Once head of The Sims, Rod Humble seems set on belying his surname with his latest project. The pitch, after all, is essentially the world's most popular life sim, but bigger, broader, and more detailed. As Humble and senior designer Hannah Culver talk us through an extended demo, it feels of a piece with the series Humble left behind, but with a few crucial differences. Paradox is promising an open world with extensive customization and emergent storytelling, and on this evidence, Life By You has the potential to let players create deeper stories.
"As a game designer, one thing I enjoy so much is working with a game that clearly shouldn't have any victory conditions," Humble says. "There's a lovely Italian folk saying: at the end of the game, the queen and the pawn get back in the same box. There aren't any winners or losers in life. You just live a life, and life sims are a great equaliser."
