Paralives: Gameplay trailer, features, platforms & more

Paralives: Gameplay trailer, features, platforms & more
Images via Alex Masse

Written by 

Kiera Mills

Published 

31st Jul 2023 14:20

Contents

Paralives is an upcoming simulation game heavily inspired by The Sims franchise. In Paralives, you can build houses in an open-world small town whilst creating and managing Parafolk, the quirky inhabitants of the game.

Paralives initially started development in 2019 as a passion project from sole developer Alex Masse and quickly expanded after receiving a positive reception from simulation gaming fans.

The game is in development, crowd-funded via Patreon and has a team behind it now, focused on expanding on the groundwork from The Sims franchise and keen to deliver a simulation game of their own.

To learn more about Paralives, including which platforms it will release on, the confirmed gameplay features and more, keep reading for all we know.

What platforms will Paralives be on?

Promotional art for Paralives
Click to enlarge

Paralives is scheduled to launch on Steam for PC and Mac users. Although the game is not available for pre-order currently, you can wishlist the game on Steam now if you want to receive alerts when the game becomes available to purchase.

You can also support the ongoing development of the game by subscribing to the official Patreon page and joining the growing community on Discord to share ideas pre-launch.

Are there any Paralives trailers?

Paralives has a host of videos on the official YouTube channel showcasing the work-in-development process like the Paramaker menu, interactions with other Parafolk and different customisations in the game.

In the linked trailer above, which focuses on homes in Paralives, we're shown the process of everything from creating walls right down to the finer details of furnishing the home - with plenty of cosy charm to get excited about.

  • If you're excited to play Paralives, why not check out our list of the best games like The Sims to play right now, and satiate your simulation game cravings in the meantime?

Confirmed Paralives gameplay features

Paramaker menu

Paralives promotional image showing the colour wheel option in Paramaker
Click to enlarge

Paramaker (PAM) is the menu in which you can create new Parafolks. This acts in a similar way to Create-a-Sim. Here, you can alter the way Parafolks look with outfits and various body and face sliders including a height adjustment slider.

PAM offers the following features:

  • Sliders for full rotation and placement of scars, tattoos, freckles, ear placement, Adam Apple, eye placement and more
  • Heterochromia
  • A colour wheel and pattern swatch feature where players can adjust the colour, saturation, and pattern of clothing items
  • A colour wheel option for skin colour so you can theoretically have any colour or shade you like
  • Realistic fat and muscle slider options
  • Outfits will not be locked by gender

Gameplay

Paralives promotional image showing a loft build
Click to enlarge

There is voice acting in Paralives, with Parafolks speaking 'Parli' - a formulated made-up language similar in nature to The Sims's Simlish. The theory behind this is to give players the freedom of storytelling and to fill in the gaps whilst the Parafolks communicate.

The game is confirmed to feature the following additional mechanics at launch:

  • Pinned interactions to set default walking speeds
  • Advanced personalities and AI for the Parafolks
  • Dogs, cats and horses
  • Cars, bikes and boats
  • Weather effects and seasons
  • One town at launch but more worlds and a world creation tool will become available at a later time
  • An original soundtrack

Building

Paralives promotional image showing a building floor plan
Click to enlarge

The official Paralives FAQ page has listed the following building mechanics that will be available at launch:

  • Gridless construction
  • Snapping and optional grid to help align furniture
  • Curved and straight walls
  • Resizable, stackable, and flippable furniture
  • Boat houses
  • Colour wheel, premade swatches, and patterns
  • Premade houses as well as empty resizable lots
  • Terrain tools

The developer has also expressed future plans after the launch for supernatural and occult Parafolk, a first-person mode and active jobs and school programs (jobs and schools will be within the launch version of the game but you will not be able to follow Parafolk to them).

So that's everything we currently know about Paralives, but rest assured that as more details are revealed we'll be updating you accordingly right here. For more games and guides on the latest games, be sure to check out our trending homepage.

Kiera Mills
About the author
Kiera Mills
Kiera is a former GGRecon Guides Writer.
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