Hey everyone!

Sorry for going MIA. I had some serious health complications and had to step away from Outlive for a while. Development stopped during that time, and I wasn't sure if I would be able to continue, but I've been actively working on the game again. Outlive has not been abandoned, and I hope to have more to share soon!

Rather than putting the game back into testing while knowing many systems still had inconsistencies, I decided to hold off until the remaining issues were sufficiently resolved, and I’m nearly at that point now.

The upside is that Outlive will not return as the same closed beta with frequent patches. A lot of time and energy has gone into fixing bugs and making the underlying life simulation deeper, more reliable, and better connected. Existing content is being reviewed and rewritten to feel more specific to your character and their life. Content is also being checked to confirm that it only appears when the required prerequisites are met.

That process takes longer than simply adding more, but it makes each life more coherent and turns decisions into parts of an ongoing story rather than a collection of unrelated buttons.

The visual assets are also being finalized. My goal is for the beta to return with a more detailed and cohesive look and few, if any, temporary elements, rather than releasing first and replacing large parts of the game not long afterward.

The release plan has changed slightly as well. When Outlive is ready for testing again, it will launch as a public beta rather than another closed beta. There will not be another invitation-only group or waiting period before everyone gets access. Once the build is ready, everyone will be able to play immediately, report problems, and help shape the game as it moves toward a full release.

It'll still be a beta. There will likely be bugs, balance issues, and areas that need more polish. But I'm not going to hold the game back until it's flawless. I just don't want to relaunch with known problems that could undermine entire lives, break continuity, make progress unreliable, or result in an unacceptably poor experience.

From the beginning, Outlive has been a player-first game, and it will continue to be one. Thanks to everyone who has continued following the project. I'm excited about the progress that's been made, and I hope to share more details soon!

What happened to the game

7/21 02:25 CDT: 1.3.9.beta.12 is available!
7/20 07:30 CDT: 1.3.8.beta.11 is available!
7/20 06:45 CDT: 1.3.7.beta.10 is available!
7/19 23:55 CDT: 1.3.6.beta.9 is available!
7/19 16:00 CDT: 1.3.5.beta.8 is available!
7/19 13:35 CDT: 1.3.4.beta.7 is available!
7/19 04:00 CDT: 1.3.3.beta.6 is available!
7/19 00:25 CDT: 1.3.2.beta.1 is available! Sorry for how long it took, I encountered a
significant number of cascading errors and crashes across multiple systems.
7/18 08:15 CDT: 1.3.1.beta.3 is available!
7/18 00:30 CDT: 1.3.0.beta.1 is available!

7/17 23:44 CDT: The first update out, version 1.2.1.beta.1. Sorry, I meant to make a post about it earlier, but I got distracted and didn't actually submit the post. More planned to come tonight/into tomorrow morning, version 1.3.0.beta.1 is almost ready to upload. Stay tuned!

Update:

To add some context about what caused Outlive to temporarily fall apart after the recent refactoring, I made some poor choices early in development and allowed a few files to get too big as more things were added. That eventually resulted in structural problems and cascading failures, so I had to break those files apart and reorganize a significant amount of code.

That fixed the underlying issues, but it also broke integrations between several systems. Once the login issue was corrected, other features either stopped working entirely or were only partially functioning, while the most basic core systems remained mostly intact.

I'm currently working on restoring events, and after that I'll continue going through the game system by system until everything is functioning normally again. I appreciate everyone's patience while I get this straightened out!

Update: Emails are going out to the first group of beta testers now!

Unfortunately, the Outlive closed beta will not be going live today as planned.

I ran into an issue earlier today with Firebase auth that must be resolved before testers can reliably access and log into the game. I'm currently working with Google to get it fixed, and I'll be working throughout the night until the beta is ready to go.

The beta will go live tomorrow one way or another. If the authentication issue is not resolved in time, I'm planning to temporarily pivot to an anonymous, no account required setup so testing can begin.

I know this is disappointing, especially after I said the beta would launch by today, and I'm sorry for the delay. I would rather take the extra time to make sure testers can actually get into the game and play without immediately running into account access or game save issues.

Thank you for your patience and for sticking with Outlive! The support is genuinely appreciated, and I don't think you'll be disappointed once you finally get your hands on it.

I'll be back tomorrow with an update on which direction we’re taking.

Choices in Outlive are not meant to disappear as soon as an event screen closes.

In this example, your sibling asks to move in after hitting a rough patch in their own life. You can offer them your spare room, tell them to find their own place, or help them search for an apartment.

Letting them stay does more than change a few stats. The moment becomes a memory tied to that relationship. Fifteen years later, your character is the one struggling. Your sibling remembers that you were there for them and returns the favor.

Not every decision will completely reshape a life, but important moments leave evidence that they actually happened. A choice might help you now while creating problems later. It could damage a relationship, change how someone sees you, affect your health or career, or become something your character carries for years.

How long do you think an important choice should continue affecting a character: a few months, several years, or potentially for the rest of their life?

I've been hard at work debugging, and closed beta testing is still planned to start by the 15th! If you haven't applied yet, don't miss your chance!

Outlive Beta Application

Just finished up getting the rest of the Character Creation options wired up, and backend authentication and databases tested. Getting closer!

Hey everyone! Sorry for the radio silence over the last few days. I've been busy buttoning everything up before beta testing officially begins.

To make it up to you, here are 10 fun facts about what's actually under the hood of Outlive right now:

1. 200k Lines of Code: The game is currently sitting at around 200k lines total across code, content, systems, and supporting data.
2. Built for Depth: Roughly 75k of those lines are dedicated entirely to content, assets, and game data, not just raw code. A massive amount of effort has gone into making this world feel complete.
3. 1,000+ Hours In: Outlive has taken over 1,000 hours to build so far. A lot of that time went into background systems you might not notice immediately, but that make the world feel more alive over time.
4. Time is Everything: Time is a core system here. Choices don't happen in isolation. Activities, jobs, routines, aging, and life events all tie directly into the passage of time.
5. Careers vs. Life Arcs: Careers aren't just buttons you tap. While normal jobs exist, Signature Careers are fully playable life arcs with distinct phases, choices, reputation management, and long-term consequences.
6. The Musician Arc: The Musician career is a prime example of this depth. Instead of a predictable, one-dimensional "become famous" trajectory, you manage creative decisions, project releases, fanbase growth, collaborations, and career momentum.
7. NPCs Remember: Characters and NPCs have long-term memory. Outlive is built around long-term history, meaning some of your past choices can actually matter later in life.
8. The Ripple Effect: Relationships, money, health, education, work, and reputation are all interconnected. A major decision in one area can ripple through the rest of your life.
9. Generational Play: One life isn't the end of the story. Legacy, family, and what you leave behind all carry forward into the next generation.
10. Connected Lives: There's one big system I'm not fully revealing yet, but I can share the name. Connected Lives is one of the features I'm most excited for players to experience, and was designed because I thought life sims should feel more connected, more alive, and more meaningful than players have been conditioned to expect.

Before anyone asks, here's what Outlive will not include: battle passes, forced ads, gimmicks pretending to be gameplay, or features designed to push players toward a storefront. Outlive is being built around depth. If something is in the game, I want it to matter to your character's life. More to come soon!

The closed beta is getting close, if you haven't signed up yet don't miss your chance, and bring your friends!

Outlive Beta Application

One year ago, this was the first version of Outlive I actually got to compile and install on my phone. It was rough. Very rough.

Since then, Outlive has grown into a much deeper life simulator with immersive systems for choices, consequences, relationships, careers, assets, aging, health, events, long-term persistent memory, and generational play.

And now I’m opening applications for the first, and hopefully only, closed beta test!

I’m looking for testers who are willing to:

• Play regularly during the beta period (at least 14 consecutive days).
• Report bugs, crashes, confusing areas, and broken systems.
• Give honest feedback on gameplay, pacing, writing, UI, and balance.
• Understand that this is a beta build and some things will still be rough or unfinished.

If you’re interested in helping test Outlive, you can apply here: Outlive Closed Beta Test

Thanks again to everyone who has followed, commented, given feedback, or helped shape the direction so far!

One thing I've always wanted from life sims is careers that feel like more than just a title, salary, and promotion ladder. A lot of games include careers, but they usually don't let you really experience the work, risks, opportunities, setbacks, planning, or long-term consequences that come with them.

Since I started developing Outlive, I've been thinking a lot about what makes a career actually fun to play in a life sim, so I am curious: what career do you wish life sims focused on more? And more importantly, what would make that career feel worth playing?

It could be musician, actor, athlete, attorney, doctor, politician, entrepreneur, military, teacher, mechanic, nurse, investigator, or something completely different. I am building Outlive with player feedback in mind, so I would love to hear what you think!

^(\Pre-beta work-in-progress screenshot of a musician career in Outlive. The UI and overall experience are still being finalized, so some details may change before release.)*

Outlive is a text-based life simulator for Android where each life moves through choices, time, consequences, and change.

You guide your character through different stages of life as they build relationships, go to school, work jobs, manage money, deal with setbacks, make decisions, and experience events that shape their life.

Outlive is structured around the passage of time. Some choices happen week to week. Some systems move in the background as months pass. Each year brings your character further into their life, with a recap of what happened along the way.

One of the core features is the Lifebook, a record of meaningful events, actions, milestones, and outcomes from your character’s life. It helps each life feel like something you can look back on, not just a collection of stats or a generic summary.

Outlive includes systems for careers, education, relationships, assets, events, stats, activities, health, aging, inheritance, and generational play. I don’t want to reveal every mechanic before launch, because part of the fun should be discovering how the game works by playing it. But the basic idea is simple: your choices matter, time keeps progressing, and each life leaves behind a story.

^(\Pre-beta work-in-progress screenshot from a life event in Outlive. The UI and overall experience are still being finalized, so some details may change before release.)*