The Sims may finally have some real competition in Paralives

Sims 2 is an immensely popular series that has been around for a while. It taps into the simple yet fulfilling fantasy of creating make-believe characters and living in a miniature house. The player is ultimately in control, but the story can manifest in a dozen different ways — or maybe there’s no story at all, and the joy comes from crafting the perfect tiny house.

Maxis, the Sims’ developer revealed recently a glimpse at Project Rene, the next title of the franchise. Maxis didn’t share a release window, but we know that it’ll likely be a few years before we get to give Sims 5Take a look. Despite the wait, it’s still an exciting time for the life sim genre, especially because competition is on the horizon in the form of ParalivesThis was made in a smaller studio.

Sims fans have never been one-dimensional. Some people enjoy the chaos that arises in neighborhoods, while others love the layout and furniture of an office. Sims fans can’t even agree on what game to play; a significant chunk of fans stay with prior games in the series like The Sims 3.Or even The Sims 2. Sims 4The game’s lifespan is also getting a bit too long. It was released in 2014 and is approaching a decade. Expansion packs are another contentious topic — in order to collect all of the DLC for Sims 4A player must spend hundreds of dollars.

It’s no surprise that when a genuine competitor to the Sims franchise emerged, it would pique the interest of players. Alex Massé began the project in 2018 after realizing that the life simulator genre was filled with games like Stardew ValleyBut there were no other games quite like The Sims. Massé is now lead developer on the ParalivesThe team is supported by an extremely successful Patreon, that currently pulls in $40,000 per month.

Paralives Team

“The project started out as small prototypes to showcase new ideas for the house building part of the game, which has always been my favorite in The Sims,” says Massé. “I was immediately overwhelmed by the positive reception on social media which helped me raise money on Patreon to turn the project into something more ambitious, going from solo to a team of 10 people.”

The ParalivesThe team was sharing its progress the entire way on social media, sharing the process of building customization, creating custom characters, and now the life simulation elements that make up the day-to-day of a character’s life. You can see some amazing features, including height and furniture color options. These features were even featured in Project Rene’s preview. This focused on the tools to build and purchase mode.

“Everyone on the Paralives team was really excited about the Project Rene reveal,” says Massé. “We liked the fact that they brought back customization elements that we loved in The Sims 3.You can recolor objects and select from different textures and patterns. To learn more Paralives, we wanted to offer a high level of customization because we believe it’s really important for building games and as players, we’re glad to see that Project Rene is going in that direction too.”

A sequel Sims 4It’s still a long way off. Paralives has a chance to shine — but there’s still room for both simulation games at the table. Massé speculates that it’s the day-to-day simulation that will make ParalivesNot just creating and building, but being distinct. After the designer has created a character on social media and customized his building, the team is eager to show off its social simulations and interactions.

“If you think about it, managing your characters in The Sims works a bit like managing your characters in a role-playing game. There are so many RPGs out there but people keep coming up with new ideas and game mechanics, keeping the genre fresh.”

He adds, “Regarding people comparing The Sims to Paralives, we understand that it’s always going to happen because there are no other games in that specific genre. It’s clear that there will be similar features between both games but in the end, I’m certain that they will feel pretty different in their own ways and people will be able to enjoy them both.”