Enable the always-visible Auto control in the game’s top toolbar to let Forked Lives answer decisions and pass optional written reflections. Auto does not undo a manual pause. If the age is not advancing, check whether the top control says Resume. Playback, automatic decisions and music have separate controls.
Three controls with different jobs
Pause determines whether years continue. Auto determines who answers a pending choice. Speed changes the interval between advancing years. An open settings dialog also holds the simulation while you read it; turning on Auto inside a manually paused session does not secretly resume it.
For a first reading, keep Auto off and use a slower speed. For a full overview, enable Auto, resume playback and then increase the speed. To examine individual turning points, leave Auto off and use the control that skips to the next decision. These are different ways of reading the same game.
Find Auto on a phone or computer
Finish the birth registration and begin the life. Auto is a persistent control in the top toolbar, with a visible on or off state. The adjacent Music button opens track and volume settings. More contains notes, family, spending and branching controls. Toggle Auto and watch whether the age moves.
If it does not, check the pause control and close any other dialog after reading it. With Auto off, an unanswered decision is another normal stopping point. You do not need to create a new life to troubleshoot the current one.
What automatic decisions actually do
The current rule scores immediate changes to the four visible stats and gives extra weight to the stat associated with your annual focus. Body emphasizes health; study and work emphasize knowledge; family, friendship and love emphasize social connection. Other focuses emphasize happiness. A seed-based variation also affects the ranking.
This is not a long-term planner. It does not understand unwritten wishes, and a choice with attractive immediate stats can still carry a financial or later cost. Use an existing decision checkpoint to explore another branch rather than treating Auto’s ending as an ideal result.
A five-minute setting is not a deadline
The starting duration sets a playback pace. You can also choose 1×, 2×, 4×, 8×, 12× or 16×. Reading, pausing, writing and the number of years actually lived all change elapsed time. A short setting does not promise an ending at an exact minute.
Skipping while Auto is enabled can process subsequent decisions continuously and reach the ending quickly. Start slowly enough to read the timeline, then increase speed if you want an overview. Turn Auto off before using skips for a careful comparison.
Music and saving are separate from progress
Choose piano, rain or night in Music, then press Play and adjust the volume. Sounds are synthesized locally in your browser; the first actual click initializes the audio engine. Allow preparation to finish and check the device’s mute and volume controls if it remains silent. Selecting music changes neither the simulated stats nor a manual pause.
Auto passes written reflections without inventing a personal journal entry for you. To keep a completed session outside this browser, export a JSON backup. A keepsake picture or a same-start invitation is useful for sharing, but neither restores your full midway progress.