Positioned as a competitor to The Sims, it promises a cozy, creative, and highly customizable experience where players craft characters, build homes, and manage their lives in an open-world town. Think of it as a spiritual successor to early Sims games, focusing on detailed building, storytelling, and daily life with a softer, painterly art style.

Unlike The Sims’ expansive DLC model, Paralives commits to no paid DLC, offering free updates post-launch to expand features. However, as the studio stated on their Steam page, it will be priced at 39.99$ for Early Access, with a planned price increase after the initial phase.

Everything we can expect from its features

Paralives Early Access version will have a solid foundation but not all planned features:

• Live Mode: Core systems like relationships, interactions, emotions, and daily needs (hunger, hygiene) for Parafolk. You’ll manage their lives, from work to socializing, in an open-world neighborhood.
• Build Mode: Highly flexible tools for home construction, featuring curved walls, customizable furniture, and precise resizing/coloring options, and allows freeform building.
• Paramaker: Deep character creation with extensive customization for appearance, clothing, and personalities.
• Mod Support: Day-one modding tools, encouraging community creations.
• Content: A variety of furniture, decor, and family types (single parents, large families, platonic groups), with a focus on diversity and queer inclusion.

However, some features will be missing at launch, to be added via free updates:

• Babies and toddlers (though older children are included).
• Pets.
• Advanced relationship mechanics (complex family dynamics).
• Expanded career and world interactions.

Should You Look Forward to it?

After years of The Sims dominating the market, with inZOI just starting to gain traction, Paralives offers a new perspective. It features charming, cozy aesthetics and focuses on fundamental building and storytelling. Its open-world town and tactile build mode feel like a tribute to early Sims fans. Other that, Paralives doesn’t really feel artifical like the Sims.

A major draw is the promise of free updates, a welcome change from The Sims’ costly expansion packs. Paralives’ build mode does offer proper flexibility with curved walls, custom sizing, and detailed decor, outshining many competitors. If you love designing homes, this could be a dream sandbox. The developers have also built trust through six years of transparent updates via Patreon and social media.

However, you should still be wary of the game. As with any Early Access title, Paralives won’t be complete at launch. Missing features like babies, pets, or refined relationships might disappoint some. Unlike The Sims’ massive EA backing or inZOI’s Krafton resources, Paralives Studio is a small indie team. While their passion is evident, content depth and polish may take time to match larger competitors.

Early Access often brings technical issues. If you’re sensitive to glitches, you might prefer waiting for post-launch patches. Paralives isn’t aiming for The Sims’ scope but a more focused, cozy experience. If you crave expansive gameplay (like complex careers or world events), it might feel limited at first. Remember, Early Access means it’s still a work in progress.

The post Paralives Is Releasing in December 2025, Should You Look Forward to It? first appeared on IndieGames.

Your main job is to chop wood, meet the friendly locals, and explore a world brimming with personality. The game’s retro pixel-art style, combined with a soothing, original soundtrack, creates a genuinely peaceful vibe that’s just perfect for unwinding. Whether you’re upgrading your skills or just wandering off to pet a squirrel, the game truly lets you set your own pace.

Additionally, you can customize your journey with enchanted necklaces, powerful upgrades for axes, or even special foods that tweak your experience. Play as a guy or a girl, and make the adventure entirely your own. Oh, and those forest animals? Some might love a pat, but others might give you the cold shoulder.

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The Early Access release includes the opening story quests, three unique yokai transformations: Wild Boar, Dryad, and Slime each granting abilities like smashing obstacles, climbing cliffs, or diving underwater to solve puzzles and explore temples. Additionally, you can engage in farming, fishing, cooking, and crafting, customize furniture and clothing, participate in festivals like the Carp Festival, and build relationships with six romanceable characters.

The game also features boss battles and multiplayer co-op, allowing up to four players to explore, farm, or relax together. The full release will expand the story with additional chapters, new areas, NPCs, heart events, and gameplay features. Early Access updates will including new story quests, romance options, yokai transformations, and gameplay mechanics.

The post Cozy Farming Sim Tales of Seikyu Gets Official Release Date first appeared on IndieGames.

Cattle Country blends wholesome slice-of-life gameplay with action-adventure elements, offering a vibrant take on the Wild West. You step into the boots of a pioneer building a new life in the fictional Hill Valley, where daily tasks include farming, mining, fishing, and crafting. From tending cattle to constructing a homestead, the game captures the hard work and rewards of frontier living under the vast blue skies.

Beyond ranching, you will engage with a lively community of townsfolk, swapping stories and lending a hand to build strong bonds. The game’s 18 romanceable characters add a heartfelt layer, letting you pursue love with charming locals, from rugged ranchers to spirited settlers. However, not everyone in Cattle Country is friendly, bandits and shady characters lurk, requiring you to protect your homestead and uncover dastardly plots to keep the community safe.

The post Cattle Country Rides Onto Consoles and PC Late May first appeared on IndieGames.

In Starsand Island, you return to your childhood island for a heartfelt journey of healing and self-discovery. The game offers a serene escape where you can farm, fish, raise animals, and build connections with quirky locals. Its robust DIY building and customization system lets you craft your dream paradise, with multiplayer features allowing friends to join in and help shape the island.

The Kickstarter offers a variety of rewards to suit different levels of support. At the 20$ tier, early backers will receive exclusive wallpapers, and a Steam key. Higher tiers include early Alpha access, credits in the game, and a digital soundtrack. Backers can also unlock a digital artbook, unique in-game items like an exclusive pet, custom skateboard and weapon skins, and a furniture blueprint for island homes. Premium rewards offer exclusive character outfits, a custom in-game book design, the chance to become an in-game NPC, or the opportunity to name a new Outer Island, alongside a day spent with the developers.

Set for release in Q4 2025 on Steam and Nintendo Switch, with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S versions also planned, the game has already gained traction, adding 30,000 wishlists on Steam in just one week after the Galaxies showcase.

The post Starsand Island Kickstarter Kicks Off to Craft a Cozy Life Sim first appeared on IndieGames.

Rusty’s Retirement sparked a trend of games that run in the background on your screen, and many great titles have embraced this format. Though affordable, these games are high-quality and frequently updated. My Little Life fits right in as a cozy life sim and idle game, letting you manage a growing community of pixel-art characters while juggling work or other tasks.

My Little Life is a game where you guide up to six unique “little people” to meet career goals, satisfy needs, and create custom homes. Its subtle design lets characters act independently while you make big choices, like buying furniture or picking jobs. With two layout options such as horizontal suburbs (bottom of the screen) or vertical city (side of the screen), it blends idle gameplay with active decisions, perfect for a chill desktop companion.

Starting Small and Meeting Needs

You start with one character in a bare-bones home, tasked with meeting their needs (hunger, hygiene, sleep, joy, comfort) and advancing their career to earn Credits (currency) and Fulfillment Points (FP). Needs are managed by placing furniture with specific tags, visible in the shop interface. The best part is that the characters act independently, using nearby items to satisfy needs when needed.

Careers such as Writer, Streamer, Painter, Mechanic, Farmer, Scientist, or Hacker unlock progressively and involve skill-building to earn promotions and higher paychecks and each career has unique items that boost skills. The game’s idle nature means characters work and live without constant input, but active tasks like decorating homes or assigning jobs keep you engaged.

Home-building is another great feature, with hundreds of furniture items, wallpapers, and decorations to unlock using Credits and FP. You expand homes by adding walls or floors, creating separate houses in suburb mode or stacked apartments in city mode. Each character has a designated zone, restricting their access to items outside it unless marked “communal”.

“Characters work and live autonomously, but decorating homes or assigning jobs keeps you involved.”

Seamless Desktop Integration

Decorating is intuitive, with drag-and-drop placement, but objects can’t be layered, for example, placing a lamp in front of a sofa. The shop interface locks advanced items behind FP, earned by fulfilling character wishes such as owning a specific pet or reaching career milestones, encouraging long-term progression. However, the zone system can frustrate, as characters won’t share non-communal items, forcing duplicate purchases or cramped layouts.

Progression is driven by recruiting new characters, unlocking careers, and expanding homes. Each character has unique fulfillment tasks, ensuring varied goals. Credits fund basic purchases, while FP unlocks premium items, creating a satisfying loop of earning and spending. However, early progression feels slow, with limited Credits and high wall expansion costs making initial hours sluggish. Township quests, like recruiting specific characters or reaching career levels, add structure but can take hours due to idle mechanics, which may test those who are really impatient.

The game’s defining feature is its desktop integration, docking at the screen’s edge and offering three size options (full, half, or compact square) to minimize distraction. A toggle for “always on top” lets you choose whether it overlays other windows. Also, the absence of loud popups or urgent events ensures it doesn’t demand constant attention, aligning with its tagline: “a relaxing life-sim that lives on the bottom of your screen while you do other things.”

“Recruit new characters, unlock careers, and expand homes to drive progression.”

Ideal for Cozy Gamers

Replayability comes from five save slots, allowing experimentation with suburb or city modes with the variety of characters, careers, and decor. The game does eventually get updates, like the Scientist career and 59 new items added post-launch. Additionally, the 2D pixel-art aesthetic features colorful, expressive sprites for characters and furniture, evoking The Sims 1’s retro charm. Homes start as ugly shacks but transform into vibrant spaces with diverse items like neon signs, pet beds, or science labs.

Characters also have distinct looks (randomized, not customizable) and animations for tasks like eating or working, adding personality, though repetitive actions can break immersion. The camera can be static or follow characters, with a zoom toggle for closer inspection. In the end, My Little Life is a game you should get if you’re specifically into this genre and want to try something differently from what you’re usually playing.

For 5.89€, it’s a must-try for cozy gamers who like to multitask, can dedicate some of their time to progress from time to time, and do like building smaller communities.

“Suits cozy gamers who enjoy multitasking.”

Review copy provided by the publisher

4

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You will explore two dangerous regions: Rivervalley and Wetland offering over 20 hours of main story content, supplemented by numerous side quests. Starting with a modest set of planting pots, you can expand your farms, develop advanced cultivation techniques, and construct various structures to transform a humble garden into a thriving homestead.

Beyond farming, Doloc Town enriches gameplay with fishing, cooking, and tool crafting. You can venture into the wilderness to gather resources and uncover the world’s secrets with the aid of customizable drones. Combat against mysterious creatures is also a feature, offering flexible fighting styles.

Following a highly successful demo during Steam Next Fest, which received 97% positive reviews, Doloc Town introduces expanded content shaped by player feedback. A new teaser trailer showcases the game’s diverse biomes, quirky characters, and the mysteries awaiting players.

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In Demonschool, you step into the shoes of Faye, a bold freshman and the last demon hunter from a legendary family, navigating a haunted island university. Faye and her allies investigate supernatural threats, battle possessed humans, demons, and other eerie creatures in grid-based combat, and work to seal away monsters to save the human world.

Combat unfolds on a chess-like tactical board, inspired by Into the Breach, where you strategize to defeat Hell’s deadliest foes. During the Planning phase, you map out moves and use classmates’ unique strengths. Actions can be adjusted to perfect each turn before transitioning to the Action phase, where attacks, heals, and special abilities trigger simultaneously.

Outside of combat, you can befriend, romance, and recruit 15 distinct playable characters, each bringing unique skills to the team. Balancing class schedules, training, extracurriculars, and side quests boosts the party’s abilities, all while Faye strives to maintain a strong GPA amidst the chaos of demon hunting.

The post Demonschool Brings Tactical RPG Horror to Consoles and PC in Q3 2025 first appeared on IndieGames.

Through activities like farming, fishing, and animal care, you’ll create your own peaceful oasis. The game features a detailed customization system that lets you design your personal sanctuary, while interactions with local residents add warmth and character to the story. Starsand Island also includes a multiplayer option, allowing you and your friends to build your island paradise together.

To help bring the project to completion, Seed Lab will soon launch a Kickstarter campaign. Backers will be able to unlock stretch goals and receive exclusive rewards. Additionally, Starsand Island is already available to wishlist on Steam.

The post Starsand Island Gets New Trailer at Galaxies Showcase and Confirms 2025 Release first appeared on IndieGames.

The story follows Fiona, who quits her job to start a new life on a farm, only to become an immortal messenger of a dead god. As she tries to navigate everyday life, she must also confront Neverway, a nightmarish reality slowly bleeding into her world.

Neverway features over 10 characters with whom you can build friendly or romantic relationships, each unlocking unique combat abilities. The combat itself is fast-paced and dynamic, with customizable styles suited to your playstyle through crafted items. Outside of combat, you can grow crops, fish, or decorate your home, with the in-game day divided into morning, afternoon, and evening segments.

Alongside the Celeste pixel artist, the game’s music is composed by Disasterpeace, renowned for his work on Hyper Light Drifter and Fez. Neverway also promises dynamic cutscenes, controller-optimized expressive combat, and an atmospheric horror narrative.

The post Neverway Announced, a Blend of Horror, Life Sim, and Action RPG first appeared on IndieGames.