How to play
Lion’s Life.

Your first few minutes

1. Load the game. The engine and game files total about 87 MB. The download starts when you press Load the game on the Play page.
2. Choose a save slot. Press Escape to open the menu, then use 1, 2, or 3 to select one of the three browser-local slots.
3. Read the nearby trackers. The HUD points toward the nearest wildlife and pride member. Use those directions to orient yourself instead of sprinting blindly across the field.
4. Find water and food. Walk to preserve energy, use the contextual prompt near water or remains, and keep enough stamina to leave if a rival or defensive animal approaches.
5. Recover properly. Health returns only while hunger and thirst are both above 70. Rest or sleep after meeting those conditions.
6. Save before leaving. The game autosaves, but F5 gives you a manual save in the selected slot.

Essential keyboard and mouse controls

Mobile, touch, and gamepad controls are not supported in this version. If the browser uses a function key for its own shortcut, open the in-game menu and use the save controls there.

Needs, movement, and healing

The base game tracks health, hunger, thirst, and energy. Walking is the least expensive way to travel. Sprinting is useful for the final part of a chase or a quick escape, but it consumes energy rapidly. Stalking closes distance more slowly and helps you approach prey before committing to a run.

Drink when the E prompt appears at a water source. Feed when the prompt appears near a pile of bones left by a kill. Hunger and thirst must both remain above 70 before rest or sleep can restore health. R rests; Z runs the full lie-down, sleep, and stand-up sequence for the male lion and advances recovery faster.

Water has visible depth and slows movement. Deep water prevents sprinting and lowers the lion into the water. Weather, daylight, and the wet and dry seasons continue while you travel, hunt, rest, and sleep.

Approach first. Chase second.

The savanna includes zebra, wildebeest, African buffalo, giraffes, elephants, rival lions, pride adults, and cubs. Different animals have different size, speed, awareness, health, turning, flight, and defensive behavior. A buffalo or elephant is not simply a larger gazelle, and some animals can injure a careless lion.

Use the nearest-wildlife direction and distance readout to find animals. Stalk with Ctrl or C, save sprint energy for the chase, face the target, then use Space or left click in range. A successful kill leaves one neutral, non-graphic pile of bones that can be used for feeding.

Rival lions can pursue and attack. Pride lions are part of the relationship system, so pay attention to the name and prompt before using E. If a hunt goes poorly, breaking away to drink, feed elsewhere, and recover may be the better decision.

For a deeper practical walkthrough, read Hunting and awareness.

Pride, cubs, and the next generation

The starting pride includes named adult lionesses, another adult male, and cubs. The HUD tracks the nearest pride member by name, direction, and distance. Use E beside a pride lion when the bond prompt appears. Bond gain is limited to 8 points per in-game day, and a full day without bonding removes 1 point.

Outsider, tolerated, and member standing are tied to bond. Mating requires pride-member status, at least 70 bond, a fertile adult lioness, and a bond interaction during her fertile window. Press L to open the Life Calendar, which shows fertile dates, pregnancies, due dates, litter rules, and recorded births.

Pregnancies last 12 in-game days and produce one to three cubs. Each cub receives a name, sex, and parent record. If your lion dies and one of those cubs is still alive, play continues as the first surviving offspring. That successor can be male or female. If there is no surviving offspring, a new male-lion life begins.

You can also mark four named ranges. The journal keeps recent events, kills, cubs raised, marked ranges, age, generation, and pride standing.

What the browser keeps

Lion’s Life provides three save slots, manual saving and loading, and autosave. Saves remain in the current browser profile on the current device. Version 0.3 does not include accounts, cloud sync, or save-file download and import. Clearing site data, using a private window, switching browser profiles, or resetting browser storage can remove access to a saved life.

The game is intended for current desktop browsers with WebAssembly and WebGL support. The first successful load downloads about 87 MB; the browser then caches the versioned files. Close other demanding tabs if startup or frame rate is poor.

High contrast is available with H, reduced camera motion with M, music mute with P or the browser toolbar button, camera zoom with the mouse wheel, and fullscreen from the toolbar after the game is ready.

Common problems

The game is still loading

Keep the tab open. The first load is large and slower connections can take several minutes. A repeat visit should be faster once the versioned files are cached.

The game does not start

Refresh the Play page, press Load the game once, and allow the tab to finish. Make sure WebGL and WebAssembly are enabled and that privacy or script-blocking extensions are not blocking same-site game files.

I cannot heal

Raise both hunger and thirst above 70, then rest with R or sleep with Z. Meeting only one of the two thresholds is not enough.

I cannot drink, feed, bond, mate, or mark

Move close enough for the correct E prompt. The same key performs different actions according to what is nearby and whether its requirements are met.

My save is missing

Confirm that you are using the same device, browser, and browser profile. Private browsing and cleared site storage do not retain the same local save data.

The camera or music feels uncomfortable

Press M for reduced camera motion, use the mouse wheel to change distance, press P to mute the soundtrack, or use the browser toolbar controls after loading.