With the announcement of Life by You‘s cancellation, hope for a major life simulator game to rival The Sims is waning. If a large company like Paradox Interactive can’t make an ambitious new life simulator game work, who can?
Despite the challenge of forging ahead, there are actually quite a few studios currently working on games with a similar flavour to The Sims. There are life simulators that focus on Sims-like gameplay in a novel world, and a handful of other games looking to take the life sim genre forward with novel mechanics. There’s even a “minimalist” Sims game in development, where you can relive the joy of the early days of The Sims.
Here’s a rundown of every major, notable rival to The Sims currently in development at various studios worldwide. While each takes a different tone to The Sims, and is not necessarily aiming to dethrone EA’s monopoly, they all provide neat alternatives that should interest life simulator fans.
Breaking down the major competitors to The Sims
Paralives
- See Paralives on Steam.
Following closely behind the now-cancelled Life by You, one of the most promising upcoming Sims competitors is Paralives. This is a stylised life simulator that allows you to customise your own characters, build out their dream homes, and then build their relationships with other Parafolk.
The focus of Paralives appears to be on visual customisation, with a deep character creator allowing players to customise their character down to fine details – there’s a height slider, facial and body feature tools, easy colour customisation, and a variety of options for tweaking personality. Likewise, the game’s house building is also focused on unique customisation, with grid-free building meaning you can place walls and decorate as you wish.
As of writing, Paralives is set to launch in early access in 2025. It’s been in development for several years now, with a variety of promising updates along the way, so hopefully it’s able to stick to its launch plans.
InZOI
- See inZOI on its website.
Another major Sims rival in development is inZOI, from PUBG: Battlegrounds developer KRAFTON. In inZOI, you will “become a god” as you control the lives of various custom characters, leading them on a path through “unique stories and experiences.” So far, inZOI appears incredibly promising, particularly as its character creator is very dense, and allows for realistic-looking characters.
The team behind the game has shown off an array of character builds so far, including plenty of diverse faces and hairstyles – long hair, textured hair, curly hair, and everything in between. Gameplay also looks very enticing, with an array of explorable worlds shown off in early gameplay footage.
While the ambitions behind inZOI should inspire some caution, it’s worth noting KRAFTON is an incredibly successful studio, and it likely has the resources to see inZOI to release. PUBG is one of the biggest games of the last decade, and that gives the studio plenty of runway to work on this upcoming life simulator. At this stage, inZOI is reportedly set to arrive in early access by late 2024 – but we’ll have to stay tuned to see whether it sticks to that release window.
Vivaland
- See Vivaland on Steam.
Another major rival to The Sims set to release later in 2024 is Vivaland – a multiplayer-focused life simulator where “1-8 players can craft their stories in a modern small-town.” Vivaland will let you create your own character, build them a large and impressive house, and then venture into town to share their skills and abilities. They’ll be able to fall in love, level up their career, and even interact with other “Viva” characters to create tiny stories.
Per early details shared by the Vivaland team, you’ll be able to play through the game solo, and still find plenty to do in building a cosy life, but the game is enhanced by playing with others. You’ll be able to invite your friend’s Vivas to be neighbours or housemates, and “even start a family together.” Given one thing The Sims is still missing is multiplayer functionality, Vivaland might just fill a gap in the market.
At this stage, it’s best to stay patient for the arrival of Vivaland. While late 2024 is noted as the release window for the game, a smaller team is working behind the scenes – and more time may be needed to get the game ready for release. Whenever it does finally launch, it will certainly be a life sim to watch.
Little Sim World
Changing track slightly, if you’re looking for the vibe of The Sims, but with a whole new art style, then Little Sim World is a fair contender. This game seems to grab some elements of The Sims, and some elements of Animal Crossing, for a 2D life simulator with a focus on wandering around a city, living your life, and taking part in various collector-focused activities.
What makes Little Sim World more akin to The Sims is its focus on freedom of living. You’ll be able to discover a virtual version of London, build a home there, meet your neighbours, find hobbies and jobs, work on your fitness, develop your writing skills, and basically do whatever you want. The art style of the game is decidedly more “kiddy” than others on this list, but for those with nostalgia for the web sims of the early 2000s, it looks rather nice.
Little World Sim is a touch different from the other Sims competitors on the way, but it’s no less worthy of attention. Per developer Blue Gravity Studios, the game will be available in early access from Q4 2024, so keep an eye out for more news shortly.
Tiny Life
- See Tiny Life on Steam.
Tiny Life is another unique spin on the gameplay of The Sims – it’s actually a pixellated throwback to the world of the original game. In Tiny Life, you are controlling a tiny person, and decorating their home lot with various pieces of furniture. You can feed your person, teach them skills, and hook them up with other tiny people.
This game isn’t strictly designed to be a Sims rival, but rather it captures the fun nostalgia of playing the OG Sims, with the main features of that game boiled down into a cosy, minimalist game with brain-tickling mechanics. For now, there’s not a lot to do in Tiny Life, but more features are added every few months, as the game is currently available in early access.
In the months ahead, we expect Tiny Life to continue growing, as a viable alternative for The Sims that captures the simple joy of the life simulator genre.
