Relationships

Overview

Relationships are the connective tissue between Zois. Every conversation, shared activity, and life event either strengthens or weakens the bond between two characters. These connections directly affect quality of life. A Zoi with strong friendships and a loving partner has better emotions, recovers needs faster, and generally performs better at work and daily routines. A Zoi with no connections at all risks having their Recognition need bottom out, which can eventually cause them to run away from home permanently.

There are four relationship types in inZOI: Friendship, Romance, Family, and Business. Each type has its own progress bar with six tiers and fills independently based on the category of interactions. Talking about work fills the Business bar. Flirting fills the Romance bar. A single Zoi can have all four bars active with the same person. Each Zoi can maintain a maximum of 100 total relationships across all types.

Viewing Relationships

Press [R] or click the Relationship icon (two people shoulder-to-shoulder) in the bottom-right corner to open the relationship panel. This panel lists every Zoi the active character has met, sorted by connection strength, starting with family members. Each entry shows the four relationship bars and a small portrait.

Click any entry to see details, including the relationship history, Shared Memories accumulated over time, and a log of key events, thoughts, and feelings. The panel also includes a search function for finding specific Zois.

Relationship Types and Tiers

Each relationship type has six tiers spanning from maximally negative to maximally positive. Advancing to a new tier requires a "Select Relationship" conversation at each breakpoint. When a relationship reaches a breakpoint, two tagged conversation options appear (one positive with an upward arrow, one negative with a downward arrow). Choosing the positive option progresses upward; the negative option pushes downward. Progress does not advance automatically past these gates.

Friendship

Friendship can form between any two Zois regardless of age or household. Friendly conversation, playing together, sharing meals, and attending social events all contribute. This is the easiest relationship type to build because Friendly interactions are available from the first meeting.

Romance

Romantic relationships require both Zois to be at the Adult life stage or older. The Romance bar fills through flirtation, dates, physical affection, and romantic gestures. See the full Romance article for detailed progression steps.

Family

Family bonds form after marriage, through pregnancy and birth, or through household setup in Edit City. When two Zois marry, their Romance relationship converts to a Family relationship, and the level resets to Neutral. You need to rebuild along the Family track. Family bonds are generally the most stable and decay much more slowly than other types.

Business

Business relationships develop through professional interactions: discussing work topics, stocks, and financial subjects. Business relationships are only available between adult Zois; children and teens cannot form them.

Conversation Categories

When clicking on another Zoi and selecting "More," conversations are organized into eight thematic categories:

Key Conversations

Certain dialogue options are marked with a special key icon. These are key conversations that reveal hidden information about a Zoi's background, personality, or secrets. Successfully completing a key conversation can deepen a relationship significantly and unlock profile information about the Zoi. However, asking personal or probing questions too early, before sufficient trust has been established, can backfire and lower the relationship bar instead.

Recognition Need

Recognition is one of four mental needs alongside Fun, Social, and Energy. It represents "the need for a Zoi to be recognized and acknowledged by Zois around them through accomplishments and success." Recognition is fulfilled by accomplishing tasks at work or school and conversing about accomplishments with other Zois.

When Recognition remains critically low for a prolonged period, the Zoi runs away from home and never returns, permanently vacating their spot in the family. This is classified as a "death by lack of recognition" but functions as a disappearance rather than a traditional death. No death notification appears. High karma makes Recognition easier to maintain, while terrible karma causes other Zois to refuse acknowledgment.

Social Events

Social events are planned through the smartphone's Events app and are a powerful way to build multiple relationships at once.

Call Over

The Call Over feature lets you summon a known Zoi to your current location. Access it through the Relationship menu (press R), click the Call Over button, and select the Zoi. They physically travel (sprint) to your location, and a notification confirms arrival.

• Requires an existing relationship of sufficient level; you cannot call someone you just met once.

• Zois can decline if they dislike you or are busy with scheduled activities.

• Cannot call Zois who are asleep.

• No teleportation; the Zoi must physically run to your location.

• Cancelable at any time using the "Cancel Gathering" button.

Gift-Giving

Gifts are sent through the Contacts app on the smartphone. Open Contacts, select the recipient, and choose a gift. The gift arrives at the recipient's home as a physical parcel with a text notification. Giving gifts raises the relationship bar and counts as a good karma action. Gift effectiveness varies based on the recipient's personality and preferences.

Gift-giving requires at least the first positive tier of any relationship type (for example, Friend level in Friendship). Available items change based on relationship level. There is no in-person gift-giving interaction; everything goes through the phone.

Shared Memories

Shared Memories record the milestones of a relationship. These appear in the relationship detail view and include events like first meetings, confessions of love, breakups, divorces, engagements, marriages, and betrayals. Players can scroll through the timeline to see a complete history between two Zois. Shared Memories are permanent. Even after a breakup, the memory of the confession and the breakup both remain on the record.

Trait Compatibility

Traits affect how quickly relationships grow. Some pairings have natural chemistry, while incompatible pairings find conversation awkward and progress slower. Trait compatibility does not block any relationship type outright.

Relationship Decay

Relationships that are ignored will gradually decay over time. If a Zoi stops contacting a friend for an extended period, the Friendship bar slowly drops. The same applies to Romance, though Family bonds are more resilient and decay much more slowly. Regular contact through visits, phone calls, texts, or social events prevents decay.

Children and Relationships

Different life stages have different relationship restrictions:

Autonomy (Free Will)

The Free Will toggle (press T or use the UI toggle with the cat's eye symbol) controls whether a Zoi acts on their own. With Free Will on (white/open eye), Zois make autonomous decisions about interactions. With Free Will off (orange/closed eye), they only act on player commands.

Autonomous relationship building is very limited in the current build. When two Zois interact autonomously, conversations typically last only a few seconds before they move on. Without player intervention, there is almost zero chance to form meaningful bonds. However, NPCs can still initiate some interactions with the player's Zoi, including sending text messages and starting conversations.

Relationship-Related Ambitions

Several Ambitions focus on building relationships:

Relationship Emotions

Relationships trigger specific emotions that affect gameplay:

Cheat Codes

Patch History