Why do I keep dying in my 20s?
A run ends when health or sanity reaches zero. Check the event log for the choices and risk rolls that reduced the resource that hit zero; seeds and starting conditions also vary.
Project Moonlife / GAMEPLAY GUIDE
How to Live to Old Age in Project Moon Life Sim
To reach old age in Project Moonlife, keep both health and sanity above zero until age 90. The current rules end a life when either reaches zero; there is no guaranteed survival route or hidden age bonus.
What ends a life early?
The v2 and v3 engines check health first, then sanity, and end the run when either value is 0 or lower. A life that reaches age 90 ends by old age. Health gradually falls after age 45 and falls faster after age 65 at each yearly interval. Sanity can also fall through choices, danger events, and the recurring effect of being in the Outskirts. These are separate resources, so protecting health alone does not prevent a sanity ending.
How to choose for survival
Read the effect line beneath every option before choosing. Prefer a positive health or sanity effect when either resource is low, and treat a marked risk as a real trade-off: its probability is shown by the rule data and a failed roll removes 25 health and 15 sanity. The survival benchmark policy chooses the available option with the best health-plus-sanity change after expected risk damage. It is a comparison policy, not a promise that one choice always wins.
What the published simulations show
The benchmark runs 10,000 deterministic simulated lives for each policy. Its old-age count describes that policy and that rules version only; it is not a player success rate or a guarantee for your seed. Different seeds begin with different homes, families, and attributes, and later results depend on choices. Use the benchmark to compare strategies, then use the event log to see what happened in your own run.
A practical checklist
Check health and sanity before each decision, avoid a risky option when either value is already near zero, and do not leave Auto-choose on during major choices if you want to control the decision. Time advances in seasonal steps; pausing gives you time to read. The optional v3 legacy bonus adds five starting health or sanity after a saved life ends before age 30. It is off by default, changes the starting state, and is recorded in the seed link. It does not alter v1 or v2 lives.
Check both survival resources before each choice
A useful routine is to compare the next option against the resource that is closest to zero. If health is lower, favor a health gain only when its other effects do not put sanity at immediate risk; if sanity is lower, evaluate it separately. A risk label matters because a failed roll has a fixed loss of 25 health and 15 sanity. The displayed change and the risk are different parts of the decision, so read both before advancing time. No checklist removes randomness or guarantees age 90.
Use the event log to learn from a short life
After an early ending, review the last several log entries and note the age, event, choice, health change, sanity change, and any risk result. This separates a gradual age-related decline from one decision or event that caused a sudden loss. On a replay, keep the rules version and talent setting the same, then change one choice at a time. A repeated seed can reproduce its starting conditions, but a different decision path can lead to different events and outcomes.
FAQ
Can I guarantee an old-age ending?
No. The current rules contain no guaranteed survival path. Reaching age 90 requires keeping health and sanity above zero through the run.
Does the legacy bonus change old seed links?
No. The optional +5 legacy talent is only available in v3. Versioned v1 and v2 seed links continue using their original rules.