Will Life by You finally break my addiction to The Sims?

I’ve been playing Sims games for more than twenty years, but it isn’t always an easy series to love. Ever since The Sims 4 was released in 2014, it’s been plagued with problems like missing features, shallow gameplay, and game-breaking bugs. Although I’ve attempted to give it up, no other game scratches the same itch.

Enter Life by You, a newly announced title from Paradox Interactive. While they’ve only shown a brief teaser so far, this game has all the makings of a simulation powerhouse. As the developer of Crusader Kings and publisher of Cities: Skylines, Paradox is no stranger to the simulation genre. Better yet, the project is being led by Rod Humble, who previously worked on Second Life, The Sims 2, and The Sims 3.

I’ve only seen a snippet of Life by You footage, but it already stands out as a potential Sims competitor. The art style is distinct from The Sims, but outside of that, the build mode looks remarkably similar. I’m hoping it will offer a few build features The Sims 4 is currently lacking, like a color wheel and spiral staircases.

The jury’s still out on spiral staircases, but it looks like Life By You will have at least one feature missing from The Sims 4: cars. In the teaser footage, you can clearly see vehicles zipping across a roadway. I really miss the open world of The Sims 3, and I’d be thrilled if another life sim offered a similar experience.

Paradox hasn’t said anything about a Life by You release date, but it looks like it’s still a long way off. I’m guessing that it’ll be competing against the next game in The Sims franchise, the yet-to-be-titled Project Rene.

What’s really exciting about Life by You is that it’s not the only Sims-like that’s tossed its hat in the ring. Paralives, an indie life-sim directly inspired by The Sims, is also in development. With so much competition, the next Sims title is going to have to step up its game if it wants to stay on top.

My current relationship with The Sims 4 is a toxic one. New expansion announcements reignite my love for the series, but the actual gameplay never lives up to my expectations. I miss the story progression and customization options of The Sims 3. I want my sims to feel as unique as they did in The Sims 2.

While I don’t want to pin too many hopes on Life by You, it looks like this game could be the antidote to my Sims 4 addiction. Even if it doesn’t wind up being the simulation game of my dreams, it’ll be nice to actually have an alternative when The Sims starts to feel stale.