hklifesim player guide
This is the entry point for the written guides. Start with the build boundary, then open the page for the system that actually blocked your run: DSE, university, work, money, stress, or relationships.
At a glance
- The public demo reaches age 25; the age 6–99 description is the full-game plan.
- A guide should explain a trade-off, not promise a score, career or ending.
- Pick one bottleneck after each run instead of trying to optimise everything at once.
Start with the build boundary
The current browser demo runs from age 6 to age 25. It covers school, DSE results, university choices, Final GPA, the first job market and early relationship consequences. The wider age 6–99 description, including later housing, migration, family and legacy routes, belongs to the full game and is not all playable today.
- Use the demo to judge what exists now.
- Do not treat planned later-life systems as current buttons.
- Version-dependent details can change after an update.
Pick the page that matches your bottleneck
After a run, name the first decision that closed a route. If DSE results limited your choices, read the DSE guide. If university felt like a blur, read the university guide. If the first job or salary pressure broke the run, read the career and money pages. If a relationship or a confrontation event caused the damage, read the relationships guide.
- Choose one problem per run.
- Read the page before starting the next run.
- Keep a note of the year and choice that failed.
How the systems pass consequences forward
School choices feed DSE results. DSE results and subject requirements feed university options. University choices and Final GPA feed the first job market. Work adds income and stress. Money and relationships then decide how much freedom you have left. A safe-looking choice can solve this year's problem while creating next year's cost.
- School → DSE
- DSE → university or retake route
- University → first job
- Job and money → stress, health and relationships
How these pages are checked
These guides are written from the owned browser build, direct playtesting and dated first-party development posts. Each page prints its last-checked date and states whether it covers the current demo or the planned full game. If a build update makes a page wrong, the correction path is public.
- Claims are tied to a build or a dated source.
- Future-game material is labelled instead of presented as current.
- Corrections can be reported with a reproducible example.
FAQ
Answers follow the build noted above. When the demo changes, the dated developer log takes priority.
Should I look up every step in my first run?
No. Play a first run without a guide so you can see which system actually blocks you, then read the matching page.
Does a low DSE score end the run?
No. The game also offers higher-diploma, associate-degree, overseas-study, work, retake and self-study routes.
Do these guides guarantee an ending?
No. They explain observed systems and trade-offs; random events and build changes can still produce different results.
First-party sources and editorial note
Version data comes from the official game page, the owned browser build and dated developer updates. These pages do not publish unverified success formulas or present unreleased systems as current facts.
Try one run, then compare the consequences
A guide cannot replace the game. Play to age 25, note the first decision that closed a route, then come back with a specific question.