I Was a Teenage Exocolonist explained

I Was a Teenage Exocolonist
Developer:Northway Games
Publisher:Finji
Genre:Visual novel, role-playing, simulation, strategy
Modes:Single-player
Designer:Sarah Northway
Colin Northway
Engine:Unity[1]
Artist:Meilee Chao
Released:August 25, 2022

I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is a 2022 role-playing video game developed by Northway Games and published by Finji. The player starts the game as a ten year old, going through events that affect the colony until the game ends when they turn twenty. The game released on Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 in August 2022.

Gameplay

When the player starts Exocolonist, they can customize their character, picking traits that affect the rest of the game alongside choosing a childhood friend. The game takes place in years, with players having to choose an activity to do each month. These can include learning about the military or traveling to places other than the main hub. Players engage in a card mini-game that determines stat increases during each of these activities. The player acquires cards through events, each of which is a "memory" with a unique skill bonus associated with it. These stat increases open up new options or make it easier to win the card game.

Outside of that, players can make decisions that determine if characters live or die depending on the activity they chose. The player can build friendships with other colonists by giving them gifts or doing activities with them, which opens up the possibly for romance. At the end of the character's twentieth year, the game comes to a close. While replaying the game, the player can make new choices using knowledge gained from prior playthroughs.[2]

Plot

After events on Earth led it to be difficult to inhabit, a group of colonists built a ship and set course to a wormhole to take them to Vertumna IV. The player starts on the Stratospheric, which soon after reaches the wormhole. The player grows dizzy and falls into a coma.

When they awake, the ship has been disassembled into a colony with different departments for the player to learn and gain skills from.

Midway through the game, the colony is nearly destroyed by an alien, and a new militaristic group from Earth arrives to take control. Towards the end of the game, the player has the option of outing the military leader and stopping the takeover of Vertumna by other colonizers, or letting them remain.

Development

The game started development in 2017. A developer noted that an important part of the early years was making sure "the characters feel natural, and giving you gameplay hooks to hold on to while interacting with them". The game's focus around giving the player impactful decisions to make was enabled by "thousands of conditional statements" to ensure that it could adapt. Exocolonist's story consists of eight hundred events that can be triggered on and off depending if the player has met certain requirements. The early game deaths were presented without much foreshadowing and drama to capture how a ten-year old experiences loss.[3] The game's dialogue system was built in a custom scripting system known as Exoscript.[4] The game uses a mix of 3D objects and 2D billboards that face the camera to give depth to scenes.[5]

Reception

I Was a Teenage Exocolonist received "generally favorable reviews" on Switch and PS5, and "universal acclaim" on PC according to review aggregator Metacritic.[6] [7] [8]

Destructoid liked the memories system, saying it worked both as a gameplay mechanic, "but also mimics how our memories work in real life quite beautifully".[9] Nintendo Life enjoyed the art style, but criticized how the story lacked consequences, "Apparent jeopardy is usually overcome straightforwardly, and when our choices did seem to have gone badly wrong, the consequences just evaporated".[10] Polygon praised the game's approach to gender, liking how "your character’s gender expression can be changed at any point in the game, and it doesn’t affect who you can romance".[11]

Accolades

Year Award Category Result Ref
2022Golden Joystick AwardsBest Storytelling[12]
The Game Awards 2022Games for Impact[13]
202326th Annual D.I.C.E. AwardsOutstanding Achievement in Story[14]
23rd Game Developers Choice AwardsBest Narrative[15]
Social Impact Award
Independent Games FestivalExcellence in Narrative[16]
Excellence in Visual Arts
British Academy Games AwardsGame Beyond Entertainment[17]
GLAAD Media AwardsOutstanding Video Game[18]
Canadian Screen AwardsBest Video Game[19]
Games For Change AwardsBest Gameplay[20]

References

  1. Web site: Made with Unity: 2022 in review. Saver. Michael. Unity Technologies. 2022-12-27. 2023-07-31.
  2. Web site: 2022-08-30 . I Was a Teenage Exocolonist explores how kids absorb politics . 2023-02-01 . Digital Trends . en . 2023-02-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230201070609/https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/i-was-a-teenage-exocolonist-impressions/ . live .
  3. Web site: 2022-08-15 . "I Wanted The Player To Feel Stunned And Powerless" - Death And Memory In Finji's Deckbuilding Timeloop RPG . 2023-02-01 . Nintendo Life . en-GB . 2023-02-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230201005331/https://www.nintendolife.com/features/i-wanted-the-player-to-feel-stunned-and-powerless-death-and-memory-in-finjis-deckbuilding-timeloop-rpg . live .
  4. Web site: Northway . Sarah . 2022-08-31 . Deep Dive: I Was A Teenage Exocolonist's scripting language Exoscript . 2023-02-01 . Game Developer . en . 2023-02-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230201070609/https://www.gamedeveloper.com/programming/deep-dive-the-narrative-octopus-of-i-was-a-teenage-exocolonist . live .
  5. Web site: Northway . Sarah . 2022-08-25 . Deep Dive: Optimizing the visuals of I Was a Teenage Exocolonist . 2023-02-01 . Game Developer . en . 2023-02-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230201070608/https://www.gamedeveloper.com/art/deep-dive-optimizing-glow-season-in-i-was-a-teenage-exocolonist . live .
  6. Web site: I Was a Teenage Exocolonist . 2023-05-06 . Metacritic . en . 2023-05-03 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230503000945/https://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/i-was-a-teenage-exocolonist . live .
  7. Web site: I Was a Teenage Exocolonist . 2023-05-06 . Metacritic . en . 2023-02-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230201005342/https://www.metacritic.com/game/switch/i-was-a-teenage-exocolonist . live .
  8. Web site: I Was a Teenage Exocolonist . 2023-05-06 . Metacritic . en . 2023-05-06 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230506074246/https://www.metacritic.com/game/playstation-5/i-was-a-teenage-exocolonist . live .
  9. Web site: Review: I Was a Teenage Exocolonist . 2023-02-01 . Destructoid . en-US . 2023-02-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230201005337/https://www.destructoid.com/reviews/review-i-was-a-teenage-exocolonist/ . live .
  10. Web site: 2022-08-25 . Review: I Was A Teenage Exocolonist – Beautiful, Generous, And Too Nice For Its Own Good . 2023-02-01 . Nintendo Life . en-GB . 2023-02-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230201005332/https://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/switch-eshop/i-was-a-teenage-exocolonist . live .
  11. Web site: Clark . Nicole . 2022-11-04 . The best time loop game of 2022 is a teen sci-fi gem . 2023-02-01 . Polygon . en-US . 2023-02-01 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230201005337/https://www.polygon.com/reviews/23435089/best-time-loop-game-i-was-a-teenage-exocolonist-review . live .
  12. Web site: Here are all the Golden Joystick Awards 2022 winners . 2022-11-22 . 2022-11-25 . . Loveridge . Sam . https://web.archive.org/web/20221125194856/https://www.gamesradar.com/golden-joystick-awards-2022-winners/ . 2022-11-25 . live.
  13. Web site: The Game Awards 2022 nominees announced. Romano. Sal. Gematsu. November 14, 2022. November 14, 2022. November 15, 2022. https://web.archive.org/web/20221115030200/https://www.gematsu.com/2022/11/the-game-awards-2022-nominees-announced. live.
  14. Web site: Kim . Matt . 26th Annual DICE Awards Game of the Year Nominees Announced . . 12 January 2023 . 14 January 2023 . 12 January 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230112184950/https://www.ign.com/articles/26th-annual-dice-awards-game-of-the-year-nominees-announced . live .
  15. Web site: Mejia . Ozzie . 2023-01-26 . Elden Ring & Stray lead Game Developers Choice Awards 2023 nominees. https://web.archive.org/web/20230127040625/https://www.shacknews.com/article/133863/gdc-2023-award-nominees . 2023-01-27 . 2023-01-28 . . live.
  16. Web site: Mejia . Ozzie . 2023-01-24 . Independent Games Festival Awards 2023 finalists revealed. https://web.archive.org/web/20230128060519/https://www.shacknews.com/article/133813/igf-2023-award-nominations . 2023-01-28 . 2023-01-28 . . live.
  17. Web site: 2023 BAFTA Games Awards: The Nominations. BAFTA. 2 March 2023. 2 March 2023. 2 March 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230302164040/https://www.bafta.org/games/awards/2023-nominations. live.
  18. News: GLAAD Announces Nominees For The 34th Annual GLAAD Media Awards. Valerie. Complex. Deadline Hollywood. January 18, 2023. April 2, 2023. January 18, 2023. https://web.archive.org/web/20230118174456/https://deadline.com/2023/01/2023-glaad-media-awards-nominations-film-tv-journalism-nominees-34th-edition-1235224677/. live.
  19. Jenna Benchetrit, "Brother dominates with a dozen wins on third night of Canadian Screen Awards" . CBC News, April 13, 2023.
  20. Web site: Awards Nominee Overview .

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