Life by You, the ambitious life simulator game designed to rival EA’s monolithic The Sims franchise, has received a brand new trailer, and an early access release date, as developer Paradox Tectonic forges a path ahead. On 12 September 2023, keen players will get their first taste of Life by You, with the early access version of the game containing the basic pillars of gameplay – customisation, character interaction, and quests.
Paradox has made clear this version of the game is strictly a work in progress, as the studio is seeking feedback on new features, and future customisation options. ‘Life is a huge topic, and life simulation is only limited by your imagination, so we know that there’s a lot we can add with your input. This is a huge game, we can’t wait to keep working on it with you,’ Paradox said.
What we’ve already seen of Life by You is very intriguing. The game certainly shares similarities with The Sims, in terms of its home building and needs systems, but it differentiates itself in several notable ways. For one thing, it appears more story-driven.
Read: The Sims rival ‘Life by You’ announced by Paradox Interactive
As you roam in Life by You, you’ll be given certain quests to fulfil, with prompts tasking you to meet new people, plant flowers, complete work days, or interact with certain in-game items. You can also receive new quests and goals by interacting with your neighbours, all of whom can be befriended (and controlled by players).
Another notable difference is that dialogue in the game is based on real-world language, rather than fictional ‘Simlish’ or other constructed verbiage. It means you’ll be able to interact directly with your neighbours, and have complete conversations with them.
Elsewhere in the game’s early access trailer, customisation was briefly detailed, with gameplay snippets showing off the ability to change the colour of furniture and outfits, and redesign whole neighbourhoods on the fly.
Paradox is also teasing a range of additional customisation features arriving in the game post-early access, including: a conversation creator, event creator, item creator, shop creator, object creator, mod creator, career creator, quest creator, script creator, gameplay creator, recipe creator, skill creator, trait creator, crafting creator, collectible creator, outfit creator, household creator, story creator, life creator, and more – indicating the game will have a vast array of gameplay options.
Life by You is being developed by Paradox Tectonic, a studio which is being led by Rod Humble. Humble previously worked on The Sims 2 and The Sims 3 as Head of The Sims.
For now, fans can look forward to seeing more from the upcoming game ahead of the Life by You early access period, launching on 12 September 2023 exclusively on the Epic Games Store. The game is now available for preorder, at AU $56.95.
