I Was a Teenage Exocolonist

It's... a cute game but honestly there's nothing really to it. It's beautiful and cute but it's hollow. Play the demo and see if you'll enjoy it but honestly could not make it through the first year.

Don't get me wrong, a game like this is an incredible technical and creative feat for a smaller studio. I love the artstyle, and the intervals of music that come on are welcome too. But this game is a bona fide punishment simulator. The only semblance of reward you get for progressing the story is the sigh of relief you mumble out, having reached a game state that isn't split-atomically bad. Because if you did? Your reward is redoing 3 hours of gameplay (oh, did you think I was going to spend 30 hours watching everyone's hopes and dreams get crushed throughout multiple playthroughs?). Normally after I finish a game, I sit through the credits, to reflect on my experience, and to pay respects to the developer. I Alt+F4'd out the second the end credits started rolling out, feeling yet another sigh of relief that this experience was. finally. OVER. The general plot and setting has immense potential, but the way it was given back seat to a gameplay loop that is quite literally a stat raising simulator mixed in with an excruciatingly dull deck builder is genuinely painful to behold. I could go on for so long about how much missed potential this story has, but it would only serve to build up to, yet again, another a sigh of relief, to know that I was finally done with this review.

I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is a deeply affecting narrative role-playing game that combines life simulation, choice-driven storytelling, and light deck-building mechanics into an experience that feels both intimate and vast in scope. Developed by Northway Games and published by Finji, the game follows a single life from childhood to early adulthood on Vertumna, an alien planet where humanity is attempting to build its first extrasolar colony. Rather than focusing on conquest or spectacle, the game is concerned with growing up—how identity forms, how relationships shape us, and how individual choices ripple outward to affect an entire community struggling to survive in an unfamiliar world. The structure of the game is built around time and routine. Each year is divided into seasons, and each season you choose how to spend your limited time: studying, working, exploring the wilderness, helping the colony, or deepening friendships. These decisions quietly but persistently shape who your character becomes, influencing skills, personality traits, and long-term opportunities. What makes this system compelling is how naturally it mirrors real life—there are no clearly labeled “good” or “bad” paths, only trade-offs. Time spent excelling academically might come at the cost of social bonds, while emotional investment in friends can leave you unprepared for looming crises. The game captures the bittersweet tension of growing up, where every choice closes some doors even as it opens others. Narratively, the game is rich, thoughtful, and often emotionally heavy. The colony on Vertumna is fragile, facing environmental dangers, political conflict, and moral questions about coexistence with the planet’s native life. These larger issues are always filtered through personal experiences: childhood friendships tested by tragedy, ideological rifts between authority figures, and the slow realization that adults do not always have the answers. The writing excels at portraying adolescence honestly, blending curiosity, fear, idealism, and insecurity without romanticizing the process. Loss and failure are not only possible but common, and the game does not shy away from letting the player sit with those consequences. A distinctive aspect of I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is its memory-based card system. Challenges and key moments are resolved through drawing from a deck composed of memories—experiences your character has accumulated throughout their life. Stronger memories come from meaningful events and relationships, while traumatic experiences can linger as permanent cards that complicate future challenges. This system elegantly reinforces the game’s themes: who you become is shaped by what you’ve lived through, and the past is never fully erased. Mechanically, it adds a layer of strategy without overwhelming the narrative, encouraging players to think about how experiences stack and interact over time. The cast of characters is one of the game’s greatest strengths. Friends, rivals, mentors, and potential romantic partners all feel distinct and human, with their own goals, flaws, and evolving arcs. Relationships are not static rewards but ongoing dynamics that change based on shared experiences and ideological alignment. Romance options are inclusive and thoughtfully written, but they never overshadow platonic bonds, which are treated with equal care and emotional weight. Over multiple playthroughs, characters reveal new facets of themselves, making it clear that no single life path can fully capture the depth of the colony’s social fabric. Visually, the game’s watercolor-inspired art style gives it a soft, dreamlike quality that contrasts beautifully with the often harsh realities of the story. Character portraits are expressive and memorable, while environments evoke both wonder and unease, emphasizing the alien nature of Vertumna without resorting to spectacle. The soundtrack complements this atmosphere with gentle, melancholic tones that underscore moments of reflection, tension, and hope. Together, the visuals and music create a cohesive emotional space that invites introspection rather than distraction. Replayability is woven directly into the game’s design. Each completed life unlocks new narrative possibilities in future runs, as retained memories allow your character to anticipate events, avoid past mistakes, or intentionally pursue different outcomes. This creates a powerful sense of growth not just for the character, but for the player as well. Subsequent playthroughs feel less like repetition and more like parallel lives, each exploring different values, relationships, and philosophies. The sheer number of possible endings ensures that the story never feels fully exhausted, even after many hours. Overall, I Was a Teenage Exocolonist stands as one of the most emotionally resonant and thoughtfully designed narrative RPGs in recent years. It is a game that asks players to reflect on identity, responsibility, and the cost of choice, using the framework of science fiction to explore profoundly human questions. Its blend of strategic systems and heartfelt storytelling creates an experience that lingers long after a playthrough ends, inviting return visits not for completionism alone, but for understanding. For players who value narrative depth, meaningful agency, and stories about growing up in an uncertain world, it is a truly exceptional journey. Rating: 9/10

wonderful game with gorgeous art, fun writing, excellent queer rep and a nice message! i feel like kids may be difficult to write in a believable way, acknowledging they have actual personalities and potential to make horrible decisions, instead of just turning them into a bunch of silly goofballs that are adorable for adorableness sake. here, however, every storyline felt unique and explored enough for me to really feel for my friends. being a perfectionist, [spoiler]realizing i can't get a "perfect" ending on my first playthrough felt gut-wrenching,[/spoiler] which actually made me stop playing at some point and come back to the game a year later to try again. this time, i felt more at ease about the idea of not being able to [spoiler]save some of the characters and reach all the storyline conclusions.[/spoiler] i can see myself starting another playthrough in a couple of years to see what else is out there! those who love replaying will probably get the most fun out of this game. the deckbuilding element was super fun. many time i found myself trying to get the perfect score just for the sake of it, and commemorating events with getting a card referring to them felt very rewarding. the art, of course, is absolutely wonderful! seeing new character sprites as they age really added to the experience. i also enjoyed the fact that many different artists with varying styles were commissioned to draw all the card art! anyway, the game's great, go check it out! 💖

Gostaria de começar reconhecendo os esforços dos desenvolvedores no jogo. A arte, os personagens e principalmente as infinitas combinações de como você pode desenvolver a história devem ter dado um trabalho descomunal. Eu comecei me divertindo, porque as escolhas iniciais não pareciam muito complexas ou ter consequências muito impactantes, então eu escolhia o que fazer por diversão, sem pensar muito. Mas mais pra frente, a história do jogo fica muito complexa, com fome, mort&, ditadura, golpe de estado, mais mort&, etc. O jogo tem uma feature de você voltar em um save e ter um deja vu do que acontece e refazer as suas escolhas. Daí eu comecei a virar a Nazaré Tedesco e ficar tentando calcular as ações por turno pra conseguir os "eventos canônicos bons", pesquisei no google, fiquei indo e voltando saves e refazendo várias vezes os turnos, e ainda assim percebia que não era possível conseguir salvar alguma situação. Daí eu fiquei irritada. Eu jogo pra me divertir, eu queria ser amiga de todo mundo, subir nas amizades sem preocupação, subir as habilidades, explorar, mas eu senti que não é o intuito do jogo, o intuito é: vai dar merd4, você poderia ter evitado, mas você fez as suas escolhas no passado, então aceita tudo dando merd4 Achei realista demais, pra passar esse nervoso deixa que eu fico na vida real mesmo xD Eu reconheço que é um bom jogo e eu entendo porquê muita gente gostou, mas simplesmente não é um jogo pra mim, prefiro ou um jogo mais Stardew Valley, ou um jogo de drama que você já sabe que vai dar tudo errado mesmo, mas que não tem muita opção, você segue a narrativa do jogo, ou um jogo de escolhas tipo Life is Strange, que tem menos opções de decisão. Eu que tenho toc, sou ansiosa, passei muito nervoso tentando fazer a história não ir pra merd4 kkkk Desinstalei e não vou terminar, vou só procurar na internet os eventos importantes e finais do jogo xD

What a banger. The first run is wonderful, full of surprises and excitement, always wondering what is going to happen and OH MY GOD WHO JUST DIED???? You'll probably get a mild ending after ten or so hours of gameplay, and then comes the real game. The second run is about compromising, how you can save this person or let them die, and WHAT DO YOU MEAN PSYCHOTIC ?????? You'll get a better ending, probably with the person you wanted to end up with this time. Nice going. But then... wasn't there this possibility you didn't explore because you lacked the time/aptitudes/resources to do so? So the third run starts, and so on and so on. Sometimes it's not that linear. At year 18 or 19 you save, because you make a choice you want to be able to go back to and try the other way around. So you unlock two, or more, endings in one run. And, as the time passes, you get to discover Vace. Lots of spoils from now on because I need to talk about THINGS!! If that's not for you got to TLDR :) And seriously, he is a piece of work. But oh my god, is he well written, and is his arc compelling!! You only befriended him because it sounded like it was easier to break him and Nem up like that, and then you got roped up in his redemption... God bless therapy, ig. So you try another time, to get him his astronaut ending. Because he deserves the stars. And for each character, you find yourself aiming for something. That weird polycule between you, Dys, and Sym. Dys and Tang reunion, at last. Rex and Nomi cute couple, because yes queer platonic-ish relationships for the win!! Getting Sym to yourself, at least once. Marz being elected governor, she'll go above and beyond. Parenting with Tammy, or leaving that up to Cal. Saving Cal's pet, Socks. Flirting with Pia and OH MY GOD WHAT DO YOU MEAN WE GOT TOGETHER??? Finally, finally being able to reconfigure the shields of the Stratospheric and yay, easy run (actually I have no idea if that's true, I'm still figuring this one out). Never saving Kom. Getting Cal and Nem to be together in the epilogue because how cool is that? I'm still trying to get there, for most of those. But I know they're here, I know I will. And that's the strength of IWaTE: you know what's coming for you, and yet you want it and more. So yeah, my playtime will most certainly double before I'm satiated. And even then, I'm pretty sure it is the kind of game I'll love to replay someday, once my memories of it are a bit foggy. So absolutely, buy IWaTE. Play it. Enjoy it. The characters are well written and multidimensional, the art is stuning, the political message behind the game is great (as an anarchist, I am not a big fan of the huge importance of hierarchy in almost all endings but oh well, at least it speaks against capitalism and consumerism and colonialism and speciesism and bigotry and our traditional familial structure and so so much more things, this game is just PACKED with good ideas. I would consider it solar punk, but I am no expert), the queers are queer (plz let me peg Vace at least once), the teenagers are teenagers and that is glorious to read (sometimes cringe, sometimes horny, sometimes too Manichean and sure of themselves because OF COURSE, they are seventeen, and they are going to call each other fascists when they disagree on things!!), and the exocolonism is discussed AT LENGTH. I am not sure I'll do the 29 endings, because some of them are just different because of work, but I'll definitely romance the different characters, try to vouch for the different factions and see where that goes and cry some more about Kom's death, even though his name is silly. TLDR; stellar game with so many things to explore and so many options to try on different runs, great characters and character evolutions, lots of choices for the player to make, nice political message. Buy without a doubt.

Feels like the game is too set on not being dreary for too long, which results in shocking events (like character deaths) seeming disjointed and in poor taste. This is a game for teenagers. Shallow writing and poor pacing, poor handling of difficult subject matter for the sake of being "deep". The art is very charming, the writing is just too much tell instead of show, and feels like it was made for a very very niche audience without a lot of appeal outside of the target. Clearly it mainly got to the people it was supposed to, as I know I'm in the minority.

[h1]This game is not for you.[/h1] You may think it is, but you're probably wrong. I thought it was, and I was WAY off! I started this game on my own. It starts off very basic and kinda charming. Looking back at it, the game's story is patently ridiculous. The ship goes through a wormhole that nobody's ever gotten any signals through to make a colony. They have no way of knowing that certain death doesn't come after. Okay, stupid, but these humans are risk takers I guess, so why [spoiler]did the second ship come through years after specifically to put the smackdown on people who are in all likelihood dead and would be dead if they didn't risk certain death in a wormhole nobody can talk back through![/spoiler]? That's not my only gripe with the game. Weird setups are a dime a dozen in scifi (if you can call this that). I played the game through once with a friend before returning my copy, and I [i]focused[/i] on the things the colony needed. Guess what? After too darn many hours of a ridiculously tedious grind, everybody I tried to save got a bad ending (though those who died may have been the lucky ones). This game took SO LONG to complete, then at the end, it slaps your face with a 'look how bad you did, this other version of yourself (a real thing the game throws at you) is here to entice you to do better'. And you know what? I don't care about any of these people well enough to put myself through a second play through! [i]IF[/i] this game took, like, an hour? Yeah, let's play through it again to try and do better. Severals of hours per play through? Heck no, I'm not doing that! Do you know how many endings there are to this travesty? Too gosh darn many, that's how many! Maybe a hundred, the list freakin' scrolls! Good luck remembering every action you did every single time playing through that much game to affect the minutia to get the ending you want! If you have a friend who is unfortunate enough to own this game, spend some time with them and play some. You won't be having fun on your own, that much is certain. Maybe skip that and play a card game with your friend instead. 52 Pickup would be more fun [i]and[/i] take less time.