You start at 18 with $75 to your name, a high school diploma, no job, and nowhere to live — and no idea what you're doing. So: just like real life. The difference is that your character keeps aging whether you're watching or not — one game day every ~2 real hours — so you can check in a few times a day, make some decisions, and walk away. The game does not require your constant attention. It just quietly judges your choices in the background.
The story art and event narratives are AI-generated, directed by a human with actual opinions. Some careers in here may be under AI pressure in the real world. That's fine. That's kind of the point. Read more about that.
Play Now — It's Free →Get a job. Seriously, do this first. Open the Career tab, find something green (green means you qualify), and hit Apply. Fast food, retail, dishwasher, janitor — doesn't matter. You need income. Everything else flows from income.
Six numbers run your life. Neglect them and things start going sideways — slowly at first, then all at once.
| Stat | What It Is | What Happens at Zero |
|---|---|---|
| Health | Medical wellness | Death. Actual death. You get a eulogy. |
| Hunger | How recently you've eaten | Health starts draining. Eat something. |
| Thirst | How hydrated you are | Health drains too — and heat makes it worse. Drink water. |
| Energy | How rested you are | Everything you do works worse. |
| Hygiene | How clean you are | People notice. Shower. It's free at home and good for morale. |
| Fitness | Physical capability | Physical jobs and military careers flag you. |
Hunger, thirst, and energy are the ones you'll manage most actively. Eat when you're hungry, drink when you're thirsty, sleep when you're tired. This is not complicated advice, but it turns out it applies in video games too. (Happiness lives over in your Life stats — let it tank and your work and family will let you know.)
The sky overhead is real weather: a thermometer (or the temperature next to the clock) shows how hot or cold it is right now, and the Calendar forecast gives you each day's high and low. It's not there to look pretty. Well — it is. But it also does things.
Step outside in bad weather and it costs you:
Indoors you're fine — home, work, the mall, a café. The catch: if you're homeless, there is no indoors, and the weather hits about twice as hard. Getting a roof over your head isn't just about pride; it's about not getting pneumonia in February. Dress for the forecast, basically — except the dressing part is "go inside."
There are 250+ jobs across 13 career categories and 10 tiers. You advance by actually qualifying — education, certifications, work experience, and in some cases specific skills you can only get by working a related job first. Money helps indirectly (paying for degrees and certs) but you cannot just buy a promotion. The game takes this seriously.
You don't have to change jobs to earn more. There are two ways your pay goes up where you are:
Both come down to performance. Doing your job's work activities, showing up, and keeping your character in good shape build performance up; chronic lateness, missing shifts, or showing up in rough condition drag it down. Strong performance now sticks — keep it high and the raises follow. (Raises top out at a job's pay band; past that, the move is a promotion to the next rung.)
Open the Life tab → Education. Degrees and certifications unlock job tiers. Without them, you'll hit a ceiling fast.
Paychecks are net pay (after simplified withholding). They land on payday. Everything else drains your account continuously: rent, utilities, food, transport, loan payments. The Finance tab shows you where it all goes and whether you're solvent.
You start at 650. Pay your bills on time and it climbs slowly. Miss a payment and it drops fast — and the penalty gets worse each time you miss the same loan. Hit 750+ and you get the best rates. Drop below 600 and lenders charge you double. Multiple loans are allowed, but the game enforces a 36% debt-to-income limit. Don't take on more than your paycheck can carry.
Low income qualifies you for food assistance (SNAP-style) and health coverage (Medicaid-style) — simplified game models based on real USDA and HHS figures. Check the Life tab. These systems exist specifically so you can survive the early grind without the game becoming impossible.
You can drink — at a bar, a club, or your own Home Bar once you install it. The game won't stop you. But it's a simulation, so it keeps score: get drunk and you'll feel it in your Vitals (Buzzed → Tipsy → Drunk → Wasted) and again the next morning as a hangover. Push your luck and the consequences get real — drive drunk and you risk a DUI; show up to work drunk and you get sent home; keep it up and you can get fired, even blackballed. The good news: there's always a road back.
It's a whole little arc — vices, mistakes, and earning your way back through references or rehabilitation at the Community Center. Read the full guide: Drinking, Consequences & Second Chances →
Fitness follows a real exercise science curve called supercompensation. Here's the short version: exercise actually drops your fitness for a day or two (your body is being broken down), then it overshoots your previous level as you recover (days 3–7). Miss that window and you slowly drift back to baseline. Train consistently and fitness climbs over time.
Recovery quality depends on how well you sleep, eat, and hydrate in the days after training. Junk food and alcohol cut your gains. Home-cooked meals and a good night's sleep lock them in. The My Health tab shows you where you are in the cycle.
You don't need a gym or any equipment. At home, on the street, or in the park you can do bodyweight work — stretch, a quick jumping-jacks-and-pushups set, a full calisthenics circuit, or a brutal HIIT session. Each activity shows its intensity and the rough fitness it'll build before you commit. Intensity matters: a light stretch or walk barely nudges fitness (but you can do it daily), while heavy lifting, a hard calisthenics circuit, or HIIT drives the real gains — and demands real recovery (up to 3 days) before another hard session pays off. Reaching elite fitness takes consistent vigorous work, not casual movement.
At 22+ you can get married. Once married, kids can happen — biological (a "we're expecting" event after ~1 game year) or through adoption (costs money, has a waiting period). Family members have their own happiness. Neglect them and stress builds. Neglect them long enough and the consequences are realistic and uncomfortable.
You don't have to build a family. But it changes the late game. When you die, every living descendant is a continuation option — a chance to inhabit their life and keep the bloodline going. No descendants and you start a new bloodline from scratch. The game is gentler if you've been building a family tree.
Your character dies somewhere between 72 and 90, depending on health choices and a little luck. When they do, you get a life score — a summary of everything they earned, built, lost, and left behind. Then you pick a descendant (if any exist) and inhabit their life. The generation counter goes up. The bloodline continues.
Your life is waiting. No downloads, no account required — just play. The game runs indefinitely on a machine in someone's living room, which honestly feels appropriate for a game about the unpredictability of life.
Start Your Life →SaltaVidas has 250+ jobs and more are added regularly. If there's a career path you'd love to see — plumber to plumbing contractor to plumbing empire, wildlife biologist, forensic accountant, long-haul trucker, underwater welder, rodeo clown — send it in. Every suggestion gets read by the actual human who makes this game.
Submit a Career Idea →