Simslike

It’s been almost exactly six years since developer Alex Massé (of PewDiePie’s Tuber Simulator fame) announced his indie life sim Paralives; now, the game finally has an early access release date, courtesy of its appearance at last night’s PC Gaming Show at Summer Game Fest. And, as promised, it’s going to be coming out this year – although you’re going to have to wait until December 8 to get your hands on this painterly Sims-like.

The project originated as a solo effort from Massé, but the Paralives team has now expanded to around a dozen developers, supported by a Patreon that pulls in around $30K a month from fans eager to see a serious indie rival to EA’s long-running The Sims franchise.

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Paralives clearly takes a lot of cues from the life sim giant that’s been doing the rounds for a full quarter-century now, and long-time Simmers will be on familiar footing when they encounter the core gameplay loop. But there’s plenty to recommend Paralives on its own merits, from its softly stylised art style that advertises its crowd-pleasing cosiness, to its back-to-basics approach to life simulation that aims for loving detail over expansive scope.

The release date trailer confirmed my suspicions that Paralives could well be considered a spiritual successor to earlier generations of The Sims, focusing on daily life in an impossibly gorgeous little town where the architecture and decor of aspirational yet lived-in family homes take centre-stage. Paralives also seems very grounded – there’s no sign of the urban fantasy themes that frequently slip into The Sims (which I love, for the record, but recognise that not every Simmer does) – with trailers focussing on that ideal of middle-class suburbia that was a hallmark of The Sims back in the day.

Grab a coffee with friends, go to yoga class, play catch with your adorable two-point-five kids on your well-manicured lawn, and then have a sobbing breakdown in the bathroom once the family’s in bed – this is surely the dream of adulthood that was sold to me when the life sim genre first hit it big at the turn of the millennium.

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Massé’s team have previously asserted that they plan to keep Paralives add-ons free for all players – in stark contrast to EA’s practice of expanding The Sims with countless paid DLCs at various price points – and although they haven’t yet outlined exactly how they plan to do this, it’s reasonable to suspect that some kind of early access deal for Patrons might be part of the plan.

Paralives isn’t the only life sim in the news this week, as fellow Sims rival inZOI has emerged from hiding to announce a release date for its first major content update since its launch; the update finally remembers to properly enable same-gender romance (just in time for Pride Month!) as well as the much-anticipated arrival of mod support. And The Sims 4 itself hasn’t been quiet either, releasing a summer content roadmap teasing the long-awaited return of fairies in the new Enchanted By Nature expansion pack that’s being officially revealed this month, too.

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