Palia is everything I was looking for in a game- I just hadn’t realized it.
Palia is a Massively Multiplayer Online (MMO) life simulation game- imagine World of Warcraft with no violence.
It could also be about as “cozy” as a game can get.
One of the best parts of it- there is no dying; there are no enemies to fight and no combat.
It has all of your normal cozy life simulator aspects- farming, fishing, gathering, wood chopping, mining, house building, decorating and even plushie collecting.
On top of all of that- Palia is 100% free to just jump into and play- the only microtransactions are skins for your character, your glider, your tools, etc. but they are ONLY cosmetic and not required to enjoy the game.
You can have multiple home “plots” to build and make your own but then there is currently two massive maps when you can play together (or still solo)- Kilima Valley and Bahari Bay but a 3rd expansion map is coming in the middle of May called Elderwood. The middle of May is also when Palia hits Xbox and Playstation- and remains free to play! (Currently available for PC and Switch.)
The game will also be cross progression which means you can play on Steam and then jump over to Xbox and pick right up where you left off.
Palia feels amazing playing with keyboard and mouse or controller- the actions feel natural and rewarding.
You can even collect bugs by hitting them with “smoke bombs”- it’s very much like catching a Pokemon with a poke ball.
The maps are full of other plays and NPCs- which a few you can even romance.
As if that wasn’t enough, Palia also has a story to play through which currently takes about 90 hours for just the main story and that is BEFORE the upcoming expansion.
It will probably take you much longer because you get so sidetracked with farming and collecting things…decorating or just fishing with friends.
Palia has events where you can come together as a community and play mini games and win prizes through festivals like the Maji Market festival- still 100% free.
I highly suggest looking up Palia videos on YouTube because it can seem very overwhelming until you get into the hang of things- also research “etiquette” in Palia as well.
The community is a great part of Palia and I have yet to run into any “toxic” players so it’s nice to know some player etiquette before jumping in because Palia really is set up for everyone.
Great example – the Flow Tree grove!
Once per in game day, a grove of Flow Tree (rare wood) pops up and when a player finds it, they call out the location in the chat and everyone comes running. They hang out and collect bugs for about 3 in games hours (3 actual mins) and then all take turns taking one chop on each tree- so that when the trees finally come down- all plays get the same amount of wood.
The first time I experienced this was incredible- everyone was actually working together and having a great time.
The Facebook groups have also been extremely welcoming to me, as a new player, and have been very helpful with all that there is to learn.
This game is like all of the other farming/cozy games like Animal Crossing, the My Time At series, the Story of Seasons series but it is a continuing game…there is technically an “end” to the story but you can play it forever- just living out your best digital live as a Palian.
I would HIGHLY recommend this game to anyone who enjoys those types of games- it’s a the top of the genre and has quickly become one of my go to/favorite games.
Love, Peace and Sharkyness
~~~~~sh/\rky~~~~~
