14 DAY TRIAL // 
I am painting my own feelings of pride, the result of a big gallery show I was invited to, mixed with a positive memory and with inspiration drawn from the ocean I recently visited. I have enough passion for another painting after this one and enough money to pay my living expenses for a while.
The problem is that my willpower is diminishing as life throws more challenges at me and that can become a spiral I will be unable to recover from. So I stop talking to people about anything other than positive memories or feelings. I might also be ready to pay for some dubious tonics that might improve my mood.
Such are the challenges of a painter, hoping to get the inspiration for a big work, forced to sell paintings as quickly as they are ready to hold onto some wealth. My current plan is to unlock as many city locations as I can, improve my overall look on life, and find the big idea that will make my art immortal before my physical or spiritual fortitude is spent.
Artist Life Simulator is developed by Interactive Fate and published by the same team alongside Placeholder Gameworks. I played the game using Steam on the PC. The title asks players to become a famous creator in XIX century Europe and create a painting that can change the world.
The world is based on real history but does not cling too close to it. This is an alternate vision of the period, with the 3 featured artists living in a relatively well-off society called Nova Oportunia. It is mostly an analog of urban Holland, Belgium, or France, filled with some interesting characters and a lot of locations to explore.
Here, the creator needs to live a full life, learn what he wants to create, and, if everything goes well, create a masterpiece painting that can change the art world and re-frame how people see the universe around them.
The experience features plenty of writing, a mix of the poetic and the practical. It allows gamers to chart their own narrative, put together moments, deal with feelings, chat with other people, and try to create impressive art.
To do this, players will read and make choices, while carefully watching timers. The painter can, of course, use his brush and colors to create a work of art. But art does not exist in a vacuum. So the artist also needs to constantly think and can also chat with a number of archetypal characters.
Finally, players can visit the city, find new locations, and then explore them for opportunities (danger also lurks there). The most important of them is the Art Palace, a great place to sell paintings and get extra art opportunities. The park is peaceful, the mountains and ocean are great for inspiration, and the bar is crucial because it adds more characters to interact with. Certain locations, like the bookstore or the bar, open up more actions (try not to drink too much).
Any artist has to worry about health, sanity, passion, wealth, and reputation. Don’t let any of them go down to zero or, if they do, make every effort to remedy the problem.
Every action runs on a timer. As the game progresses, negative emotions will affect the core artist's attributes and can block certain actions. Obtaining the relevant positive emotions or states will allow players to cancel them out. Or, if there are no other options, paint everything that’s wrong as quickly as possible and try to create a great piece of art out of pain.
Artist Life Simulator adds layers very quickly. Make sure to watch the timers carefully and always be on the lookout for cards that can be combined or enhanced. The upgrades featured at the bottom of the screen require significant resources but will shape playstyles and can make certain aspects of the game easier.
The creator’s life is hard. Negative emotions can be overwhelming, creating a great painting is hard, and life is always throwing new challenges at you. The game aims to compensate by adding a rogue-lite structure, which is solid mechanically but does not enhance the theme.
What makes Artist Life Simulator worth playing is its capacity to evoke creative struggle. A player can engage with this universe purely mechanically, eliminating negative states as quickly as possible, balancing resources, and finding ways to constantly improve painting quality.
But it is far more satisfying to be romantic. Find a way to squeeze beauty and, eventually, money, from your own melancholy or anger. Talk to the philosopher friend and the weird drunk about all your emotions. Take expeditions to the mountains and read as many books as your artist budget allows.
Artist Life Simulator uses a clear presentation, driven by cards and timers, always offering players a quick way to understand everything that’s happening in the life of their character. All the paintings one creates can be viewed and they are designed to evoke historical classics, with interesting connections between the product and what has inspired it. The card design is beautiful and inspirational. The soundtrack also manages to evoke the past and the pitfalls of creativity, although it stays in the background a little too much. After a while replacing it with some good art history podcasts might be a good idea.
The Good
- Deep gameplay interactions
- Player-driven narrative
- Emotional moments
The Bad
- Can get a little too hectic
- Needs more rogue elements
- Limited sound design
Conclusion
The title takes a subject that can be dry and boring and infuses it with humanity and fun moments. Despite the heavy themes and uncertain results, it also manages to be relaxing, a good way to cap a night of gaming. Artist Life Simulator is a fun video game that will make plenty of players think about how they can explore their own creative side.
A review code was provided by the publisher.
