With the Early Access release of Paralives being postponed from December 2025 to May 2026, we were treated with a first look at the gameplay in the game’s current state. Despite the odd glitch here and there, we got a look at several features already present in the new life simulation game in the 48-minute livestream with the Paralives community manager.
We’ll go over everything that we learned about Paralives and what we can expect when we get our hands on it next year. Note that some features may be updated or changed by the time the game is released in Early Access to the public.
Character Creator
The first part of the livestream gave us a glimpse of what the character creator in Paralives looks like. We didn’t see the selection of outfits, but instead the focus was on personalities.
- Parafolk can be assigned Male, Female, and Non-Binary genders.
- Currently, there appears to be two different voice tones available.
- Several ages were shown, from baby to elderly. Also, during the livestream, the player character interacted with a pre-teen.
- Up to 7 points can be assigned to Physique, Mind, Creativity, and Charisma traits, with up to 3 points each. Not assigning a point to one of these results in a negative trait.
- These four traits influence how a parafolk live out their daily lives, affecting their wants, skill gain, career progression, and more.
- There are 5 Vibes: Serious, Overjoyed, Jester, Gloomy, and Energetic. These affect a parafolk’s emotions and interactions with others.
- 5 Social Perks are available, affecting how good a parafolk is at the following: Being Alone, Making Friends, Romantic Relationships, Taking Care of Others, and Cooperating.
- Several different Talents are available: Art, Music, Food, Technology, Fitness, Jack-of-All-Trades, and Good at Nothing.
- One of each of these traits can be assigned to a parafolk.
- There’s an option to choose whether a parafolk is vegetarian or not.
- Sleeping Habits can be assigned by Normal, Early Bird, or Night Owl.
- Similarly, Cleaning Habits fall under Neat, Dirty, and Normal.
- All these options can be randomized.
The livestream focused on creating personalities for parafolk.
Live Mode Gameplay
The function of Live Mode was showcased in the livestream.
- Days have 24 hours, with minutes being seconds, hours being minutes.
- There are 4 time functions: pause, play, 5x speed, and 15x speed.
- There are days of the week, as well as seasons.
- A daily newspaper provides interesting stories around town, goal opportunities, and coupons.
- Parafolk have a phone where they can find a job, play games, make orders, and check social media.
- Outfit categories include casual, work, exercise, and pyjamas.
- Parafolk can walk, run, jog, exercise, dance, and daydream.
World
In the livestream, they only focused on the old town area of the world in Paralives, but it does give an idea of how it functions generally.
- Venues include a barber shop, flower shop, book store, and antiques store.
- The venues can be entered and are not rabbitholes.
- At the flower shop, you can buy potted plants, including a free daily plant.
- The book store contains not just books, but also a café where you can grab a snack and a playroom for children.
- You can purchase items such as furniture and furnishings at the antiques store, either for a reduced price or full price.
- Job hiring signs are posted outside the different venues for parafolk to apply to.
- Parafolk can live in apartments.
- There are no loading screens when entering or exiting buildings.
Only one section of the world was shown, but it did provide an idea of gameplay and functionality.
Careers
Parafolk can enrol in several different careers in Paralives, as demonstrated in the livestream.
- Job categories include software development, art, food, music, education, service, management, maintenance, health care, science, and fitness.
- Job roles include manager, nurse, dermatologist, software engineer, waiter, assistant, receptionist, clerk, teacher, musician, chef, and researcher.
- Parafolk need to qualify for jobs when applying based on skills and experience.
- Jobs vary in levels, skills, pay, venues, and working days and hours.
- The schedule for a job can be selected, namely the hours and work days.
- Work appears to function as a rabbithole, the parafolk disappearing for several hours.
- Upon gaining enough experience at work, there’s the option for work upgrades and perks, including ranking up (promotion), working overtime, or gaining emotions.
- Work performance is based on skills.
- Can earn vacation days.
- Get 3 strikes at job and there will be repercussions.
Skills
Parafolk can learn skills for work and activities.
- Skills include programming, art, music, fitness, food, outdoorsiness, repair, and science.
- Skill gain rate is based on current emotion, as well as other factors like talent.
- The max skill level is 20, but currently, not all skill progression unlock rewards.
- Skills can be “evolved”, unlocking new perks and interactions.
- When cooking, food can spoil at lower skill levels.
Parafolk can have various traits, skills, careers, and more.
Needs and Emotions
Parafolk have needs that need attending to, as well as emotions that influence their actions.
- Parafolk have 4 needs: Hunger, Energy, Bathroom, and Hygiene.
- They also experience a range of emotions such as Happy, Embarrassed, and Uncomfortable.
- Emotions can influence various actions such as socializing, skill gain, and more.
- Emotions come with different wants. Clicking on a current emotion highlights wants such as eating, socializing, getting a job, and more.
- Can eat snacks or cook food to satisfy hunger.
- Meal options is based on cooking skill level.
Goals and Wants
In Paralives, parafolk can satisfy short term goals but can also work on a series of goals for XP, which can unlock rewards.
- Wants are refreshed when a parafolk is sleeping.
- Goals can be obtained through gameplay such as accepting assignments from the daily newspaper.
- Goals can be viewed and tracked.
- Can also toggle viewing completed life goals.
Parafolk can develop relationships with different interactions.
Relationships
The livestream provided a good look at how relationships and socializing work in Paralives.
- Can view parafolk you have met in relationship tab.
- Coworkers also appear in tab, even if you haven’t met them in game yet.
- When talking to others, you can “develop” relationship by choosing 3 random interactions.
- Some interactions have a success or failure rating, which can impact relationship.
- Interactions can be influenced by current emotions, skills, talent, and more.
Build Mode
Paralives has its own Build Mode where objects can be placed, moved, and more.
- Objects broken into categories by room, as well as object type.
- Object placement isn’t fixed, allowing more freedom of placement.
Current State of Paralives and Early Access Release Date
This sums up everything that was showcased in the gameplay livestream for Paralives. The game is still work-in-progress, evidenced by the visible glitches, but the livestream did demonstrate it to be in a playable state to give us an idea of what to expect. However, Paralives won’t be released to the public until May 25, 2026. It will be available in Early Access on Steam.
