Our Life: Beginnings & Always
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android
A nostalgic visual novel where you design your own character and grow from childhood to adulthood with the lonely boy next door. Create an experience that’s all your own in this near-fully customizable, choice-heavy story.
Our Life: Beginnings & Always is a feel-good simulation, as well as a “feel-better” one, where painful emotions such as sadness, anger, stress, and worry can all be expressed, then met with reassurance, understanding, and support.
It’s a wholesome experience that faces large steppingstones of life, while having a focus on familiar everyday moments. With notable amounts of customization for even tiny details, you can enjoy pleasures as simple as having a preferred type of drink and a neighbor who cares enough to remember what it is.
| Price: | Free-to-Play, with optional paid DLCs |
| DLCs: | The first batch of DLCs are $3.99USD each with three available, a fourth DLC that is $2.99USD released in 2022 |
| Rating: | 16+, for swearing, crude humor, and suggestive content during adult-aged portions of the game |
- 4 different periods of life to experience: childhood, adolescence, young adulthood, and fully grown
- Name, appearance, personality, and pronoun (he, she, or they) customization for your character
- Change your character's details however you like as you grow, including transitioning to new pronouns
- Shape your personality, feelings, and preferences, then see them reflected in the story as characters remember who you are
- 1 love interest, Cove Holden, whose personality, interests, and appearance will develop in a custom way over the years based on his experiences with you
- Decide for yourself how quickly or slowly the relationship with Cove develops by setting a unique dynamic; from love at first sight to last minute confessions to always being friends and more
- A welcoming, sentimental story that can easily be enjoyed over and over using new main character qualities or different connection types with Cove
- Font style and size customization. Hit the "A" key to open a screen that has text appearance options
- 397,000 words, 16-24 hours of content in total
Plus, an optional feature of having a preset name for the main character that the love interest says out loud through voice lines. Download the free DLC to add that to your game build!
The main story of Our Life from beginning to end will always be free, but if you'd like to support our group and get new scenes you can purchase optional DLCs!
And if you want even more Our Life content, you can consider joining our Patreon! There's sneak peeks for future game expansions, extra update posts, bonus art, a private backer-only Discord, and so on.
Jamie Last (changeable name) has spent the last couple weeks on a summertime high. At eight-years-old, nothing is better than what feels like endless days of school-less adventures, especially when you live walking distance from the beach. While coming home under a scorching sunset one fine evening, Jamie is approached by a stranger. The man is looking for a kid who can do him a favor, and he’s even offering to pay for it. He wants Jamie to please be friends with his only child. The person is Mr. Holden, Jamie’s new neighbor, as well as the father of the odd, and oddly named boy, Cove. Whether Jamie wants to play along or not, Cove isn’t going anywhere. He's present in Jamie's life for far longer than they ever would've guessed.
And then the long days of vacation finally come to an end. Summer may not be able to last forever, but Jamie can take comfort in knowing it will come back again someday…
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Development log
- Our Life: Beginnings & Always - The Last Major Update97 days ago
- Our Life: 2023 GoalsJan 01, 2023
- Our Life 1.6.1Oct 06, 2022
- Our Life Version 1.5.4May 22, 2022
- Cove Plushie Now Available (Limited Time Only)!Apr 29, 2022
- Cove Plushie Coming Soon! + GiveawayApr 22, 2022
- Our Life Build 1.5.3Apr 01, 2022
- Wedding DLC Release Date & Plushie Poll!Feb 01, 2022
Comments
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omori much anime i wuv anime
☠️☠️
wut, wtf does ☠☠ mean
if possible
lol, it takes time to make the game, and time is money. at least the base game is free.
ok
sorry to be a bother but I think I found a bug the background and characters flash on and of screen and the background flashes black is this normal if so sorry
I'm sorry for that! You can try this-
Pressing Shift + G and change the renderer. Changing it to ANGLE renderer.
sorry for the late reply it worked thank yo
Great!
This game is literally the most comforting game I've ever played, I've played it like 4 times in a row and it's a really warm atmosphere that makes me feel nostalgic?.. honestly can't express how much of a game I've been looking that's like this
Lots of love from Ari, Hoping to see more! <3
the amount of times i have played this game over and over again is crazy. literally soooo good 😭 1000000/10
Hello! I was wondering if you'd consider bundling the dlc's as like a complete one purchase, not even discounted necessarily, I just haven't bought it yet cause I don't want to do a separate purchase for all of them, but I can't just add it all in one cart
Yeah, I can see if Itch will let us do a permanent bundle. So far I've only had sales that had to end at a certain time.
Yay thank you! I don't even mind if it's not on sale, but just like an option to buy all the dlcs at once? Like buying a complete version or set of the game type thing, I would still get it at full price! Thank you for considering :)
Hey just wondering -- cause of the whole Unity thing that is going to happen in the start of January 2024 -- what did you guys make Our Life with?
We use Ren'py!
I think i accidentally somehow unlocked a Derek DLC photo without having the DLC uhh
Thanks for the report!
Ive played this game before and I decided to get the 3rd step and the wedding step (because its all i can afford at the moment 😭) and ive downloaded them and done what the dlc thing said, but everytime i go in and click new file or continue it closes the app.. is there any way i can fix this 😭
I'm sorry, I'm not sure what the issue could be based on the info you mentioned. All I can recommend is trying to delete your files and go through the install process for the game + DLC again. It's possible something just went wrong when adding the game and trying again will sort it out.
I should've been more specific my bad 😭
I use android and every time it closes it comes up saying there's a bug and I should wait until it's fixed, something along those lines. I've tried this again and it still isn't working I'm afraid
Oh, that pop up is a generic response when it doesn't work. There's no real specific bug it's talking about. It could mean the game can't install because it needs more space, or the game won't install because a virus scanner has decided it's not safe or your settings don't let you install stuff not from the official app store.
I do not have a virus scanner active due to downloading games like this in a similar manner, and it would make sense IF I didn't have over half of my storage space remaining 😭
Then how the DLCs are being downloaded might be causing the problem. What order are you doing them in?
this game hit me so hard. I doubt that I am the target demo, gay 52, but it still affects me to this day. I never realized (or had repressed) how much I wanted to have a love like Cove has for you. After the primary game ended, I felt physically and emotionally sick that it was over. I cried SO MUCH during this game. From Cove and also the lost little boy dredged up the grief of losing my son in 2021. I cried when I found out something about Cove that kind of explains why he is like he is. I got the wedding DLC and cried over that. I've replayed many times and each time it ends, it kills me. The wedding night is the last thing that the developer is doing with Cove and that really makes me sad. From looking at the subreddit for this game, there are many people who are affected by this game like this. Not trying to scare anyone off but be prepared to feel a LOT. If only we could all have a Cove in our lives.
It's been a month since I finished my first playthrough of this game and its DLCs, yet I can't help but come back for more :,). The impact this game had on me was astronomical, to say the least, as no matter how hard I tried, I PHYSICALLY COULD NOT FIND ANYONE BETTER THAN COVE HOLDEN!? Cove is the textbook definition of best boi, and I love him to pieces fr. Our Life is my ult comfort game with my all-time comfort LI, and I can't thank GBPatch enough for this marvelous creation! <33
Love the game, found gameplay on YouTube and wanted to try it out. however i have a Chromebook and wanted to now if it's possible to play this on Chromebook.
AHHHHHHH!😭😭😭😭😭💖💖💖💖 THIS WAS SO BEAUTIFUL!!! I STARTED TO CRY WHEN COVE ASKED ME TO MARRY HIM😭💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖💖 I CAN'T WAIT FOR MY NEXT PAYCHECK IM BUYING ALL THE DLC'S!!!!!!!
This game ( got it through steam) is the whole reason why i got into visual novels... I love it so much!! it healed something in me that I didn't know needed it TT-TT can't wait for the next one!!
I CRIED. i love the story and everything omg😭😭 also I love whoever gave Cove squiggly eyebrows. It's so silly
this game is so good! I just fished playing, and the only bad thing is that it has an end🥲
srsly, I almost cried when I saw "THE END"
I'll play again to get all the cgs and other reactions/endings
wish me luck
This was incredible. I played through it in a single sitting, I was so hooked!
Hey, I downloaded the game for android but it crashes after the initial loading, does anyone know how to fix it? Thanks
You might need more space to run it, or your virus scanner/firewall might be blocking it from running since it's not from the official app store!
I don't think is that, there's more than 15G of free space in my phone and I don't use any virus scanner/firewall since I download games on chrome all the time. Got any sugestions? Thanks
This is such a wonderfully detailed game, I'm shocked it's even free! It was so cute and I love how tailored to the player experience it was! It's so darn adorable I was blushing like Cove was! And Cove!!! What a wonderfully written character, in fact all the characters are wonderfully written! I love how unique they are, and having the option for a slowburn childhood friends to lovers romance hit my sweet spot SO HARD! I SWEAR!
All in all, amazing! Amazing! Amazing! Important things should be said 3 times!!!
I'm not even kidding- I found this game yesterday and was hooked! I love the graphics, the story, the art, the CGs, the fact that our choices matter and pretty much everything about the game! I've already completed it and I would gladly play it all over again. I think it's really unique how Cove's personality can change a bit based off of how you interact with him, and how he even remembers small things like your favourite drink years after going to a restaurant. Keep up the good work! If I could, I would gladly buy every single DLC there is.
i played this game for 30 hours straight literally. so so so good the art and story are unmatched across this entire team!
I got this game from steam and figured I'd show a little love to the itch.io version! Our life is one of my favorite games, it has great art, likeable characters, and a very entertaining story. I recommend getting the dlcs but it's not needed to enjoy the game! Our life was like the childhood I always wished to have, Cove is very loveable and I can't stop thinking of him. This game definitely made my summer better and I'm glad I found it!!
I love this game so much
i absolutely love this game. i feel like a gremlin who found a treasure in the woods. its so good, the story is entertaining, the structure is very well thought and it hits like home. im on the floor crying i loved it so much. i feel like im robbing the creator by playing it for free but im not complaining, at this point the first thing im going to do when i get money on my card is buy as many dlcs as possible. ALSO 16 TO 24 HOURS OF GAMEPLAY?!?!?! THAT'S JUST AHDJKADFL. i love it and i will throw money at the creator just because they lightened up my summer with this game.
Hi, is anyone else having trouble starting the game? I downloaded the most recent version but it always freezes at the loading screen and then closes itself after a while. I'm using a MacBook. If anyone can help pls do, really want to start replaying this wholesome game again.
I'm sorry, you could try checking if a virus scanner has decided it's suspicious because it's not an apple approved app. That can randomly happen with new builds and can stop it from running right.
This game is great, please give it a try.
I don't think I'll ever get over Cove Holden not being real T_T
the dangers of great visual novel game
I have put more hours into this game than I have most other games I have played. I've got nearly 100 hours in this games, and I will be sure to have more in the future. This is one of the greatest games I have ever played. I CAN'T WAIT for the sequel!
Finished the game and feel like a piece of my heart is missing now.. SUCH a good game, such a wonderful character Cove is.
I am now inlove with an imaginary green-haired cutie and now sad its done :(
literally wanted this game to last forever, never been more sadder for a game to end
You should make a dlc for Coves dad
yeah,i am in love with him
i feel like that's the exact definition of child grooming. it'd be better if you could date his dad, in a very much separate game, where you DON'T meet him when you're 8 years old, and he's in his late 20s..
One of the only visual novel games ive played multiple times. I LOVE IT
are the dereck and bax dl worth gettin?
100% yes!
I love this game!!
BEST GAME EVER
Hellooo!! I can download the game but whenever i try to start playing it keeps suddenly crashing, is this not working on Android 13? :(
I'm having the same issue. Did you find a fix?
cries