With life sim players eagerly awaiting a game that can rival The Sims, it’s been a bit difficult to keep track of the details of each competitor in development. Inzoi, undoubtedly the prettiest of them all, showed off a new gameplay trailer at Gamescom Opening Night Live, but that brief glimpse didn’t give much away. The more useful information actually comes from content creators that Krafton partnered with this week to release sponsored videos in which they share their playtime with a version of the game.
In short, it actually looks just as pretty in action as it does in the screenshots and videos I’ve seen so far, and people are having a ton of fun trying to figure out what kinds of interactions, relationships, and activities it involves—from car crashes to drive-by farts. So instead of analyzing the new gameplay trailer, let’s go over nine things we currently know about Inzoi (old and new) based on what players are sharing.
There is an open world and a direct Zoi control mode
While we knew it would be open world, the latest gameplay videos show how your Zoi can walk anywhere on the map or drive there in real time (more on that below). Both can be done in either a classic life sim perspective where you point and click your Zois at their destination, or in a direct control mode where you use WASD to move around. I didn’t expect it to make such an impression, but the closer perspective and more realistic visuals make it seem more personal.
I noticed that you can’t just walk into every building in the world, so from the outside it’s definitely an open world, but the interior spaces are a bit limited.
You can drive cars (and wreck them)
We already knew Inzoi would have drivable cars, but a video from Emma Nicole shows what that will actually look like. You can drive from a third-person or first-person view in the driver’s seat. However, you can get stuck in traffic like Emma. In that situation, you can turn on “auto-drive” to sit back and let the car drive for you. But even that takes time, so you can fast-forward to your destination, which in Emma’s case took about 40 minutes of gameplay, but means you don’t waste time in the real world living the most boring parts of a fake life.
For example, in the latest trailer, you can see two Zois yelling at each other over a minor accident. You can see how this works in RachelPedd’s video. Although the developers of Inzoi said that driving isn’t like GTA, you can certainly ram other cars and then get a pop-up confirming the mistake while another Zoi scolds you. There are also pretty detailed interactions between cars, like rolling down individual windows or using indicators.
They can spread rumors and colds as well as trends
Inzoi will represent various types of virality between Zois, from gossip to fashion trends to actual colds. Although we don’t get to see it in action, Emma Nicole describes a “rumor” system and catching colds that the Inzoi developers told players about, where information (or illnesses) is shared between Zois.
Another player, MadMorph, also describes how a Zoi can use the in-game social network called “Bubbly” to show off a particular hat and then see other Zois in town start wearing the same hat, or even pull it out and put it on when they pass that original influencer Zoi on the street.
Zois have a need for “recognition”
As with the concept of trends, social media and perception seem to be a pretty important part of Inzoi. Your Zois have eight need meters in total, seven of which are really standard: hunger, hygiene, bathroom, fun, socializing, energy, and sleep—though it’s interesting that “sleep” and “energy” are different concepts. There’s also a “recognition” need that’s separate from the “social” need. So getting noticed isn’t just important in certain jobs, it’s a basic human need. That might be part of your incentive to perform the “karma actions” described below.
You actually have to go to work
The Sims refer to jobs as “active careers” when your Sim actually goes somewhere and has to complete objectives during the workday, but most careers are not active. It seems that all of Inzoi’s jobs are “active” in this regard: you send your Zoi to work in uniform and give him a to-do list of actions, such as cleaning the store as a cashier or practicing singing as an idol, and a time limit to complete them. So far, players have taken on jobs such as a pop idol intern, cashier, firefighter, and theme park worker.
There are three types of interaction
Across many different videos, you can see that interactions between Zois are presented as a kind of jumbled word cloud of options. Some are extremely specific, like “Discuss the development of artificial intelligence” or “Talk about the joys of a walk in the park.” Others are mood-dependent, like flirtatious choices when feeling “dazzled” or interactions specific to a relationship.
Interactions are also divided into family relationships, business, and friendships. This is interesting, but I wonder if this will result in me taking the interactions that are easiest to find instead of looking for the one I want.
In previous videos, I had discovered a custom pattern editor in the character editor. There’s also a generative AI tool that lets you create patterns from a prompt. MadMorph really put this part through its paces by requesting some custom paintings for a Zoi’s house, like a “line drawing of a bear face” and “Sonic,” with admittedly mixed results. Not to mention, it doesn’t feel good to use generative AI in a game genre that attracts such a passionate community of developers and artists. Uploading pre-made images is the more reliable way to create things that actually look good, but people sure have fun playing around with AI tools.
Furniture can be customized or imported from a real photo
What really excites me as a player in Build Mode is the ability to create custom furniture by combining elements like the legs of an office chair with the back of a wicker chair. I wouldn’t recommend this particular combination, but it’s cool that it’s possible. My favorite decoration feature is also present: the ability to choose materials, patterns, and specific colors for individual parts of each object.
Emma Nicole also demonstrates the ability to “3D print” a photo to create a 3D object. It apparently takes several minutes to process, but it looks pretty good. As Emma Nicole notes, the results vary a bit and you can end up with things with slightly odd geometry. To be honest, I’m more into playing with that than the AI patterns.
There is a karma system that includes farting
This is another gem courtesy of MadMorph. The most important thing is that Inzoi has a karma system, and you can see your Zoi’s alignment on their profile. There are also “karma actions” which include things like throwing away trash, sending a prank message, posting a compliment on social media, and “secretly farting,” which, yes, other characters respond to.
