Day/Night Cycle

Day/Night cycle
The day/night cycle is the single most crucial aspect of the game. Virtual Families plays out in real-time, meaning life will go on in your house even when your close the game or turn your computer off. The game also mimics your own day/night cycle. If you open the game at 8pm for instance, it will be dark outside of your family’s home. More importantly, your virtual people need their sleep at night! Literally.

If you do not close your game at night your little persons will be constantly exhausted and will not want to work. You won’t be able to play much with them. For the best game experience, you should close the game for roughly 8 consecutive hours. Do not pause your game. Do not check on you’re family while they are sleeping because they won’t be able to fully rest.

If you respect their routine, your family members should be energetic all day long. However, they tend to get tired as the evening progresses, and they won’t want to work that much. If you play only in the evenings and at night, you have the option of switching day and night (options menu of the main menu screen). We strongly recommend you try it, otherwise you might find your family tired all the time when you play. If you open your game at 5pm, will be 5am for your virtual family and they will be full energy. You should let them sleep during the day though.

Another option is to create several families and have them on different day/night cycles. You’ll then be able to play with your “day families” during the day, and with the others in the evenings.

Tip: When your start a new game, your adoptee will not be fully rested, so they could get tired quickly. Don’t get discouraged. If you make them sleep by closing the game for the night, they will find them energized and running around the house the next morning.