Posts

Still waiting: I want to live and set up my shop in Nivalis

Image by Nivalis / ION Lands I have been playing some first person life sims lately such as Trading Card Game Simulator, Sengoku Dynasty, and Cowboy Life Simulator. I may have found my other niche genre: first person business sims. Ironic how I seek to satisfy my craving to escape RL work just to get bogged down by virtual work. But Nivalis looks really interesting .  Nivalis is a cyberpunk themed life-sim where you can run businesses in the city of its namesake, Nivalis. You will meet and befriend characters, create loyal customers, and even find love. Then you'll also be able to customize your own home.  Nivalis is a unique spin in the cozy genre to live and run a business in a cyberpunk themed city. It's appealing to own a house and multiple businesses in a cyberpunk city. At the same time, it doesn't feel limiting as players want to experiment on not only one business but multiple ones in a cyberpunk setting.  I'm curious if it will revolve around a story like its d...

Closest Upcoming Life-Sim Farming Games in Q1 2026

Image
Here's a summary of upcoming life-sim and farming games this quarter in 2026. Worth to mention Fantasy Life (version 2.0 update) Screenshot from Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time Steam page. Adventure Action RPG which lets you recruit allies, and house them in your personal island. One of the best game releases of 2025. Coop play available especially for dungeon raids. Assume fourteen life classes and freely switch classes. Free major update dropped on December 24, 2025. New land, Snoozaland, for roguelike map to gather materials and exchange them for new equipment. Increased the number of island villager limit to 10! New equipment, armor, and mounts. New island decors. Additional avatar parts. Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is available on Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Windows. Life-Sim Farming games coming soon this quarter Animal Crossing: New Horizons (version 3.0 update) Animal Crossing: New Horizons vers...

Animal Crossing: New Horizons will have a new major update after all!

Image
Two years after Nintendo claimed that version 2.0 would be the final update , Animal Crossing: New Horizons will drop version 3.0 on January 15, 2026 with new content, sandbox co-op, improved quality of life, and its Switch 2 edition. The Switch 2 edition will be an optional paid update with exclusive changes, but the free update will apply to all editions. Free update highlights:  1. Slumber Island- new island that you access in your dreams, similar to a sandbox mode. With an NSO subscription, you can build on the island together with friends. And three islands can be saved per player. I know someone will be excited about the co-op feature. Three island slots are featured but we'll have to see if these are saved on the cloud or dependent on the local system. It will most likely be three slots per Nintendo account. 2. New content: the Resort Hotel featuring Kapp'n's family. Bring guests and decorate guest rooms. New furniture and clothing available from its souvenir shop. I...

The 5 Things I've Learned in 2025

Image
  1. There will be a humbling experience .   I caught the flu two weeks before the exam period and I had to take two days off. But I didn't enjoy the time off. I tested negative from COVID but it was still a flu. I couldn't sit up because of the muscle ache on my leg. And there was still stress when work worries started creeping in. So I asked, what was the point of material things? What was the point of having free time? What was the point of having the power to obtain the material things and the free time -- yet being incapable to enjoy them? I was proud on what I accomplished but the fruits themselves felt out of reach. For a moment, I just sat on my bed and literally asked myself what should I do now? I'm too sick to do anything but I don't want to lie down. Sleep seemed to be the only thing to do. But if I closed the lights, I had a morbid thought of not waking up because of how awful I felt. If I kept them on, the light would keep me awake. So I just sat there on ...

This simple addition will change Palworld with a win forever

Image
There has been a ton of content added to Palworld since Feybreak and up to the Tides of Terraria major update (version 0.6). I was convinced to start a new world instead to discover (or rediscover) the changes in the game. In summary, I enjoyed Palworld again and I am absolutely happy from falling behind on the new content. Although I discovered some issues that need to be addressed to further improve the game. But one thing is screaming that needs to be added while we're in early access. Assigning a Pal to a Bed needs to be in the game fast! We don't call them Pals without a reason. Players build their base, then assign their Pals to work, but it's a free for all at night? Strike while we're at early access, Pocket Pair. We should be able to tell our Pal which bed they can use. This will add more personality to the game and a personal touch of creativity to the base. Players often share base layouts on the Internet too. A show and tell of some sort which drives hype ...

How to turn off Hip Lantern in Palworld

Image
You can turn off your Hip Lantern in Palworld. That is you can toggle the Hip Lantern to three modes: always on, auto, or off.  Here's how to turn off your Hip Lantern: Hit [Tab] to open player your inventory. Select the Key Items tab. Right click the Hip Lantern and it will toggle between the three modes. If the item thumbnail is not highlighted, it will be off. Toggled the Hip Lantern to off with the thumbnail dark. Tested and the Hip Lantern is off. There's a campfire outside. I'm trying to see which version implemented this update; it appears to be a new addition in version 0.6. Specifically, I noticed that they added the text on the Hip Lantern tooltip saying: "You can also switch its lighting mode to keep it on at all times." But I was interested to find out how to turn it off.  The Hip Lantern can be crafted at Level 15 which costs 1 Ancient Technology Point. It's your primary light source when exploring the islands at night. But now players have to bea...

Paralives announced its Early Access release!

Image
Paralives announced that it will release early access on December 8, 2025. Paralives is an upcoming life sim game with a familiar feel yet its own charming art and color palette. It vibes with simplicity and a fresh look as a life sim game on the PC. Yet the game also features an intricate build and buy mode. In Paralives, you take care of your Parafolk settling down in a small town. There will only be one neighborhood town at launch. Although the developers remarked that more towns and neighborhood will follow. Some notable features in the game include:  grid-less building or item propping. resizable, stackable furniture. boat-houses in base game. familiar gameplay with jobs and school. pets like dogs and cats are confirmed in the base game. I'm wary not knowing how much emphasis is given to the Parafolks' actual live mode in terms of getting a job, thriving as a bachelor, or building a family. You can make a single couch into a double couch by dragging its length; which look...