Thank you to Pixeduo Studios and Crytivo for the copy!
The solo developer at Pixeduo Studios describe To Pixelia as the “ultimate” life sim. It is an extremely robust entry into the life sim genre, too. The game starts as you arrive in the city of Pixelia. You’ve traded your life in some unknown town for the hustle and bustle of the city. Create your story on your own terms through carefully crafting your character. Choose hairstyle and color, clothing to wear, and even personality traits that will play a role in the game.
You need to care for your character’s needs through food and drinks, using the toilet, bathing regularly, sleeping, and even entertaining them through different activities. Buy or rent property and decorate it how you like. Start your To Pixelia life with a basic job and work your way up the ladder towards your dream career. Engage in different hobbies for fun, and drive around on a fun motorcycle or in a cool car. Cook meals, fight your rivals, and so much more!
The Ultimate Life Sim
The open-world nature of the game makes for a fun time exploring. You aren’t limited to just a few areas, but instead have a wide, open city. Fill in your map by visiting each of the available shops and businesses and see what all there is to do. Grab wallpaper and floor tiles to redecorate with, buy groceries from the market, cheese store, and butcher, and even buy a motorcycle or car to make getting around easier. There’s a gym, music store, recording studio, florist, basketball courts, library, academy, internet cafe, casino, and SO many more places. It’s easy to get lost without using the map, but it’s so hard to get bored in a place like Pixelia.
And like many life sims, you do need to care for your character’s needs, or they’ll refuse to accomplish anything. Grab slices of pizza from the pizza cart, or perhaps a steak dinner from the restaurant would satisfy you more. Of course, To Pixelia gives you the option to buy ingredients and make different recipes too. Not only do you get a satisfying homemade meal, but you get to increase your cooking skills too! Make sure you bathe regularly, too, and entertain your character with dancing or other leisure activities. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy, right?
What to Do For Fun
As for the fun stuff, you can visit the casino to play some games. Perhaps you’ll win some money, or perhaps you’ll run into a streak of bad luck and lose some money. Visit the nightclub in the unsavory portion of town to engage in some dancing fun. Maybe even head over to the shops and pick up some stuff to grow your own plants in your apartment. Walk around the city talking to everyone you meet to build friendships and even get close to someone in preparation for when marriage is added to the game. There’s even pets you can get so you have that fluffy companion to come home to every day. Or take a reckless drive around town on your hot new motorcycle, unless you prefer a sleek car instead. Both are available for purchase.
Careers
Not only are there a great many different features in To Pixelia, each of those features is incredibly in-depth. The jobs and careers portion is probably my favorite of any game. Start by visiting the Job Office to apply for a starter job. There is only one to begin with, waiting tables, but there are a couple more options later on. Starter jobs don’t require any specific skills, so are perfect for just earning income to pay bills. The best part is the jobs don’t take place off-screen or in a cutscene. You actually do them! To wait tables, you wait for orders, relay them to the chef, then deliver the orders to each person. The cleaning job at the hotel entails walking up to each dirty spot and sweeping or wiping it up. The experience is far more engaging and rewarding than having it happen off screen!
However, you won’t be stuck waiting tables or cleaning the hotel forever. You also get to choose a dream career to work towards. Choose to become a business guru, renowned artist, rockstar, elite fighter, basketball star, bestselling author, supermodel, family person, the president, or even a criminal mastermind. As you live your life balancing work and leisure, you can also take time to fulfill tasks that level up your dream career path. For example, I chose the bestselling author path, and I can spend time reading books on writing and practicing writing in order to hone my craft. Practice makes perfect after all!
Home Design
You start out with a super dingy, fairly small apartment, but it’s not your forever home. In fact, To Pixelia has several different apartment options for you to rent or buy. And you can decorate each one! Grab some fun wallpaper and floor tiles to match to give the place a makeover. Add some necessary furniture to meet your character’s needs. Then, throw in some accessories to make the place feel more like home. Rugs will brighten up a room or help give it some depth. Outfit the kitchen with an oven and fridge so you can get down to business cooking, but don’t forget the microwave for easy reheating! Even make room for a computer and hobby items like a guitar or keyboard. Get creative with your decorating to turn your apartment from a place to simply live into a place to enjoy.
You can find To Pixelia listed on Steam now! Go ahead and Wishlist the game so you get notified when it releases. Which, it’s set to release later this year!
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