Candywriter released BitLife for iOS (and later for Android) devices in September 2018, and as the game approaches its second year of availability, it remains as popular as ever and maintains its staying power very well for a game released that long ago. The premise of the game, in case you haven’t played it yet, is that you will be asked to create a virtual human character, or a Bitizen, and guide their life decisions up until their dying day, may they be about school, work, family life, and more. It’s like owning a virtual pet but much, much better, and it’s all up to you if you want this Bitizen to live their best…or their worst life.
The best thing about BitLife is that the game just keeps getting bigger (while still relatively lightweight enough in terms of storage space taken up) and better, and there’s still a ton of things that can be added to make the game even more realistic than it already is.
Every few weeks or so, Candywriter releases new updates that come packed with a ton of new or revamped features, and that’s again the case with version 1.32, or the Luxury Update — this is your chance to make your Bitizens truly live the high life by buying planes, boats, expensive jewelry, and other goodies that may or may not have actual bearing on gameplay. Even if they don’t, they’re still nice add-ons nonetheless, so read on to find out all about BitLife version 1.32 and its new features.
Introducing The Shopping Sub-Menu (And The Revamp Of Assets)
In previous versions of BitLife, your one-stop shop for house and car shopping was the Assets menu, which featured, under its sub-menus, the various options for realtors and car dealers. This was, of course, only limited to Bitzens 18-years-old and above for house buyers, and for car buyers, anyone who has a driver’s license. Those features, however, are no longer available in the Assets menu. Instead of going there, you will now have to head over to the Activities menu, and scroll down to Shopping, which features Car Dealers and Real Estate Brokers as the first and third types of shopping you can do in this sub-menu. (As a bonus tip, the Go Shopping option now appears under Assets, so you can go to the Shopping sub-menu easily if you haven’t seen the sub-menu just yet.)
The Luxury Update, as we mentioned, introduces ranges of luxury items which you can buy, typically if you’ve made millions and millions of dollars — either through multiple generations of successful Bitizens (for paid players), or if you’ve earned a fortune through a high-paying job such as Brain Surgeon…or become a famous singer or actor. Now, you’ll have a plethora of choices if you’re looking to throw away that virtual money on something you probably w on’t be able to afford in the real world, such as boats and planes in the Specialty Vehicle Dealers section.
Related: BitLife Ghostbusters Challenge Guide: How to Complete the Ghostbusters Challenge
Then again, anyone who’s proposed to their significant other knows that buying a nice engagement ring is often a key part of popping the question, hence a small luxury expense (in comparison to other luxuries) to get that ring. The Jewelers section is right in between the car and house dealers, and in there, you can buy engagement rings, as well as other types of jewelry such as earrings and pendants. You can open up your wallet and pay up for legitimate items, or visit the “shady” jeweler if you’re looking for fake stuff on the cheap, though as we’ll explain later, you probably wouldn’t want to go this route if you’re hoping your partner says “yes.”
Aircraft Ownership – Flaunt Your Riches With Any Kind Of Plane
The first facet of the Luxury Update we’ll be discussing in depth is aircraft ownership. No doubt, you’ve heard of celebrities and other rich public figures — may they be actors, singers, businessmen, or politicians — who have their own private planes and fly them around during their free time. With version 1.32 of BitLife, you can make this fantasy (well, for 99 percent of us) as close as you could get to reality by heading to the Specialty Vehicles Dealer section of the Shopping menu and choosing from a wide range of planes. These may range from basic gliders to helicopters, or even fighter planes and passenger planes — you may not be the next Maverick or Ted Striker, but if you want to fly around in a military airplane or a jumbo jet, those options are available if you’re loaded enough to buy one.
Like cars, all planes have a starting Condition depending on whether they’re new or used — green means it’s in good working condition, orange means it has some issues, red means it’s seen much better days. There are also two types of aircraft dealers available — one that specializes in conventional airplanes, and another that offers “specialty” aircraft like helicopters and fighter planes.
Of course, the game won’t let you purchase such an expensive and potentially dangerous vehicle to operate unless you have the proper training or the relevant license. Before buying an airplane, you’ll need to complete 40 hours of flight school, available in the new and revamped Licenses sub-menu under Activities. Flight School can be found underneath Driving License, and upon clicking here, you will have the choice to take one hour (which would usually be little more than $100 for U.S. Bitizens, $150 for U.K. Bitizens, and so on) of classes or to splurge and go for 10 hours.
If you’re a millionaire, completing 40 hours of flight school is just a small investment in the grand scheme of things, so you can simply choose the 10-hour option four times and move on to the next step, which is getting your pilot’s license.
Like the driver’s license, your “test” will consist of one question, where you will be asked what a certain symbol represents. Given how most of us probably drive their own cars but only a tiny minority knows how to fly a plane (and that already includes commercial pilots), you may need more help from Google than you normally would when taking the driver’s license test. But there’s also no time limit here, and it’s the only way the game will allow you to buy a new plane and add it to your hangar!
Once you’ve purchased a plane, you can go to the Assets section, click on the specific plane, and fly it any time you wish. This is a great way to boost your Happiness stat due to the enjoyment it provides, and while we’re figuring it’s possible for Bitizens to crash their plane and die (especially on one with its Condition bar at red or orange), we’ve yet to experience it in testing. Likewise, the same applies to gifting an airplane to a loved one, which is also possible thanks to the new update.
Watercraft Ownership – Sailing Boats And Riding Jet Skis
Aside from airplanes, it’s not uncommon these days for the rich and famous to buy their own boats and sail them, and that’s not mentioning how even the not-so-rich and not-so-famous can afford a jet ski for some fun and excitement on the water. If you’ve been hoping for the day that your Bitizens can take advantage of such luxuries, then consider yourself lucky, because version 1.32 also includes the option to buy various types of boats and other types of water-based vehicles.
There is only one boat dealer available in the Shopping sub-menu, but these merchants sell all types of equipment, ranging from cheap and small rafts, paddle boats, and dinghies to jet skis to more expensive yachts and tugboats. If you don’t have a boating license, you can go ahead and purchase the cheaper boats and jet skis and go to the Assets menu, tap on the water vehicle of your choice, then choose Ride to head out to the water for a big boost in Happiness. However, if you’re looking to buy one of the larger, more expensive boats, that’s when you’re going to have to go to the Licenses menu and apply for a boating license — the first option of the four that are currently available.
Applying for a boating license is much less time-consuming than applying for a pilot’s license, but once again, Google may be your best friend more so than it is for the driver’s license questions. There are still no time limits here, but once you pass the test, you’re free to purchase a tugboat, yacht, or any other bigger boat and sail them to your heart’s content, as long as you’ve got the millions of dollars to pay for them.
Similar to the aircraft options, we’ve yet to see our characters drown or get lost at sea, or see their loved ones suffer a similar fate after getting gifted any of the aforementioned water craft. We’re guessing it’s possible, but we haven’t seen any reports either on the BitLife Reddit about such unfortunate ways for Bitizens to die.
Jewelers And Jewelry – If You Like It, You Should Put A Ring On It
Proposing in BitLife used to be very easy. First, get your Relationship bar with your significant other up to green, which simply means no cheating, no insulting, spend as much time as you could with them (or compliment them/have a conversation with them), and if they’re not saving it for marriage, make love to them. The tricky part, of course, would come when you’re planning your marriage ceremony and considering whether to have your fiance/fiancee sign a prenuptial agreement. Other than that, proposing was a walk in the park. Now, however, you’ll actually need to choose a spot where you wish to propose to your partner, and make sure you’ve got a ring to put on their finger.
As we mentioned above, there are two places in the Shopping section where you can purchase engagement rings — a legit jeweler and a “shady” one. While shopping at the legit jeweler’s store (as designated by the light blue gem), you may be able to get a legitimate, mint-condition gold ring for a few hundreds of dollars, but if you’re willing to splurge several thousands, there are far more expensive options with gem stones that you can choose from. You can also buy earrings and pendants through both jewelers, though you won’t have much purpose for these items aside from using them to add to your net worth.
As for the shady jeweler, which will be designated by the black gem, the word “shady,” and words such as “Faux Jewelry” — thus leaving no doubt regarding the shoddy quality of the items on sale — that, too, can be an option for buying rings and other jewelry for less than $100. You will, however, want to buy them at your own risk — most NPC partners on BitLife can tell a fake when they see one, so expect them to reject your proposal in most, if not all, cases! Nobody likes a cheapskate, after all.
The price of your engagement ring may have an impact on the chances your partner will say “yes” when you pop the question. But aside from that, you also need to choose the ideal venue to drop down on one knee and ask your virtual partner if they will marry you. For example, you’d probably want to choose Lookout Point or Classical Concert if you want them to say yes.
Proposing at a Tailgate Party (with lots of rowdy football fans grilling ‘em up) or at a Cattle Farm (lots of cows and, well, cow dung), on the other hand, is definitely not a good idea, regardless if you’ve got a rather expensive ring to put on their finger. Tap on your partner’s name in the Relationships menu, go to Propose, choose a logically romantic venue, make sure you don’t have a fake ring with you, and you’re all set. (You can also choose to propose without a ring, though the odds that they’re going to say yes won’t be that good.)
As for the other types of jewelry, the options will be similar to the ones you have for heirlooms — you can discard, donate, clean, gift, or sell them, in specific. But the option to have them appraised is also available — as it costs some money to get an appraisal, it’s not really a good idea to do this, as you’ll probably be told it costs less than what you originally paid for, no matter if you have it cleaned (for a much smaller fee) and brought back to perfect condition.
Change Your Appearance With The All-New Salon Options
Just as we had hoped several updates ago when Candywriter introduced the new-look Bitizen icons, the Salon now comes with options where you can customize the appearance of your virtual characters, including their hairdo, hair color, and facial hair. These options will become available at certain points in your life — your can go to the Barber to get a haircut (but actually change up your ‘do) by the time you’re 12, get a Dye Job at 18, and, for male Bitizens, get a Shave (more like choose your own facial hair) by the time you reach the age of 21. As usual, you can find the Salon and Spa sub-menu under Activities, close to the bottom of the available options. In addition, take note that all of the new styling features are free of charge.
What does this mean in terms of gameplay? As far as we can tell, your choice of hairdo, hair color, or facial hair does not have any impact on your Looks. That means even if you opt for red hair while leaving your beard as black as your natural hair color, your Looks won’t suffer due to the lack of color coordination. (At the moment, there is no option to change the color of your facial hair.) But it does a great deal for the aesthetic element of BitLife, as you no longer are at the mercy of the game’s randomization when it comes to your Bitizen’s changing hairdos as they reach certain milestone birthdays.
There is, however, one gameplay aspect where changing your look at the Salon does more than simply alter your appearance. If you’re a notorious criminal, changing your hairdo/hair color/and/or beard does seem to greatly reduce the likelihood of being caught, even if you keep on committing crimes. That’s right — no longer is undergoing a sex change operation the only option you have if you’re making your Bitizen live a life of crime and helping them avoid the long arm of the law.
Vehicle Maintenance – You Can Now Keep Your Cars (Or Planes And Boats) For Multiple Generations
In previous editions of BitLife, the longest a car would normally last before breaking down entirely would be about 70 years — that’s an entire lifetime if you bought the car in your teens, or two lifetimes for paid players controlling characters across multiple generations. With the new vehicle maintenance options, however, you can keep them in the family for more than just two generations — provided you’re diligent enough to go back to each vehicle and financially solvent enough to pay the required maintenance fee year after year.
That’s right — the more vehicles you own, the more you’ll have to pay each year for maintenance, and the more you’ll have to tap on each vehicle and pay the maintenance fee once per year in order to ensure they don’t break down before their time. The costs may depend on the price of the car, plane, or boat you purchased, so if you’re trying to maintain a used Ford Focus, it won’t cost you as much as maintaining a Bentley or a Lamborghini, and definitely not as much as any kind of plane or higher-end boats.
What does vehicle maintenance do? As we’ve observed, it does not change a vehicle’s condition for better or for worse — it just maintains it at the same level, which makes yearly (or almost-yearly) maintenance sessions a must if you want them to last for ages, and possibly hundreds of years. If you miss an annual maintenance session, the Condition will decline slightly, and if you regularly don’t take your vehicle to maintenance, chances are they’ll be worthless, non-operational scraps of junk by the time they reach the age of 25. It may be expensive and it may especially be time-consuming, but once again, maintenance is key if you don’t want your rides breaking down.
Odds And Ends – Other New Features, Scenarios, And Things We May Have Missed
Aside from the new and/or improved features we discussed above, there are a few smaller tweaks that we’ve noticed or were advertised in Candywriter’s changelog for version 1.32. In particular, the developer mentioned that it is now possible for children to hang on to “hard assets” once their parents die. This would come into play if you’ve made your will out to your child, for instance, and you die/get killed before they reach the age of 18. Once this happens, the child will keep any vehicles, houses, or heirlooms that can be found under Assets once you start playing as them — naturally, they won’t be able to drive the vehicles just yet or make any other “adult” decisions regarding these items, but at least they’ll have something to look forward to once they turn 18.
If you haven’t upgraded the game to version 1.32.1 yet, please do so if you want to choose your own names for your children! When version 1.32 rolled out initially, many players reported a bug where they cannot choose names for their kids, leaving them no other option but to go for the randomized name chosen by the AI, or to hit the “Random Name” link in order to have the AI select another name. The new version 1.32.1 patch squashes that bug, thankfully, as well as a few other issues that emerged when 1.32 rolled out.
Regarding the random “refinements” and “tweaks” mentioned by Candywriter in the changelog, we’ve seen a few new coronavirus-related scenarios, including one based on the dumb (and totally fake) claim that you can get the illness by drinking Corona Beer. This one, however, is simply for fun and for giggles and won’t have any bearing on your Bitizen’s life trajectory, just as many of the other pop culture-relevant scenarios that have come and gone.
Also, players who are controlling criminal Bitizens may now notice that the infamous “blind man” now has a buddy who could call the cops on you or catch you in the act. This “deaf man” can also be targeted if you’re trying to pick their pockets or steal their vehicles, but don’t let their impairment fool you — they’re just as capable of detecting what you’re up to as the average stockbroker, DJ, hobo, drug addict, and all the other colorful NPCs that line the streets of the cities in BitLife!