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inZOI Karma System Explained: Choices, Consequences, and City Balance

The Karma system is a pivotal gameplay mechanic in inZOI, representing the moral alignment and cumulative consequences of your Zois' actions. It's more than just a simple good/bad meter; Karma influences interactions, relationships, afterlife outcomes, and even the overall health of your city. Understanding and managing Karma adds a layer of depth and consequence to the choices your Zois make.

How inZOI Karma Works​

Karma Actions and Points​

At its core, the Karma system tracks a Zoi's moral standing based on specific Karma Actions they perform. These actions are clearly marked in the interaction menus:

  • Good Karma Actions: Indicated by a blue symbol (🔵). Performing these actions increases the Zoi's Karma score. Examples include helping others, giving compliments, or donating.
  • Bad Karma Actions: Indicated by a red symbol (🔴). Performing these actions decreases the Zoi's Karma score. Examples include starting fights, spreading rumors, or being rude.

Each Karma Action contributes points towards shifting the Zoi's overall Karma Level.

Karma Levels​

A Zoi's cumulative Karma points determine their Karma Level. The known levels, from worst to best, are:

  • Terrible
  • Poor
  • (Slightly Bad - mentioned for unlocking rumors)
  • Normal (Starting point)
  • Good
  • Best

Reaching certain levels (especially the extremes) unlocks specific gameplay consequences and opportunities.

Monitoring Karma​

You can check Karma in several ways:

  1. Zoi Card: Open the Zoi Card ([O] Key) to view the active Zoi's current Karma meter/level, usually located near the Meow Store button.
  2. Karma Report (City Edit): Access the Edit City menu ([M] Key), go to Manage Zois, and select Karma Report. This provides:
    • Soul Dashboard: A graph summarizing the overall Karma distribution of Zois in the city.
    • Karma Status: A list of all individual Zois and their current Karma levels. This is where you can use the "Intervene" feature.
    • Souls: A list of recently deceased Zois (potentially ghosts) and their Karma level at the time of death.

Karma Levels in Early Access The Karma Report provides an overview of your city's moral state.

Consequences and Effects of Karma​

A Zoi's Karma level significantly impacts their life and the world around them:

  • Interaction Availability: Specific dialogue options and actions (especially potent good or bad ones) are locked behind certain Karma levels. For example, only Zois with Bad Karma can Extort or send Malicious Rumor Texts.
  • Social Reputation & Relationships: While not fully detailed yet, Karma likely influences how other Zois perceive and react to a character, potentially making relationship building easier or harder.
  • Luck: Good Karma is suggested to increase a Zoi's luck, notably improving their chances of winning the lottery.
  • Afterlife: This is the most significant consequence.
    • Good/Normal Karma: Zois who die with sufficient Karma pass peacefully into the afterlife.
    • Bad/Terrible Karma: Zois who die with low Karma become Ghosts, lingering in the city. They must then improve their Karma through good deeds (in the planned Ghost Play system) to finally pass on.
  • City Population: An excess of Ghosts (due to widespread bad Karma) can reportedly make it harder to add new Zois to the city or for families to grow, impacting the city's vitality.
  • Intervention Opportunities: Reaching the Best Karma level allows the player (as the Creator/intern) to Compliment the Zoi, granting potential boons like lottery wins or family health boosts. Reaching Terrible Karma allows the player to Scold the Zoi, offering a chance for redemption by resetting their Karma to Normal.

How to Manage Karma​

Players have several tools to influence Zoi Karma:

  1. Direct Control: Guide your active Zoi to perform Good Karma Actions (🔵) to raise their score or Bad Karma Actions (🔴) to lower it.
  2. Intervention (Karma Report):
    • Scold: Use on Zois with Terrible Karma via the Karma Status tab to instantly reset their Karma to Normal (usable once per 24 in-game hours).
    • Compliment: Use on Zois with Best Karma to trigger a positive event via a text message from the "Anonymous Supporter".
  3. Meow Store Donuts:
    • Neutral Donut (100 Meow Coins): Instantly resets a Zoi's Karma to Normal. Useful for quickly redeeming a Zoi with low Karma.
    • Diabolic Donut (100 Meow Coins): Instantly drops a Zoi's Karma to Terrible. Useful for quickly accessing the Scold intervention or roleplaying a villain.
  4. City Stability Settings (City Edit > Manage City): Adjust city-wide sliders to influence autonomous behavior:
    • Conversation Karma Positivity: Higher settings make Zois more likely to choose good interactions autonomously.
    • Conversation Karma Negativity: Higher settings make Zois more likely to choose bad interactions autonomously.
    • Civic Consciousness: Affects the success rate of all Karma interactions.
    • City Safety: Lower settings increase the likelihood of Zois autonomously performing negative/violent actions.

Good and Bad Karma Interactions Karma actions are marked with blue (good) or red (bad) symbols. Screenshot only has good actions

Karma and Ghosts​

The link between Karma and the afterlife is crucial:

  • Low Karma upon death = Becoming a Ghost.
  • Ghosts need to perform good deeds to raise their Karma and eventually pass on (part of the upcoming Ghost Play feature, targeted for August 2025).
  • An accumulation of Ghosts negatively impacts the city's ability to grow its living population.

Managing Karma is therefore essential not just for individual Zois but for the long-term health and balance of your entire inZOI city. It adds a layer of moral consequence to gameplay, encouraging thoughtful interaction and strategic management of your Zois' actions.