Five ways to spend a semester in Parallel Me

Parallel Me hands you someone else's phone and ten weeks of her college life. Each week you get three action points and a handful of messages, and at the end of the semester you find out who she became. The fun is that "a good semester" means something different every run. Here are five ways to spend one.

A note before you start: the game's text is in Chinese. It is fiction, written for adults, and best enjoyed slowly.

Parallel MeLive one semester of someone else's college life, ten weeks at a time, through her phone.Play free in your browser →

1. The saver

At the start of a run you pick a goal card, and one of the simplest is 搞钱, "make money": finish the term with at least ¥6,000 saved. Part-time shifts at the bubble-tea shop pay ¥200 each and cost a little mood, so the saver's semester is a careful dance between work and rest. Later, friends may introduce tutoring or a livehouse job, which pay differently and bring their own people.

It is a surprisingly thoughtful run. Every coffee with a friend has a price, and you start to notice which ones are worth it.

2. The top student

学霸, "top student", asks for an exam score of 85 or more and the scholarship that comes with it. Classes and self-study raise your grades but wear down your mood, so you cannot simply study every slot. The top-student run is about pacing: enough rest to avoid a crash, enough study to be ready for the final exam.

3. The creator

出圈, "break out", wants 10,000 followers. Posting to social media turns your charm into followers, with a small chance of a post taking off. Going to the gym raises charm, so creators split their weeks between looking after themselves and posting. It is the most unpredictable run, and the one most likely to make you laugh at your phone.

4. The friend

守护友情, "protect the friendship", asks you to keep your relationships with 苏苒, her roommate, and 唐果, her best friend from high school, at 80 or above. This run spends action points on meeting people rather than on numbers. The messages become the heart of the game: who needs you this week, who you have been neglecting, and what you say when it matters. At a couple of key moments you can even type your own reply instead of choosing a button.

There is also the question of 陈屿, the ex. One goal is simply to say goodbye to him properly. Another, unlocked later, is to start again with him. Neither is the right answer.

5. The one who rests

Not every semester needs a grand plan. 好好休息, "take a proper rest", is unlocked from the points shop after a few runs. It asks only that her mood stays at 60 or above all term and that she never crashes. You will rest, go to the gym, see friends, and still get through the exam.

It sounds easy. It is not quite, because the semester keeps sending you reasons to push harder. That is rather the point.

Mixing and matching

The hardest card, 全都要, "have it all", asks for savings, grades and mood at the same time. And whatever you choose, the ending is decided by how the whole semester went, not just whether you ticked the goal. There are 19 endings, so even a "failed" run tends to end somewhere interesting.

Where to begin

If this is your first run, pick whichever goal sounds most like a semester you would have liked to have. Then pick a different one next time. Ten weeks goes quickly, and the next version of her is only a tap away.