It’s been many years since I was a Sims savant. My dedication to the life-sim sandbox died sometime after The Sims 4, well before its free-to-play launch and after attempting The 100 Baby Challenge.
Paralives is the indie life simulator taking a swing at EA’s heavyweight champion. It’s garnered plenty of attention thanks to its ambitious customisation tools, quirky comic-book-inspired art style, and most importantly, a promise that future DLCs will be FREE — a refreshing proposition.
At $58.50 AUD, Paralives isn’t exactly asking for loose change. While there’s already a lot to love, the Early Access label is doing some heavy lifting. I wouldn’t add it to cart just yet.
More Moles, Please
Like any sensible person, I immediately recreated myself. I’m always curious to see how close games can get to my actual appearance, and Paralives managed something few games ever have: accurately representing my collection of facial moles.
Not only could I add a mole, but I could resize it and position it exactly where I wanted. However, I could only add one. I have multiple moles, Paralives. MULTIPLE. Still, it’s a start.
The Paramaker is one of the game’s strongest features, letting you tweak almost every aspect of your Para’s appearance, while eye colours, hair colours and skin tones can all be customised using a colour wheel or hex codes if you’re particularly committed to finding the perfect shade.
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There aren’t heaps of hairstyles available just yet, but that’s understandable for an Early Access release. What really stood out was clothing customisation. You can choose base layers beneath jackets and, most importantly, tuck your shirt in or leave it untucked. As a fan of the French tuck (merci, Tan France), I feel seen.
Storytelling Still Loading
Your new life begins aboard a train heading into Town. This is where Paralives starts trying to differentiate itself from The Sims through its Storyteller system. You can choose a normal or more challenging playthrough and encounter cards influenced by your Para’s personality traits that help shape their goals and experiences.
It’s a neat idea, but is currently pretty bare bones. I didn’t encounter much variety in the cards I received, making the system feel more like a glimpse of future potential than a fully realised mechanic. Town is charming and easy to navigate, with minimal loading screens and daily goal boards offering extra objectives.
Additionally, your Para can hold multiple jobs as long as their schedules don’t overlap, which is excellent news for anyone trying to maximise those Paradimes. Less excellent is that my Para constantly seemed to want a new career or job. Settle down, mate. We don’t all need side hustles.
Relationship Strategy
Relationships in Paralives revolve around a Together system. Activities with other Paras fill a Together Bar, unlocking Together Cards that determine how the interaction progresses. Some cards have varying chances of success depending on personality traits, compatibility, and other factors.
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It’s an interesting system that makes relationships feel more strategic than routine, but the limited card pool quickly becomes repetitive, particularly when pursuing romantic relationships. It feels as if progression is gated behind mechanics rather than developing naturally. I can’t deny it kept me playing, though.
A Builder’s Paradise
If Paralives has a killer feature, it’s Build Mode. Want to place a plant on top of the fridge and rotate the leaves so they drape naturally over the side? Go for it. While the object catalogue isn’t enormous yet, the ability to customise placement, sizing and colours means each item can be used in countless different ways. It might have the most satisfying building tools I’ve ever used in a life sim.
Unfortunately, many objects currently function more as decoration than actual gameplay systems. You can only cook through the fridge rather than stoves or BBQs. Toasters exist purely for aesthetics. Washing machines are essentially expensive sculptures.
The house looks fantastic. Living in it is another story.
To be fair, the basics work well enough. My Para could hold multiple jobs, build relationships and progress skills without issue. It’s the more advanced interactions and simulation depth that currently feel unfinished.
A Bug’s Life
Most of Paralives’ biggest issues emerge in Live Mode.
Multitasking isn’t currently possible, meaning your Para can’t eat dinner while watching television. In fact, my Para often stood motionless in front of the TV like they were being hypnotised by late-night infomercials.
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Social gatherings are awkward. Guests show up, but ignore the food prepared. This became particularly frustrating when one of my Para’s Wants involved eating with someone else, which I never managed.
Then there were the bugs. Cancelling a meal sometimes caused food to vanish entirely. My Para started a kitchen fire that firefighters repeatedly failed to extinguish despite standing right next to it. Eventually, my solution was simply deleting the burning object from existence. Modern problems require modern solutions.
Starting a family also proved surprisingly difficult. Between failing Together Cards and some unintuitive UI, I ended up Googling how to make my Paras get intimate… I can confirm, the game has cheats!
Once the baby arrived, so did more bugs. My Para repeatedly placed the baby through the crib and on the floor. I had to move the crib to locate my child. Not ideal parenting.
Basic childcare interactions also feel unintuitive. To change a baby’s diaper, they first need to be placed in a crib. Feeding toddlers requires carrying them to a high chair before selecting the chair itself.
Public venues also lack depth. Restaurants and shops look great, but interactions boil down to clicking an item and having it magically appear in your inventory. There’s plenty of room to expand these systems over time.
Should you Parapurchase?
Paralives feels like two different games sharing the same postcode. Its Build Mode is outstanding, and many of its core ideas are incredibly promising. Live Mode still needs considerable work. Bugs, awkward interactions, limited relationship systems and underdeveloped public spaces make it difficult to recommend wholeheartedly at its current price point.
Despite those frustrations, Paralives has that dangerous ‘just 10 more minutes’ quality. Hours went by as quickly as I fast-forwarded minutes in-game. It isn’t ready to dethrone The Sims just yet, but for the first time in a very long time, it feels like someone has built a ladder tall enough to reach the crown.
Paralives Early Access is available for PC via Steam for $58.50 AUD now.
Access to Paralives was provided by the publisher.
