Revision 8

Overview

Jealousy and infidelity are interconnected mechanics in inZOI that govern how Zois react when their romantic partner pursues other Zois. The system treats married and unmarried Zois differently: married Zois experience strong jealousy reactions when they catch their spouse being romantic with someone else, while unmarried Zois have historically been free to date multiple partners without consequences. Recent updates have begun expanding jealousy to committed but unmarried relationships as well, making the system more nuanced with each patch.

Jealousy ties into several other game systems, including emotions, the Memories system (added in v0.7.0), and the karma system. Understanding how these systems interact is key to managing your Zoi's love life, whether you want to maintain a faithful partnership or navigate the consequences of romantic betrayal.

How Jealousy Works

Jealousy in inZOI is a reactive system. It activates when a Zoi witnesses their romantic partner engaging in romantic interactions with another Zoi. The game does not use a hidden "suspicion" meter; instead, jealousy is triggered by direct observation or, in the case of married couples, through the phone notification system.

Trigger Conditions

The primary condition for jealousy is physical proximity. A Zoi must be in the same area and able to see their partner performing a romantic action with someone else. Romantic actions that can trigger jealousy include kissing, flirting, and other intimate interactions. The cheating does not need to involve the "Set the mood" interaction; even lower-level flirting can set off a jealousy response if the partner is present to witness it.

For married Zois specifically, the game also has a remote detection system. Even when a spouse is not physically present, they may send text messages to the cheating Zoi's phone with questions like "Where are you?" and "Who are you with?" This creates an additional layer of accountability that unmarried partners do not have.

Married vs. Unmarried Zois

The jealousy system draws a sharp line between married and unmarried Zois:

The expansion of jealousy to Sweetheart and True Love relationships was introduced in a patch following the Cahaya update. Before this change, only married Zois could experience jealousy, and unmarried Zois could maintain multiple True Love relationships simultaneously without any negative consequences.

Cheating Detection

inZOI uses two methods to detect and communicate infidelity to the affected partner:

Direct Witness

When a Zoi is in the same location as their partner and sees a romantic interaction taking place, the jealousy response triggers immediately. The witnessing Zoi will stop what they are doing, approach the cheating pair, and initiate a confrontation. This can include aggressive social interactions such as the "Provoke" action or a dramatic physical response like slapping the unfaithful Zoi. The reaction is automatic and cannot be prevented by the player.

Phone Notifications (Married Only)

Married Zois have a unique detection mechanic through the in-game phone system. When a married Zoi engages in romantic interactions with someone other than their spouse, the spouse may send text messages questioning their whereabouts. These messages appear as phone notifications and include confrontational questions. The cheating Zoi can dismiss these texts with deflective responses, but the relationship meter still takes a hit regardless of how the player responds.

Emotional Consequences

Jealousy triggers a cascade of negative emotions for both the betrayed partner and the cheating Zoi. inZOI's emotion system supports 17 core emotions with intensity escalation, meaning that a mildly annoyed Zoi can escalate to full anger if the situation worsens.

Moodlets and Emotional States

These emotional states are temporary and will fade on their own over time. However, while active, they influence the Zoi's behavior in meaningful ways. An Angry Zoi is more likely to initiate negative social interactions, refuse romantic advances, and perform poorly at work or skill-building tasks. Emotional intensity also affects how quickly a Zoi's needs decay; stressed and upset Zois burn through Energy and Fun needs faster than calm ones.

Behavioral Changes

Beyond moodlets, jealous Zois exhibit changed behavior patterns:

• Negative body language: The betrayed Zoi displays visible signs of distress and hostility toward both the cheating partner and the third party.

• Prone to conflict: For a period after witnessing infidelity, the jealous Zoi is more likely to initiate arguments, use the Provoke action, and reject friendly or romantic interactions from the cheating partner.

• Autonomy overrides: Even when not being directly controlled by the player, a jealous Zoi will autonomously seek out and confront their unfaithful partner if they are on the same lot.

Relationship Damage

Infidelity causes a significant drop in the Romance relationship meter between the cheating Zoi and their partner. The severity depends on the relationship type and what was witnessed:

A romance meter that drops into deeply negative territory shifts the relationship status toward Uncomfortable or even Terrible. At these low levels, the partner becomes hostile, refuses most positive interactions, and the path to recovery becomes much longer. If the relationship reaches the Terrible stage after marriage, the spouse may become a candidate for divorce.

The Memory System and Infidelity

The v0.7.0 anniversary update introduced the Memories and Milestones system, which permanently records significant life events for each Zoi. This has important implications for how infidelity is tracked in the game.

Shared Memories

When two Zois share a relationship, their interactions generate Shared Memories that appear in the relationship detail view. Romantic betrayals are recorded as negative shared memories. Unlike moodlets, which fade after a few in-game hours or days, shared memories are permanent. Even if two Zois break up and later reconcile, the memory of the betrayal remains on their shared record alongside memories of happier moments like first kisses, confessions, and weddings.

Memories Before V0.7.0

Before the Memories system was introduced, Zois had no long-term record of infidelity. Emotional consequences were purely temporary, and once the negative moodlets faded, the relationship could be rebuilt without any lasting trace of what happened. The addition of permanent memories means that a Zoi's romantic history now has a persistent record, though the gameplay impact of stored memories is still being expanded in Early Access updates.

Repairing Relationships After Infidelity

Recovering from infidelity is possible but requires sustained effort. The negative effects are temporary in terms of emotions, and the relationship meter can be rebuilt through positive interactions over time. Practical roadmap for repairing a damaged relationship:

1. Wait out the moodlets: Do not attempt romantic interactions while the betrayed Zoi is still Angry or Embarrassed. These emotions make the Zoi more likely to reject advances and start arguments. Wait for the moodlets to decay naturally, which typically takes several in-game hours to two days.

2. Rebuild with friendly interactions: Start with low-stakes friendly interactions rather than jumping straight to romance. Friendly conversations, jokes, and compliments help nudge the Friendship meter upward, which indirectly supports romantic recovery.

3. Go on dates: Once the Zoi is no longer hostile, use the dating system to rebuild romantic feelings. Dates provide concentrated positive relationship gains in a structured setting.

4. Give gifts: Sending gifts through the phone or giving them in person provides a small but consistent boost to the relationship meter.

5. Maintain needs: Keep both Zois' needs (Energy, Hunger, Fun, Hygiene, Social) in good shape. A Zoi with unmet needs is harder to interact with positively.

6. Be patient: If the romance meter has dropped into Terrible territory, recovery can take a significant amount of in-game time. There are no shortcuts; consistent positive interactions are the only path back.

If the damage is too severe and the marriage has broken down, divorce becomes an option. Divorce immediately drops both Zois to a Terrible relationship and applies a Sad +5 moodlet lasting two days. However, even divorced Zois can reconcile and eventually remarry through the standard romance progression, though this requires rebuilding the relationship from its deeply negative state. Note that remarrying multiple times has been reported to cause a bug where some family members disappear, so exercise caution with repeated marriages.

Multiple Partners Before Marriage

One of the distinctive features of inZOI's relationship system is that unmarried Zois can maintain multiple romantic partners simultaneously. Before the post-Cahaya jealousy expansion, this was entirely consequence-free. A single Zoi could hold True Love status with several partners, kiss them in front of each other, and none would react negatively.

How it Works

At the Mutual Crush and early dating stages, Zois are completely open to non-exclusive romance. Players can build romantic relationships with as many Zois as they wish, and each relationship progresses independently through its own romance meter. There are no hard limits on simultaneous romantic partners beyond the overall relationship cap of 100 per Zoi.

The critical boundary is marriage. Once a Zoi gets married, the game treats any romantic interaction with a non-spouse as infidelity. The marriage commitment activates the full jealousy detection system, including remote phone notifications. Since only married Zois can try for a baby, marriage is also the gateway to having children, which further raises the stakes of infidelity.

Current Limitations

The system does not support consensual polyamory. There is no trait, setting, or interaction that allows married Zois to agree on an open relationship. Any romantic contact outside the marriage triggers jealousy automatically. Players who want polyamorous dynamics must either keep their Zois unmarried or rely on community mods. The lack of personality traits that influence jealousy tolerance is a frequently requested feature in the community.

Autonomous Infidelity

An important aspect of inZOI's relationship system is that Zois can engage in romantic interactions autonomously, without any player direction. This means that a married Zoi left to their own devices may flirt with or pursue romantic interactions with other Zois on their own. Multiple players have reported their married Zois initiating affairs without any player input.

This autonomous behavior means that jealousy scenarios can arise even when the player is not actively encouraging infidelity. If an NPC Zoi flirts with a player's married Zoi, the spouse may still react with jealousy, placing responsibility on the player to manage the fallout. Keeping married Zois' social needs fulfilled and maintaining a high romance meter with their spouse can help reduce (but not eliminate) the likelihood of autonomous romantic wandering.

Tips and Strategies

• Prevent jealousy proactively: Keep your married Zoi's romance meter high through regular dates, gifts, and the "Kiss Passionately" interaction added in v0.7.0. A Zoi in a strong marriage is less disruptive if accidental flirting occurs.

• Separate lots for safety: If you want to pursue a secondary romance without consequences, make sure your married Zoi's spouse is on a different lot and out of visual range. Remote phone detection still applies for married Zois, though.

• Use the dating system: Dates are the most efficient way to repair relationship damage. A successful date provides a larger romance boost than individual interactions spread throughout the day.

• Check the Memories tab: After v0.7.0, you can review Shared Memories in the relationship detail view to see what events have been recorded between two Zois, including any betrayals.

• Avoid repeated remarriage: Divorcing and remarrying the same or different Zois multiple times has been reported to cause family member disappearance bugs. Plan marriages carefully.

• Manage autonomous behavior: Keep married Zois' needs high, especially Social and Fun. Zois with unmet needs are more likely to seek out autonomous social interactions, which can include flirting with non-partners.

Trait Influences

Certain personality traits modify how Zois experience and respond to jealousy:

• Charmer trait: Zois with this trait place higher value on romance and frequently feel the Aflutter emotion. They experience more intense reactions to romantic situations and may take longer to forgive infidelity.