This should go under your How To Guides section.

It will act as your main starter post, then later you can link out to deeper guides like Storytellers, Goals and Cards, Build Mode, or Challenges.

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Getting Started in Paralives | Beginner Guide

Paralives begins by giving players a choice between following the tutorial or jumping straight into gameplay. The tutorial takes place on a train, introducing the basics before you choose your Storyteller, select a family, or create your own Parafolk household from scratch.

This beginner guide covers the first choices you will make in Paralives, including the tutorial, Storytellers, starting money, life stages, Create a Para, personality options, talents, lifestyles, travel, outfits, and early gameplay features.

Tutorial or Skip Tutorial

When you first start Paralives, you can choose whether to go through the tutorial or skip it.

The tutorial takes place on a train. While trains are not currently accessible as a regular working item in everyday gameplay, their appearance in the tutorial is still interesting, especially as players have already speculated that trains could one day connect to other worlds or areas.

Option	What Happens
Play Tutorial	Learn the basics through the train tutorial
Skip Tutorial	Go straight to the Storyteller selection

Choosing a Storyteller

After the tutorial, or after skipping it, you choose a Storyteller. This works as Paralives’ difficulty system and affects how challenging life will be for your Parafolks.

Storyteller	Difficulty	Description
Stella	Easy	Protects your Parafolks from life’s lowest lows and creates a less challenging gameplay experience
Maxence	Medium	Provides a fair and balanced gameplay experience
Ricardo Castello III	Hard	Brings more challenges into your Parafolks’ daily lives

For a first save, Stella is the easiest option, while Maxence offers a more balanced experience. Ricardo Castello III is better suited to players who want a more challenging start.

Choosing or Creating a Family

Once you have chosen your Storyteller, you can either select a premade family or create a new family.

Option	Details
Premade Family	Start with an existing household
New Family	Create your own Parafolks from scratch

New families begin with 30,000 paradimes, which is the in-game currency used in Paralives.

Life Stages in Paralives

Paralives includes several life stages, making it useful for family gameplay, generational stories, and legacy-style saves.

Life Stage
Baby
Toddler
Child
Preteen
Teen
Young Adult
Adult
Elder

The preteen life stage is especially worth noting, as it adds an extra stage between child and teen gameplay.

Create a Para Basics

Create a Para gives players control over appearance, clothing, body shape, personality, relationship settings, and lifestyle habits.

You can customise:

• Skin colour
• Body presets
• Height
• Gender
• Pronouns
• Voice
• Pregnancy options
• Breastfeeding options
• Jealousy settings
• Outfits
• Personality points
• Vibes
• Social perks
• Talents
• Lifestyles

Pronouns, Pregnancy, Breastfeeding and Jealousy

Paralives includes several advanced personality and relationship settings from the start.

Setting	Options
Pronouns	He/Him, She/Her, They/Them
Pregnancy	Can get pregnant, can get others pregnant, neither
Breastfeeding	Can breastfeed, cannot breastfeed
Jealousy	Jealous from kissing or intimacy, jealous from physical contact, or never jealous

These options give players more control over how each Parafolk experiences relationships, family life, and identity.

Body and Clothing Customisation

Paralives includes body presets, height sliders, colour wheels, and fabric wheels. This gives players more freedom when designing both Parafolks and their surroundings.

A particularly fun detail is that shoes can affect height. Parafolks wearing heels appear taller, while flats keep them shorter.

There are also clothing layering options for some items, which gives outfits more flexibility.

Outfit Categories

Paralives currently includes four main outfit categories.

Outfit Category	Use
Normal / Everyday	Daily clothing
Formal	Dressier outfits
Gym / Workout	Exercise clothing
Sleep	Nightwear

Underwear can be chosen by clicking on accessories and then selecting underwear. You can also choose what underwear can be worn with each outfit.

The game appears to allow a large number of outfits per category. I tested more than 21 outfits in one category before stopping, so there is plenty of room for outfit variety.

Personality Points

Parafolks have 7 personality points that can be assigned across four areas. Each area can have a maximum of 3 points.

Personality Area	Focus
Physique	Physical ability and active gameplay
Mind	Thinking, logic, and intellectual activities
Creativity	Artistic and creative activities
Charisma	Social confidence and charm

Vibes

Vibes affect how Parafolks behave, react, and thrive in everyday life.

Vibe	Description
Overjoyed	Gets happy easily, spreads joy, and thrives when happy
Gloomy	Gets sad easily, embraces sadness, and thrives when sad
Energetic	Has extra energy, stays active, and thrives when using that energy
Serious	Ambitious, goal-oriented, and thrives when achieving things
Jester	Enjoys humour, surprises, and making people laugh

For a first save, Overjoyed, Energetic, or Serious may be easier to manage. Gloomy and Jester are great for storytelling or more unusual personalities.

Social Perks

Social perks shape how Parafolks behave around others.

Social Perk	Description
Good at Being Alone	Prefers solitude and receives bonuses from being alone
Good at Making Friends	Enjoys company and makes friends easily
Good at Taking Care of Others	Helps other Paras with needs and bad emotions
Good at Romantic Relationships	Has more success with flirting and romance prompts
Good at Cooperating	Enjoys group activities and shines around others

Talents

Talents decide what your Parafolk is naturally good at.

Talent	Description
Jack-of-All-Trades	Performs well in all skills and receives bonuses when working on different skills
Music	Excels with instruments and has special abilities when playing music
Fitness	Enjoys exercise, gains happiness from working out, and hygiene drains slower
Food	Starts with more recipes and gives food special effects
Technology	Finds computers and programming easier
Art	Excels at painting, enjoys creating art, and sells paintings for more
Good at Nothing	Skills progress slowly, tasks fail more often, and sickness happens more easily

For new players, Jack-of-All-Trades is probably the safest first choice. For challenge players, Good at Nothing has huge potential for chaotic gameplay.

Lifestyles

Lifestyles add everyday habits and preferences to your Parafolk.

Lifestyle Area	Options
Diet	Vegetarian
Sleeping Habits	Normal, Early Bird, Night Owl
Cleaning Habits	Normal, Sloppy, Neat

These may seem small, but they help shape daily routines. A neat early bird will feel very different from a sloppy night owl.

Travel and Buses

Paralives includes a bus system. Parafolks can use buses to instantly move from one place to another for a cost.

This makes travel feel more connected to the world while still keeping movement quick and simple.

Mods

Paralives includes easy mod access through Steam. This is worth keeping in mind, especially because the game may not have a huge clothing range at launch. Modders are likely to become a big part of expanding clothing, furniture, and gameplay options.

Tips for New Players

Tip	Why It Helps
Choose Stella or Maxence first	Stella is easier, while Maxence gives balanced gameplay
Start with a small household	Easier to manage while learning the game
Use Jack-of-All-Trades	Gives flexibility while exploring different skills
Pay attention to lifestyles	Sleep and cleaning habits can shape daily routines
Test different Vibes	Vibes affect how your Parafolk behaves and thrives
Take screenshots as you learn	Useful for remembering menus, settings, and choices

Best First Save Setup

For a gentle first save, I would suggest:

Choice	Recommendation
Storyteller	Maxence or Stella
Household Size	One or two Parafolks
Vibe	Overjoyed, Energetic, or Serious
Social Perk	Good at Making Friends or Good at Taking Care of Others
Talent	Jack-of-All-Trades
Sleeping Habit	Normal
Cleaning Habit	Normal

This gives you a balanced start without making the game too difficult while you are still learning how everything works.

Gallery

Final Thoughts

Paralives gives players a lot of freedom from the very beginning. The Storyteller system lets you choose how difficult your save will be, while Create a Para gives detailed options for appearance, identity, relationships, personality, talents, and lifestyle habits.

For your first household, it is worth starting simple. Choose a manageable Storyteller, create a small family, and experiment with the early systems before jumping into harder challenges or more chaotic personality combinations.

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