Revision 9

Overview

Romance is a core relationship system in inZOI that lets Zois form romantic bonds, go on dates, get married, and build families. The system supports same-sex relationships and allows players to set specific gender preferences during character creation. Romance follows a progression from strangers through Mutual Crush to True Love, with marriage available at the highest levels.

Only Adult Zois (Young Adult and older) can engage in romantic interactions. Children cannot engage in romantic interactions. Teenagers gained access to age-appropriate romance (crushes, confessions, first dates) in the v0.2.0 update.

Setting Up Romance Preferences

During character creation, you configure each Zoi's romantic preferences:

Important: These preferences are locked permanently after character creation and cannot be changed later. Set them carefully.

Romance Restrictions

• Only Adult Zois (Young Adult, Adult, Senior) can romance

• Direct relatives (parents/children, siblings) cannot romance each other

• Aromantic Zois reject all romantic advances

• Each Zoi can maintain a maximum of 100 total relationships across all types (Love, Friendship, Family, Business). If a Zoi has too many friends and business contacts, they may hit the cap before forming new romances.

Romance Progression

The Love relationship track follows a progression from negative levels through neutral to the highest romantic bond. When a relationship advances enough to upgrade, a "Select Relationship" conversation prompt appears. You must initiate that conversation before further progress can be made.

Building Romance

Romantic interactions are marked with heart symbols in the interaction menu. Use the More > Romance tab for the full list of dedicated romantic interactions. Successful gestures build the pink Love bar, while failed attempts cause penalties.

Romantic interactions unlock progressively as the relationship level increases:

The "Aflutter" mood triggers when romance is going well, unlocking unique interaction options. A stronger version, the "Dazzled" mood, can also trigger during particularly successful romantic interactions. Some ambition requirements specifically call for actions performed while in the Aflutter or Dazzled state.

The Charmer Trait

The Charmer trait is the primary romance-focused personality trait. Zois with this trait:

• Have a tendency to be fixated on relationships

• Frequently feel Aflutter (the romance-specific emotion)

• Build romantic relationships easily and faster than other Zois

• Like discussing romantic topics

• May exhibit anxiety and possessiveness, fearing loss of affection

• Experience sadness that lasts longer than normal when romance fails

The Charmer trait is one of the two traits granted by the Life of Romance Desired Life (alongside Entertainer).

Charm Skill

The Charm skill determines a Zoi's ability to flirt, socialize, and engage in captivating conversations. Higher Charm improves success rates for romantic interactions and helps build relationships faster.

In the current Early Access build, the Charm skill does not unlock specific gated interactions as it levels up. However, the Nation's Sweetheart ambition requires reaching Charm Level 10 at its highest tier.

Trait Compatibility

Relationships develop fastest between Zois with common personality traits. Incompatible trait combinations can create friction and slow progression. For example, pairing a Dominant trait with a Creative trait may make finding common ground harder.

• Sociable characters respond best to active, frequent attention

• Introverted characters prefer gradual relationship building

• The Charmer trait directly accelerates romantic relationship progression

Dating

Once two Zois reach Mutual Crush:

1. Use "Invite on a Date" or "Plan a Date Together" from the romance menu, or open the Events app on the Smartphone.

2. Select a time and location. Available venues include cafes, lounges, parks, amusement parks, and homes.

3. Show up at the scheduled time.

Dates include an activity checklist with goals such as "Share a Meal," "Flirt Successfully," or "Have a Deep Conversation." Completing these checklist goals enhances the date's success and provides a significant boost to romance progression. Successful dates increase the Love bar and can unlock new romantic interactions.

Marriage and Weddings

Proposing

At the True Love level, the "Ask Them to Marry You" option becomes available. Successful proposals result in engagement. The proposal can be rejected if the relationship is not strong enough. Engagements can be called off at any time through the interactions menu.

Wedding Options

Planned Wedding Ceremony

Planned weddings follow a scripted sequence of actions. Players can press play for automatic execution or manually select each action:

1. Thank Guests for Attending the Wedding

2. Prepare Officiant Speech

3. Walk Together Down the Wedding Aisle

4. Wedding Speeches (only if 3+ Zois are attending)

5. Exchange Rings

6. Go Celebrate

7. Exit Together Down the Wedding Aisle

8. First Dance (Dance Happily)

The ceremony includes a photo booth feature for adjusting poses, expressions, and time of day for wedding photos. Guests can perform immediate actions like clapping or heckling during the ceremony. Skipping steps in the sequence may cause glitches that require the Emergency Rescue cheat to fix.

After Marriage

After the wedding, the romantic relationship converts to a Family relationship, which has its own separate track that resets to Neutral. The family track progresses through these levels: Estranged, Separated, Coldness, Neutral, Close, Affectionate, and Loving. A popup immediately appears offering the option to move in together or split the household.

Moving In Together

Moving in together requires marriage in the base game. When a Zoi gets married, a popup immediately offers the option to move to a new house together or split the household. There is no "ask to move in" interaction for unmarried couples.

Workaround: Players can use the Manage Family system (press M, select Manage Zois, then Manage Family tab) to manually move Zois between families without marriage. The "Move Zois Between Families" and "Create Temporary Family" options allow household manipulation outside the romance system.

Multiple Romances and Jealousy

Unmarried Zois: Can form romantic relationships with as many other Zois as they want simultaneously. There are no restrictions or jealousy consequences. Players have confirmed maintaining several True Love relationships at once with no issues.

Married Zois: Jealousy kicks in. Jealousy triggers automatically when a married Zoi witnesses their spouse engaging in romantic interactions with another Zoi in the same area. Physical proximity is the key requirement. When jealousy triggers:

• The witnessing spouse may confront the cheater, including slapping

• Both Zois enter negative moods like Embarrassed and Annoyed

• The Affection (Family) relationship track takes significant penalties

• The cheating Zoi's partner may also send accusatory text messages

• Repeated infidelity can sour the relationship to the point where divorce becomes possible

Important limitation: Zois currently do not have long-term memory in Early Access. Even major conflicts like infidelity have only temporary effects. Negative moods recover over time, and relationships can be repaired through positive actions.

Breakups

Divorce (Married Couples)

To divorce:

1. Select the married Zoi's interaction menu.

2. Go to Conflict.

3. Choose "Divorce".

Divorce may not succeed on the first attempt. The family relationship typically needs to deteriorate to the lower levels first. Use multiple conflict actions (argue, insult, complain) over several in-game days to lower the relationship before attempting divorce. Once divorced, both Zois return to single status and can pursue new romances.

Breaking Up (Unmarried Couples)

There is no specific "break up" interaction for unmarried couples. To end an unmarried relationship, players must use negative interactions repeatedly to degrade the relationship. Methods include performing rude social interactions, getting caught cheating, or allowing the relationship to shift into dysfunctional territory. Players can also ask "for things to go back to how they used to be," though the partner may react negatively.

Relationship Decay

Romance levels can decrease over time if neglected. The marital (Family) relationship scale can drop from Loving down through Affectionate, Close, Neutral, Coldness, Separated, and ultimately Estranged. Players are advised to keep the family relationship at the Close level at minimum. If it drops to Estranged, regular quarrels occur and divorce risk increases significantly.

Intimacy

At the Sweetheart relationship level, the option "Set the Mood in Front of Bed" becomes available. This initiates intimate interactions between the two Zois. Intimacy requires a bed in the household and sufficient relationship level. It is available for all romantic pairings regardless of gender.

NPC Romance

Player Zois can romance any unrelated adult Zoi in the world, including townies and NPCs. Simply approach them, build friendship through positive interactions, then transition to romantic interactions marked with heart symbols.

At Early Access launch, all NPC townies spawned as heterosexual. The v0.2.0 update (June 2025) introduced randomized sexual preferences for NPC Zois, allowing same-sex couples to form naturally. NPCs in romantic relationships will autonomously text the player with flirtatious messages and may bring flowers to a Zoi's apartment after working hours.

Pursuit of Love Ambitions

Two Ambitions focus specifically on romance. Both reward Meow Coins at each level.

Nation's Sweetheart

Partners in Love

Life of Romance

The Life of Romance is a Desired Life that pairs the Charmer and Entertainer traits with the Challenger and Love core values. Its default Ambition is Nation's Sweetheart.

• Aligned Skills: Charm, Rhetoric, Performance, Instruments, Cooking

• Character concept: "Seeks to engage in many relationships with various Zois and aims to stay true to their desires."

Romance Patch History

Tips

• Set romantic preferences carefully during character creation. They cannot be changed later.

• Level up the Charm skill early if you plan to pursue romance. It dramatically speeds up progression.

• The Charmer trait provides the single biggest boost to romance. Choose it or pick the Life of Romance Desired Life.

• Complete date checklist goals (Share a Meal, Flirt Successfully, Have a Deep Conversation) for the best romance boosts.

• The four relationship tracks (Love, Friendship, Family, Business) are completely independent. A Zoi can be at True Love with someone while also being their BFF and Business Partner.

• Unmarried Zois can date freely with no consequences. Jealousy only applies to married Zois.

• If pursuing divorce, use conflict interactions over several in-game days before attempting. Rushing it usually fails.

• After divorce, wait about 5 to 7 in-game days before attempting to rebuild the relationship through small, casual interactions.

• To move in with an unmarried partner, use the Manage Family system (press M) as a workaround.

• Browse online dating on the computer as a safe way to level up Charm without risking awkward in-person rejections.