Life Stages

Overview

Zois progress through 9 life stages. Transitions happen instantly. One moment the Zoi is a child, the next they are an adolescent with a different body and new abilities. One in-game day lasts 96 real-world minutes by default, adjustable in Game Options > Simulation. The shortest setting compresses a day into 48 minutes; the longest stretches it to a full 24 real hours. Changing day length speeds up or slows down how fast time passes but does not extend a Zoi's overall lifespan in terms of in-game days.

There is no way to stop aging through normal gameplay. The cheat command stopAging true freezes all Zois at their current stage. The immortalZoi true cheat prevents death entirely.

All 9 life stages

Character creation restrictions

Six stages are selectable: Child, Teenager, Young Adult, Adult, Middle-Aged, and Senior. Newborn, Toddler, and Adolescent are only reachable through gameplay. The same restrictions apply when adding a Zoi to an existing household.

Day length and lifespan settings

The day length setting controls how many real-world minutes equal one in-game day. At the default 96 minutes, a Zoi's full lifespan from Newborn to Senior death takes roughly 112 real-world hours (about 70 days of play at 90+ minutes per day). At the fastest setting (48 minutes per day), the same lifespan compresses to about 56 hours.

The 2026 Roadmap includes age adjustment options in Q1, giving players more control over how quickly Zois progress through stages. The Fate Engine and birthday calendar system will also provide new time-management tools.

Toddler skills

Toddlers have 4 foundational skills (max level 5):

• Cognitive Development exploring and understanding objects

• Emotional Development forming bonds

• Language Development communicating through speech and gestures

• Physical Development controlling the body and maintaining balance

Maxing a toddler skill gives a head start on the related grown-up skill.

Child skills

Children have 6 skills separate from the adult skill tree:

• Creativity drawing, painting, playing instruments, video games

• Motor Development treadmills, yoga mats, ball play, rocking horses

• Responsibility cleaning, journaling, self-directed tasks

• Social conversations and friend interactions

• Aquatic Adaptability water comfort, transitions to adult Swimming skill (added in v0.3.0)

• Curious Mind observing the world through fishing, mining (added in v0.3.0)

Skill transitions

Child skills do not carry over directly. Maxing them gives a boost to related adult skills. A child who maxes Creativity starts with higher Art and Instrument levels as a teen. Motor Development feeds into Fitness. The transition happens automatically at age-up.

Upcoming improvements

The February 2026 developer update previewed expanded baby features (infant strollers and more baby furniture interactions (changing tables, high chairs, bathtubs, bouncers)) responding to community requests. The 2026 Roadmap also includes childcare-specific urges in Q1 and per-family story progression with adjustable intensity toggles.

What happens after death

When a Zoi dies, the player gets a "Go Back In Time" option to load a previous save. If the Zoi's karma is low enough, they become a ghost instead of passing on peacefully. Surviving family members experience sadness and depression.

Every Zoi in inZOI progresses through nine life stages, from Newborn to Senior, with a total lifespan of approximately 100 in-game days at default settings. Aging is automatic: Zois jump from one stage to the next after a fixed number of in-game days, with their size and appearance changing instantly at the transition. Players can adjust the pace of aging through simulation settings or disable it entirely.

The Aging-Up Process

• Zois do not age continuously. They remain at one life stage for its full duration, then jump to the next stage instantly.

• When a Zoi ages up, their physical appearance (height, build, face) changes immediately to match the new stage.

• There is no visible progress bar or countdown showing how close a Zoi is to aging up. The transition happens automatically when the in-game day count is reached.

• Only the currently selected Zoi receives life stage transition notifications. Death notifications appear regardless of which Zoi is selected.

• Child skills (Creativity, Motor Development, Sociability, Responsibility) transfer to adult skill bonuses when the child ages into a Teenager. See Creativity Skill for an example of this transition.

Simulation Speed and Day Length

Aging speed is controlled by two settings found in Game Menu > Options > Simulation:

Changing the day length affects all time-based systems: aging, career schedules, school attendance, seasonal transitions, and need decay rates. Shorter days mean Zois age faster but also have less real time to complete daily activities.

Death from Old Age

As of v0.1.3 (April 1, 2025), only Zois in the Senior life stage can die naturally from old age. Before this patch, natural death could occur at any adult life stage based on probabilistic calculations. The change was made because, as the developers stated, "it's important for Creators to have time to bond with their characters and fully immerse themselves in their stories."

This rule applies only to natural death from aging. Non-natural deaths (fire, drowning, electrocution, starvation, sleep deprivation, car accidents, falling) can still happen at any life stage from Teenager onward. Children cannot die; if both parents die, children are sent to the Child Protection Agency.

For full details on all death types, see Deaths.

Feature Unlocks by Life Stage

Each life stage unlocks new gameplay capabilities:

Tips

• If you want a long-lived Zoi without disabling aging, increase the Length of Day setting. Setting it to 24 hours per in-game day effectively makes each life stage last many real-world days.

• Disable aging selectively: freeze aging for your household while letting city NPCs age normally. This keeps the world dynamic while giving you unlimited time with your main characters.

• Plan skill development around life stage durations. Children have 7 days to max child skills, and Teenagers have only 4 days before becoming Young Adults. Prioritize the most impactful skills first.

• The Senior stage is unpredictable. Save frequently once a Zoi reaches Senior age, as death from old age can happen at any time without warning.

• If you want to experience the full lifecycle from birth to death, start with a pregnant couple. The resulting child will age through every stage naturally, giving the most complete experience.