Revision 3

Overview

Pets are a confirmed feature for Paralives, though they will not be included in the initial Early Access launch on May 25, 2026. Dogs, cats, and horses have been confirmed as the first pet types that will be added to the game. Pets are planned as a free update during the Early Access period, consistent with the development team's commitment that all Paralives updates and expansions will be free and that there will never be paid DLC.

Confirmed Pet Types

Three animal types have been officially confirmed for Paralives:

The inclusion of horses alongside the more traditional dogs and cats sets Paralives apart from many competitors in the life simulation genre, where horses are often reserved for separate expansion packs.

Community Brainstorming Session

Pets were the subject of the final (sixteenth) community brainstorming session hosted by Paralives Studio. Throughout development, the team conducted 16 brainstorming sessions on different topics, inviting the community to share ideas on both the studio's official community channels. These sessions shaped the design of many core features, and the pets session was the culmination of this collaborative approach.

The brainstorming session asked the community to share their thoughts on several specific topics:

Breeds

The community was asked what dog, cat, and horse breeds they would like to see in the game. This question generated significant engagement, with players requesting everything from common breeds (Labrador Retrievers, Siamese cats, Arabian horses) to rarer and more exotic varieties. The final selection of breeds for the initial pet update has not yet been announced.

Pet Furniture and Items

Players were asked what kind of pet furniture and items should be available in the game. Suggestions included pet beds, food and water bowls, scratching posts, kennels, horse stalls, toys, grooming stations, and outdoor play equipment. Given the game's free-resize system in Build Mode, pet furniture would presumably support the same customization options as regular furniture, including resizing, recoloring, and free placement.

Interactions

The community was asked what kinds of interactions Parafolk should be able to have with their own pets and with other characters' pets. Suggestions ranged from basic interactions (petting, feeding, grooming, walking) to more complex activities (training, trick teaching, veterinary visits, competitive shows). The question specifically mentioned interactions with "someone else's pet," suggesting that pets belonging to NPC households will also be interactable.

Traits and Needs

The session posed questions about how complex a pet's traits and needs should be and what kinds of reactions they could have. This suggests that pets will have their own personality system, potentially similar to the Vibe system used for Parafolk. Pets may have individual needs that require attention (hunger, hygiene, exercise, social) along with distinct personality traits that influence their behavior.

Impact on Parafolk

The community was asked how pets and wild animals could impact Parafolk physically and emotionally. This question hints at a deeper integration between pets and the emotion system. Pets could serve as sources of comfort, stress relief, or companionship, affecting a Para's emotional state and needs. Negative interactions (a pet misbehaving, a pet falling ill) could cause worry or frustration.

Pet-Related Jobs

Players were asked what kinds of pet-related jobs they would like to see. This suggests the team is considering careers connected to animals, such as veterinarian, pet groomer, dog trainer, horse riding instructor, or pet shop owner. Whether these will be available at the time pets are introduced or in subsequent updates is not yet known.

Gardening

Gardening is another feature planned for the Early Access period alongside pets. The development team created a first basic gardening system in July 2023, during the same period they were working on food, meals, and plant assets. Gardening involves purchasing seeds, planting them on the household's property, and watering them regularly to help them grow.

Like pets, gardening is listed on the official roadmap as a free post-launch update alongside fishing. Both features will arrive during the Early Access period as free updates, consistent with Paralives Studio's policy that all content updates will be free of charge. The gardening system ties into the Outdoorsiness Knowledge category, meaning time spent gardening will also build skills useful for fishing and other outdoor activities.

Timeline and Availability

According to the official Paralives roadmap, pets are not included in the initial Early Access release. They are planned as a free update that will arrive during the Early Access period. The roadmap lists pets (dogs, cats, and horses) alongside other planned post-launch content including:

• Weather and seasons

• A calendar and family tree

• Cars, bikes, and houseboats

• Swimming

• Story progression for NPCs

• Gardening and fishing

• Social events like parties and weddings

• Town editing tools

• Additional personality traits

The exact timing for the pets update has not been publicly announced. Given the scope of what the community brainstorming session covered (breeds, furniture, interactions, traits, needs, jobs), the pet system is expected to be a substantial addition that may take several months of development after the Early Access launch.

Free Update Policy

Pets will be a free update, not paid DLC. Paralives Studio has repeatedly confirmed that all future updates and expansions will be free of charge. This policy extends beyond the Early Access period; even after the game reaches its full release, the team has stated that there will never be paid DLC. This approach is central to the game's identity and a direct response to community frustration with the paid expansion model used by competing life simulation games.

Technical Considerations

Adding pets to Paralives will require extensions to several of the game's core systems. The procedural animation system will need to handle animal skeletons and movement patterns that differ significantly from humanoid Parafolk. Pet AI will need its own autonomy behaviors, pathfinding logic, and interaction routines. The Paramaker (or a dedicated pet creation tool) may need to support breed selection, fur patterns, and physical customization.

Given Paralives' emphasis on free-form customization, it is reasonable to expect that pets will benefit from similar flexibility. Pet furniture might be resizable and recolorable just like regular furniture, and pet appearance customization may support the same level of detail as the Paramaker's character creation tools.

Previous Brainstorming Sessions

The pets brainstorming was the sixteenth and final session in a series that covered many aspects of the game's design. Previous topics included Relationships, Personalities, Careers, Schools and Education, Important Life Events, Town Activities, Clothing, Skills and Hobbies, Food and Cooking, Generations, Basic and Complex Needs, and Town Services and Businesses, among others. The developers stated that after 16 sessions, they had gathered enough community input to inform the design of the most important features.