Borrowed Lives

Borrowed Lives is a text-based sandbox exploration game where players are placed in a medieval world with magical powers. Players can freely choose different origins and backgrounds to begin their life simulation, encountering various random events, challenges, and adventures. Making choices helps players navigate these events and earn rewards to improve their attributes, unlock new skills, weapons, and magic, giving them an advantage in later adventures. As the story of Borrowed Lives progresses, players will also encounter a variety of characters, building new relationships based on their own ideas and influencing their fates and futures. Of course, players can also unlock various erotic H-scenes to add more fun to the game.

Gameplay:

Origins: Choose your starting life - from peasant to royalty, each with unique stories and challenges.

Progression: Build up your stats, learn new skills, earn traits, and customize your playstyle.

Combat: Fight enemies with tactical turn-based combat, using weapons, magic, and skills to defeat threats.

Survival: Manage your health, temperature, exhaustion, and needs while exploring.

Quests: Complete objectives, discover secrets, and earn rewards through dynamic story missions.

Relationships: Form bonds with characters, build your reputation, and shape your social life.

Economy: Gather materials, craft items, and trade with merchants.

Careers: Work jobs, advance your career, run businesses, and build your wealth and influence.

Changelog:

v1.0.1 – Patch 1 (December 14th 2025)

Gameplay

Fixed experience and levels not gaining or displaying properly

Fixed time cheat to advance game state

Fixed max health not being affected by difficulty settings

Fixed max energy not being affected by difficulty settings

Fixed daily flags not resetting

Fixed fainting when energy reaches zero

Fixed desperation when arousal becomes full

Fixed breakdown when stress becomes full

Fixed insanity softlock when forced into purchase menus without money

Fixed sleep options exceeding max energy without capping

Fixed eating effects unclear or not applied

Fixed weather and temperature status effects permanence

Fixed stat reset after changing difficulty and ending combat

Fixed history not restoring vendor funds, vendor stock, and resource states

Tweaked sweat accumulation and made it so it only occurs with hot status

Added more varied and cohesive character generation

Added passive energy draining over time

Added passive health healing over time

Added choice condition types for multi-flag requirements

Added multi-conditions for scene content

Added exhibitionism check when trying to unequip clothing in public

Added carry capacity scaling

Added special vendors: banks, pawnbrokers, barber, tattoos/piercings, bathhouse

Added delivery vendors: livestock traders

Added special locations: city hall

Added social locations: inn, brothel, market

Added resource capping for all health resources

Added combat equipment checks

Added fail-forward scene consequences

Added scene validation and console logging

Added save hashing and validation

Fixed awakening quest softlock when returning to room before asking about missing night

Fixed desperation ending not returning to previous scene

Combat

Fixed not being able to loot after comba

Fixed NPCs not wanting to end combat after running out of stamina

Fixed enemies disappearing from combat list after taking hits

Fixed combatant removal logic treating enemies as defeated too early

Fixed defeated enemy display and loot preview missing

Fixed player always being outnumbered; added 1v1 encounter chances

Fixed actions with enemies causing instant defeat

Fixed not being able to select enemy cards

Fixed stuck in combat state even after ending combat

Added history tracking to combat

Rebalanced enemy drops

Sex

Fixed sex skill gain and display

Fixed being able to orgasm multiple times in one round

Fixed not being allowed to perform penetration actions

Fixed clothing state not restoring after restarting sex

Fixed NPCs not caring about sexual content preferences

Fixed NPCs not wanting to end sex after stamina depletion or orgasm

Fixed NPCs not respecting position/surface change cooldowns

Fixed verb conjugation in dialogue

Fixed duplicate pronouns in dialogue

Fixed pronoun + name duplication

Fixed incorrect actor references

Fixed wrong genitalia references

Fixed missing NPC pronouns in dirty talk dialogue

Fixed verb stems in actions

Fixed multiple consecutive spaces in sex scene descriptions

Fixed pubic hair not removing after toggling it off

Fixed certain actions blocked when using an irrelevant body part

Fixed mutual actions not reflecting current state when switching you act/you ask

Fixed continuous actions not ending when moving to a invalid position

Fixed not being able to select different targets during gangbangs

Fixed virginity not being detected for certain genital combinations

Fixed virgin trait not being removed

Fixed “go again” not adding all entities to sex except for one

Fixed arousal rounding

Fixed actions not refreshing properly when toggling you act/you ask or between participants

Fixed applied restraints not removing after sex

Tweaked “go again” chances

Tweaked divider placement

Tweaked sex UI for smooth scrolling

Tweaked descriptions to use names instead of pronouns when having sex with multiple participants

Tweaked participants to not switch roles independently unless they have the versatile trait

Added pending action to ‘how do you respond?’

Added button disabling when there is a pending action

Added verb conversion / conjugation

Added history tracking to sex

Added clearer clothing removal indication

Added a Skip ability to repeat previous actions

Added feedback for unavailable actions

Added support for one-handed and two-handed actions

Added position-specific descriptions

Added continuous action descriptions

Added purity decrease during sex

Added body hair toggle

Added participant satisfaction increases upon climax

Added click a continuous action to skip rounds

Social

Fixed various pronoun and relationship display issues

Fixed duplicate relationship bars appearing simultaneously

Fixed relationship bars not updating when relationship values change

Added appearance preview to relationships

Added more interactions with origin starting relationships in the world

Items

Fixed inventory item flag errors

Fixed stackable items not selling more than once

Fixed buy items not adding currency to the vendor

Fixed equipment slot issues across all equippable items

Fixed currency change and conversion

Added support for offhand equipment combinations

Added support for ammunition types

Added support for more weapon types and skills

Added item durability and status

Added special tools: towel

Added document items: baptism certificate, property deeds, identification card, and more

World

Fixed navigation to missing scenes

Fixed incorrect location transitions

Fixed main and deep market navigation

Fixed navigation from market jobs

Fixed swimming in the ocean sending the player to shallow instead of moderate waters

Fixed buying groceries quest feedback and flag resetting

Fixed leaving inn work teleporting the player to the wrong location

Fixed gate choices; added proper night access for soldiers and guards

Fixed being able to perform guard duties without being a guard

Fixed being able to fish in the swamp without a fishing rod

Fixed NPCs being regenerated for each new scene

Fixed unable to get loot from choices

Tweaked loot chances and gather descriptions

Added more purchasable items to vendors

Added choices to gain health and health regen

Added missing crowd event descriptions

Added exhibitionism shyness and related consequences

Added a way to dry off sweat in the washroom

Added a way to get loot from succeeding certain actions

Added special scenes for fainting while swimming in water

Added population in key locations

Enable 2 origins in questionnaire

State

Fixed going back/forwards in time/history resets status effects

Fixed going back/forwards in time/history messes up quest flags

Fixed can’t go forwards into an encounter

Fixed energy status effects not removing

Fixed crafting consumes items but doesn’t output

UI

Fixed screen not auto-scrolling to latest output

Fixed number-key quick bindings blocking numeric input

Fixed numpad keys not functioning as numeric input

Fixed NPC name appearing as the player name or “The”

Fixed plants showing up in resources dropdown instead of seeds

Fixed resource feedback to be more clear of status/completion

Fixed items in crafting cards showing at ids instead of names

Fixed old dialogue overriding scene descriptions

Fixed dialogue not properly restoring when going forward in history

Fixed calendar toggle not preserving current weather and moon phase

Fixed calendar style changes causing incorrect “days since cursed” calculation

Fixed calendar style changes causing info panel to re-animate

Fixed imperial system not updating inventory weight displays

Fixed neighboring market item not displaying details when expanded

Fixed clipboard copy failing with “Document is not focused” error

Fixed infinite loading when navigating back in history

Fixed inventory display showing all items value instead of total currency value

Fixed health/energy applied status effects not displaying in description

Fixed main screen scrollbar shown when nothing to scroll to

Tweaked ‘that can’t be right’ to go to the previous question instead of the start

Tweaked fatigue status icon to be a bolt instead of a triangle

Tweaked the scrollbar in the storage UI to be visible

Tweaked the fetish checkboxes to be next to/under the toggleable setting

Tweaked background and appearance to be under journal notes

Tweaked history buttons to always be visible, but blurred when unavailable

Tweaked the combat/sex tabs to be a smaller size

Added appearance preview to relationships

Added purchase notification feedback

Added collapse buttons to status effects, background, and appearance

Added equipped item card appearance

Added weekday to the date display

Added birthday, character customization, and difficulty setting in the origin questionnaire

Added more notification types

Added save file sorting and ‘do not ask again’

Added receive change from vendors

Added quest notice board overhaul

Added save sorting by slot, newest, and oldest

Removed mana expand button

Disabled Liar’s Dice until a future update

Player Comments:

Very early stages but I'm eager to see where it goes. What exists here currently is a nice baseline that just needs to be added onto. I agree that the sex isn't the best, just like a lot of other text based games but I always prioritize sandbox systems in games like this and this one does a very good job showcasing a deep and interesting sandbox that I want to engage with and roleplay in.

Very Promising. I wish to see how the development continues and where the developer takes it.So far it's a smooth experience with clear and stylish UI, something that games like these take for granted.Maybe more clear direction on where and how to progress, a map of sorts would help.A sandbox like this would benefit greatly from mod support later down the line.

So it's worth noting that right now this is more of an outline for the idea of a game. It doesn't have any written characters or content or events. You can repeat relationship and skill interactions to make bars and numbers move around, that's about it. The sexual content is limited to stock text regarding sexual actions.With that stated, there's really no reason to play this right now, unless you're really hankering for sandboxes and want to provide your early thoughts on this one, hoping it produces a promising result later down the line.With that said, here's my evaluation on what it is now.I like a lot that logical options are added, for instance resting by the lake, even if they don't really do anything for gameplay.I like that there's a clear intent to provide players with a world to interact with, and sexual interactions coming around as part of that, rather than the world being a vessel to deliver sexual interactions.I like that a broader set of preferences is being targeted than what similar titles do, that is, I have every reason to believe a smart, dominant character could be portrayed, which is not something the well-known text-based games allow.I like that that it fully appears the player will have the ability to develop their character as they like.In short, I like the ideas I see so far, and I believe that if those ideas are expanded upon with characters and events this could become a very, very good game.

Final Verdict:

Borrowed Lives is a text-based sandbox RPG where you explore a medieval fantasy world with dynamic storytelling and tactical combat. You are a Soulbound - a supernatural being inhabiting a dead body. Choose from eight unique origins, each with their own story, skills, and challenges. Build your character's stats, form relationships, manage survival needs, and make choices that shape your journey through a borrowed life.