Revision 10

Zois are the virtual people that players create, manage, and guide through life in inZOI. The name comes from the Greek word "zoi," meaning "life." The game's premise frames the player as an intern at AR Company, a virtual reality firm, and Zois are the simulated inhabitants of that virtual world. Every aspect of a Zoi's existence, from their physical appearance to their moral beliefs, is shaped by player choices and emergent gameplay.

Household management

Players manage households of up to 8 Zois at a time. A household shares a single lot, finances tracked through the Meow and Economy system, and communal resources like food and furniture. Zois within the same household can form family bonds, romantic relationships, or simply live together as roommates. Managing multiple Zois requires balancing each individual's needs, emotions, and daily schedules.

Life stages

Every Zoi passes through 9 life stages: Newborn, Toddler, Child, Adolescent, Teenager, Young Adult, Adult, Middle-Aged, and Senior. Each stage has a fixed duration measured in in-game days and unlocks different activities and interactions. Newborns last only 1 in-game day and can only be created through pregnancy, while Seniors age until death. See the full Life Stages article for duration details and creation restrictions.

Personality and AI

Each Zoi's behavior is driven by over 400 mental elements that compose their AI personality. These elements include their assigned trait, developed values, learned skills, current emotions, Hobbies and Preferences, and accumulated life experiences. Values develop organically through gameplay: a Zoi who frequently helps neighbors may develop compassionate moral values, while one who consistently chooses selfish actions builds a different internal value system. These values then shape the Zoi's morals and beliefs going forward, affecting which interactions they initiate on their own and how they respond to events.

The Smart Zoi feature uses NVIDIA ACE AI technology to give Zois more autonomous and context-aware decision-making. When Smart Zoi is active, Zois react to their surroundings, other Zois, and their own internal states in more layered ways than standard simulation logic allows.

Traits

At creation, each Zoi receives one permanent trait from a pool of 18 traits organized into 9 categories, each containing a pair of traits. Traits affect need decay rates, skill learning speed, emotional tendencies, relationship dynamics, and which urges appear. For example, a Zoi with the Explorer trait gains skills related to discovery faster, while a Charmer trait improves social interaction outcomes. See the full Traits article for all 18 traits and their effects.

Needs

Zois have 8 needs that must be maintained: Hunger, Sleep, Bathroom, Fun, Hygiene, Social, Energy, and Recognition. Needs decay over time at rates influenced by the Zoi's trait and current activities. If critical needs like Hunger or Sleep reach zero, the Zoi can die. Hunger leads to starvation after 3-4 in-game days without food, Sleep deprivation can cause death from exhaustion, and prolonged Recognition deprivation can cause a Zoi to run away from home permanently, vacating their spot in the household. See Needs for the full breakdown.

Emotions

Zois experience a system of 41 emotions including intensity variations. There are 17-18 core emotions that range from positive states like Amused and Confident to negative ones like Annoyed and Sad. Emotions escalate through intensity levels, so a mildly Annoyed Zoi can become Angry and eventually Enraged if the source of irritation persists. Emotions affect skill gain rates and can spread between nearby Zois. See Emotions for the complete list.

Autonomy and player control

Players can toggle Zoi autonomy with the [T] key. When autonomy is on, Zois make their own decisions about what to do based on their personality, needs, and surroundings. When autonomy is off, the Zoi waits for player commands. This toggle lets players choose between a hands-off simulation experience and direct micromanagement.

The Interaction Queue displays upcoming actions as icons near the Zoi, showing what they plan to do next. Players can reorder, cancel, or add actions to the queue at any time. Pressing [R] opens the Relationships panel, which lists all known Zois and allows calling them for Social Events or direct interaction.

Psycat companion

Psycat is a floating cat companion that acts as the player's in-game guide. Psycat provides tutorial tips, notifies the player of important events, and has an Emergency Rescue function that teleports stuck Zois back to their home lot. This rescue feature is particularly useful when pathfinding errors trap a Zoi in geometry or when a Zoi wanders somewhere unreachable.

Urges

Urges are short-term tasks that appear randomly for each Zoi. They represent spontaneous desires or impulses tied to the Zoi's personality and current situation. Each urge has a 12 in-game hour expiration timer. Completing an urge before it expires earns 5 Meow Coins through the Meow and Economy system. Ignoring urges has no penalty beyond the missed reward. The types of urges that appear are influenced by the Zoi's trait and current emotional state.

Desired lives and ambitions

Zois who reach the Young Adult life stage or older can select a Desired Life, which is a long-term life goal. There are 16 Desired Lives and 23 Ambitions across 10 categories. Each Desired Life recommends specific traits, ambitions, values, and preferences that align with its theme. See Desired Lives for the full catalog.

Daily life activities

Zois spend their days engaged in a wide range of activities. They can hold jobs, attend university or school, develop skills, pursue hobbies, cook meals, maintain hygiene, sleep in beds, use their smartphone, drive cars, go shopping, eat at restaurants, play instruments, swim, garden, exercise at fitness facilities, and attend Social Events. The breadth of available activities is one of the defining features of the simulation.

Karma

Actions taken by Zois accumulate Karma, a hidden value that tracks moral standing. Positive actions like helping others increase Karma, while negative actions decrease it. Karma affects how other Zois perceive and react to the Zoi, and can influence certain gameplay outcomes. Extremely low Karma can lead to social ostracism, while high Karma opens up positive social opportunities.

Death and ghosts

Zois can die from various causes including starvation, exhaustion, fire, and emotional despair. When a Zoi dies, they may return as a ghost that continues to inhabit the world in a spectral form. Ghosts can still interact with living Zois to a limited degree, though their capabilities are restricted compared to their living state.

Playback speed

The simulation runs at adjustable playback speeds. The four speed settings are:

Speed 4 at 5x is also available via the UI. By default, one in-game day equals 96 minutes of real time. This can be adjusted through Time and Seasons settings, ranging from 48 minutes to 24 real hours per in-game day.

Customization

Zois are created through the Character Creation system, which offers over 250 customization options for appearance, body type, clothing, and identity. Players can also import faces using Facial Capture technology or download community-created Zois from the Canvas sharing platform.