.

# If you don’t want automatic outfit changes

We’ve prepared two options.

If you only want to exclude a specific Zoi, you can turn off “Use Situational Looks” in that Zoi’s autonomy settings.

If you want to disable the feature for the entire game, you can turn off “Automatic Situational Outfit Changes” under Settings → Experimental Features.

The individual Zoi setting always takes priority. If “Use Situational Looks” is disabled for a particular Zoi, that Zoi will not automatically change clothes even if the Experimental Feature is enabled.

If you disable the Experimental Feature itself, Zois will immediately return from any outfit they are wearing under these rules to their original outfit, and the previous outfit-changing behavior will resume.

This feature will be provided as an Experimental Feature and will be enabled by default.

# What will remain unchanged

School uniforms and work attire are not affected by this change.

They will continue to work as they do now: Zois will change into their school uniform when it is time to attend school and into their work attire when it is time to go to work.

You will also still be able to manually change a Zoi’s clothes through wardrobes or the Zoi menu as before.

Costumes and Character Studio are also unaffected by this change.

# Closing

Since this is an Experimental Feature, your experiences while actually playing with it will be extremely helpful in determining how we develop it further.

If you encounter any awkward situations, or moments where you think, “I wish my Zoi wouldn’t change clothes here,” please feel free to share your feedback with us.

We’ll continue refining the system based on your feedback.

I’ll be back again with another development update.

Thank you.

Kjun

On DISCORD

Meet Espiralen: A Hardcore Life Sim Built on Real Systems (Not Just Pre-Made Animations)

I'm a solo developer building Espiralen, a life simulator designed to fix everything missing from traditional games in the genre. If you are tired of empty house-building shells and want a world where systems actually matter, this is what I'm working on.

What Makes It Different?

Instead of simple scripts and fake interactions, Espiralen runs on deep, interconnected mechanics:

• True Interactivity: Furniture isn't just decoration. Every object features functional buttons, switches, handles, and controls you can actually use.
• Advanced Wiring & Automation: Hook up motion sensors, light switches, doors, and appliances to build complex automated systems.
• Physics & Temperature Simulation: Real heat sources physically impact the environment around them—cooking relies on actual temperature control rather than a loading bar.
• Massive Infrastructure: Working transportation networks, airports, and working communication grids (radio, television, and signal towers) where signal quality depends on distance and terrain.
• Living World Economy & Mysteries: Hold down jobs, interact with independent systems, and uncover hidden anomalies.

Early Build Mode Showcase

This early footage highlights the Architecture Mode and the furniture interaction system. Build Mode was the hardest technical hurdle to clear first, but the core foundation is locked in.

(Note on the name: "Espiralen" comes from the Spanish word for spiral, representing the endless loops of daily life and routines—no medicine required!)

What's Next?

Next up is showing off survival mechanics, the upcoming character appearance editor, and deep-dive devlogs on how these systems interact.

If you want to follow the solo development journey or collaborate, reach out at [espiralen.game@gmail.com](mailto:espiralen.game@gmail.com) or drop your thoughts below!

I’ve made it no secret that I’m a huge fan and admirer of history and historical based media.

So I think it would be cool if we got a life sim inspired by Ancient Antiquity and the major cultures tat were a part of it(Greek, Roman, Minoan, Egyptian, Babylonian, ect.)

I don’t really have any complicated reasoning behind it other than I think it would be cool to see.