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Overview
April 6, 2026 at 08:07 AM
Initial article with full game overview, features, early access details, and community funding info
Paralives is an indie life simulation game developed by Paralives Studio, a Canadian company founded by Alex Massé. The game allows players to build homes, create characters called Parafolk, and manage their lives inside an open-world town. Paralives is scheduled to launch in Early Access on May 25, 2026 on Steam for PC and Mac, priced at $39.99 USD.
The project began as a solo endeavor in January 2019 and has grown into a full studio effort funded entirely by the community through Patreon. Paralives has attracted over one million Steam wishlists and has become one of the most anticipated indie games in the life simulation genre. The developers have committed to a no-paid-DLC model, meaning all future content updates and expansions will be free.
Paralives falls into the life simulation genre, a category historically dominated by The Sims franchise. What sets Paralives apart is its indie development approach and its emphasis on flexible, grid-free building tools. Alex Massé has cited the road tool in Cities: Skylines as a direct inspiration for the wall placement system in Paralives, which allows players to draw walls of any length and at any angle rather than snapping to a fixed grid.
The game combines home building, character creation, and life management in a single open-world environment. Players can design houses from scratch, customize every aspect of their characters' appearance and personality, pursue careers, develop skills, build relationships, and explore a town filled with shops, parks, restaurants, and other community spaces.
Feature | Description |
|---|---|
Grid-Free Building | The Build Mode allows walls of any length and any angle, curved walls, split-level floors, and fully resizable furniture. No grid restrictions. |
Deep Character Creator | The Paramaker offers slider-based customization for every body part, a color wheel with hex code support for skin, hair, and eyes, and inclusive gender and pronoun options. |
Open-World Town | One seamless town with no loading screens between lots. The town contains 50 to 70 lots including residential homes, shops, parks, and public buildings. |
Personality System | Parafolk personalities are defined by Stats, Vibes, Talents, Social Perks, and Lifestyles. Personalities evolve over time through gameplay. |
Together Cards | A relationship development mechanic where players choose from context-dependent cards that shape conversations and unlock relationship labels. |
Color Wheel System | Every object, wall, floor, piece of clothing, and physical feature can be recolored using a color wheel, hex codes, or saved custom swatches. |
Modding Support | Steam Workshop integration from day one. Players can create and share custom furniture, hairstyles, clothing, and other content through built-in modding tools. |
No Paid DLC | All future content, updates, and expansions will be released for free. The developers have committed to never charging for DLC. |
Paralives was originally scheduled to launch in Early Access on December 8, 2025. On November 14, 2025, Alex Massé announced a delay to May 25, 2026, explaining that feedback from a larger playtest group indicated that the game was not yet up to the standard the team wanted it to meet. The Early Access period is expected to last approximately two years before the full 1.0 release.
Full Build Mode with grid-free construction, curved walls, split-level floors, and object customization
Complete Paramaker character creator with body, clothing, and personality customization
Live Mode with Parafolk autonomy, needs, emotions, wants, and skills
One open-world town with 50 to 70 lots (residential, commercial, and public)
Careers with rabbit-hole work mechanics and career progression
Together Cards and relationship development system
Cooking, with recipes unlocked through skill progression
Steam Workshop modding support with built-in tools
Pre-built houses for players who prefer not to build from scratch
Weather and seasons
Pets
Additional worlds beyond the launch town
Advanced roof and stair tools
Basement construction tools
Pools
Additional furniture, clothing, and objects
At Early Access launch, Paralives will be available on Steam for PC (Windows) and Mac. The price during Early Access is $39.99 USD, with a price increase planned after the Early Access period concludes. Console releases have not been confirmed for Early Access but may come with or after the full release.
Paralives is entirely funded by its community through Patreon (called the "Paratreon" by the community). Alex Massé originally created the Patreon page hoping to raise enough money to hire one additional artist. The response far exceeded expectations. By November 2023, the page had over 15,000 supporters contributing over $35,000 per month. This community funding model allowed the team to grow from a solo project to a studio of 14 people by June 2025, all without any publisher or outside investor involvement.
The Patreon page is set to stop accepting financial contributions once the game is commercially released. Moving forward, the game's revenue from sales will fund continued development. Patreon supporters receive rewards including early access to development updates, behind-the-scenes content, polls on game features, and their names in the game's credits.
Paralives is built using the Unity game engine. Alex Massé chose Unity based on his prior professional experience with the engine, including work on PewDiePie's Tuber Simulator and demo projects for Unity's Project Tiny initiative.
Even before its release, Paralives has generated significant attention in the gaming community. The game won the "Most Anticipated Canadian Game" award in a poll organized by CanadianGameDevs.com in January 2021. It has surpassed one million Steam wishlists and has been featured at events including the PC Gaming Show in June 2025, the Wholesome Direct in June 2021, and the Montreal Comiccon in July 2024. The strong community interest reflects a demand for alternatives in the life simulation genre.
