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…

StatusReleased
PlatformsWindows, macOS, Linux, Android
Rating
Rated 4.9 out of 5 stars
(4,802 total ratings)
AuthorGBPatch
GenreVisual Novel, Interactive Fiction
Tagsamare, Comedy, Dating Sim, Gay, LGBT, Meaningful Choices, Multiple Endings, Otome, Romance
LinksSteam

Download

Download
Our Life (PC) 793 MB
Version 1.7.1 Jun 23, 2023
Download
Our Life (Mac) 759 MB
Version 1.7.1 Jun 23, 2023
Download
Our Life (Android) 958 MB
Version 1.7.1 Jun 23, 2023

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Viewing most recent comments 4 to 43 of 1,775 · Next page · Last page
(+3)

i wish there were more games like this one

I want the Chinese version!

(+3)

playing thru this a second time and like

it always catches me so off guard when Mr. Holden and Kyra are interacting cuz i personally think i can still feel chemistry and i feel like

they were meant to be just not in this life and i find it bittersweet

(1 edit) (+2)

at the very least i think Mr. Holden still loves Kyra

(+10)

send help 

i am deeply in love with a fictional green-haired man

I'm new here, and my friend of mine recommended this, and now as i'm trying on my android phone, i'm always stuck at Mc customize and then it automatically leave me the game. Help :'(

I really loved playing this, This was simply a amazing visual novel game. in this game everyone has their own life and has their own charatistic, you have so many choices and many many ending that blows your mind. I like how it doesnt force you to be with cove. I would to buy dlc but sadly I am student from another country so its impossible for as its cost too muc haha. I reccomend this game for everyone who is looking for peace and bad ending story :3

(+1)

Loved this!!!

(+3)

Well, it's been almost a year since I played this game, and I want to say that it is the best visual novel I have played so far. I played this video game when I was going through a very difficult time emotionally, physically and mentally, so much so that it was difficult for me to get out of bed without feeling pain, crying or despairing, and this visual novel made me feel at peace, It made me feel like everything was going to be okay. 

It is a VERY customizable game, with many routes, MANY options to choose from, which I LOVED, with characters that are easy to identify with. This visual novel takes reality to its magical side, with things so everyday and yet charming. 

I have to say that I played the game as many times as I could. Also, it allowed me to improve my English A LOT, since English is not my native language. In between playing I had to learn many words from daily life that I didn't know, and without realizing it, the third time I played I could already read the texts well without getting stuck in my head, I even read aloud trying to give a voice to the characters .  

I loved being able to live such a beautiful story that does not take the drama to the extreme, but rather are characters like ordinary people living their lives, with their own problems. 

I thank the entire team behind this wonderful visual novel for creating this. I am grateful for all your effort, which must have been a lot. I love you ♡

One more thing, the last time I downloaded the game on my cell phone, a Samsung Galaxy A51, I was able to download it, but for some reason it doesn't download now.

I'm really glad you had such a good experience with the game! If it's not downloading maybe there's an older version of the game still somewhere on the device that needs to be uninstalled. Or more space might be needed.

I love this game so much! Enjoying the DLC and currently on step 4. Thing is, when I opened up the game I'm stuck on the loading screen and I use Mac :( Idk how to fix it I rlly love this game and I want to have a second play through after finishing my first haha.

I'm sorry I don't know. If it worked before and not now, maybe there was an update on the device than changed things or the device decided not to let the program run anymore because of a virus scanner? Perhaps uninstalling and reinstalling could help.

I found out the reason! I had 3 copy of the game in my other files and after deleting them it started working, I finished the game and I'm so happy! This game will always have a place in my heart <3

(+4)

Highly recommend this game if you love the childhood friends to lovers trope - the game gives you so many options that make your character unique and special. The game also does its best to make it really feel like you're growing up with the main love interest and everyone around you, by jabbing jokes on you in step 3 abt something that happened in step 1. It makes it feel so real.

I also love the way each character was made, all have so many amazing personalities that grow in every step to adulthood. Recommend this game if you're just really into romance.

Also the dlcs are worth it. I'm not gonna say exactly why and ruin the fun for others, all I'm gonna say is that the dlcs truly made it all more enjoyable for me. That's all i have to say, 9/10 game :)

Would be a ten if there was a back button like in OLN&F

(+2)

it occured to me that after following this game for almost its entire development, dropping hundreds of hours on it and buying almost every DLC, I haven't left a comment!!


This is absolutely hands down my favourite game of all time-- i find myself coming back again and again for comfort, when I need to relax, or when i just miss cove, baxter, derek, and all the lovely characters too much. GB patch has set the bar for all visual novels and to this day, I've yet to see another meet the standard (except maybe OL:NF when it comes out!!)


I wanted to write an official thank you to GB Patch for creating such an incredible game!! truly, OLBA never fails to make me cry and warm me up when i'm having a rough day. My only wish is that there was more OLBA content out there :')


This game has literally changed my life!! 

(+1)

Love this game!!! It took me two days to finish it but I'm pretty sure that's because I stayed up to play it. I fell so in love with all the characters and the story itself,  that now I'm feeling a bit forlorn that I'm done but I'm glad to lived this story! Awesome storytelling!!

(+3)

i just played this for the first time on steam and felt that i have to personally tell u how life changing this was++ playing this helped me out so much during a stressful week at uni tysm will be thinking about cove forever and ever

(+5)

I've had this on my phone for awhile now, and every time I play I fall more obsessed! This is an AMAZING game. Love the DLC's and how you can enjoy the game without them as well. Worth all my time

Hey! I downloaded the APK for my phone but for some reason when I open the game, it closes when I press any buttons? Do you have any idea how to help? 

You can try opening up more space for it to run, it needs more than it takes to download onto the phone, and you can check to see if a virus scanner is refusing to let it run. But sometimes the game is too difficult for a phone to run. We are working on updates to decrease the size and make it easier to load on Androids!

(1)when you made the NSFW moment that is up on the patreon, why did you make it and what were your thoughts about it?

(2)If you ever did the same thing to OL2 can there be an alternative way to get it instead of patreon? Cause there are countries that block access to patreon and giveaways doesn't sound like an effective solution

(+1)

1. I made it because sexual content isn't a bad thing for adults and a totally normal part of many relationships. But it couldn't be in the base game since the story is safe for teens and so it had to be Patreon only.

2. I'm afraid we probably aren't going to make bonus stories like that for OL2. It's not in the plans right now at least. We've just gotta focus on doing the normal game content. But I am sorry to those who aren't able to support the Patreon and would like to have those extras.

Cn you upload the Mac version to Steam pls I already paid for every DLC!

We do hope to get it on Mac for Steam at some point, but I don't know when yet.

(+2)

iv replayed this game multiple times, and every time it has managed to make me cry, there's something so, real, about this game, I love it

Hi Im doing a project for my game development class and I was wondering what county is most simular to Sunset Bird?

(+1)

I'm really sorry, I don't remember. It's based off memories of visiting little beach towns from when I was a kid myself and I don't know the name of the county I was of. But I hope you're project goes well!

Thanks for replying, I hope you have good luck on the new O.L game, can't wait for its next public update!

(+1)

It's a very wonderful game, the character design is amazing, the plot is wonderful and everything that happens is so engaging that you even want to play it several times. I played it on pc and it's really worth buying the dlc but the problem is when I want to play on my phone (Android), the game immediately kicks me out of the menu when I click new game 😭

the only reason that happens for me is low storage, but idk if thats a problem for you

Actually I have a lot of space in my storage and it still doesn't work

(+2)

You could try turning off the animations in the settings before starting a new game. Sometimes the game is just too difficult to run. But we are working on updates to decrease the size and make it easier to load on Androids. 

(+1)

Thanks for such a wonderful, thoughtfully-designed, and touching game. I love coming back to it when I need some coziness and calm.

I encountered the following error today with Cove's appearance customization when heading into step 4. My base game and DLCs are up to date. Error log is below.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I'm sorry, but an uncaught exception occurred.

While loading <renpy.display.im.MatrixColor object at 0x000000003127f2d0>:

  File "renpy/common/000statements.rpy", line 609, in execute_call_screen

    store._return = renpy.call_screen(name, *args, **kwargs)

  File "game/portrait.rpy", line 88, in render

  File "game/character_sprite.rpy", line 202, in GetRender

IOError: Couldn't find file 'images/characters/Cove_23/water.png'.

-- Full Traceback ------------------------------------------------------------

Full traceback:

  File "s4_intro.rpyc", line 397, in script call

  File "cove_creator_selection_screen.rpyc", line 56, in script

  File "renpy/ast.py", line 2232, in execute

    self.call("execute")

  File "renpy/ast.py", line 2220, in call

    return renpy.statements.call(method, parsed, *args, **kwargs)

  File "renpy/statements.py", line 281, in call

    return method(parsed, *args, **kwargs)

  File "renpy/common/000statements.rpy", line 609, in execute_call_screen

    store._return = renpy.call_screen(name, *args, **kwargs)

  File "renpy/exports.py", line 3181, in call_screen

    rv = renpy.ui.interact(mouse="screen", type="screen", roll_forward=roll_forward)

  File "renpy/ui.py", line 299, in interact

    rv = renpy.game.interface.interact(roll_forward=roll_forward, **kwargs)

  File "renpy/display/core.py", line 3377, in interact

    repeat, rv = self.interact_core(preloads=preloads, trans_pause=trans_pause, pause=pause, pause_start=pause_start, pause_modal=pause_modal, **kwargs) # type: ignore

  File "renpy/display/core.py", line 3912, in interact_core

    self.draw_screen(root_widget, fullscreen_video, (not fullscreen_video) or video_frame_drawn)

  File "renpy/display/core.py", line 2605, in draw_screen

    renpy.config.screen_height,

  File "render.pyx", line 495, in renpy.display.render.render_screen

  File "render.pyx", line 266, in renpy.display.render.render

  File "renpy/display/layout.py", line 884, in render

    surf = render(child, width, height, cst, cat)

  File "render.pyx", line 170, in renpy.display.render.render

  File "render.pyx", line 266, in renpy.display.render.render

  File "renpy/display/layout.py", line 884, in render

    surf = render(child, width, height, cst, cat)

  File "render.pyx", line 170, in renpy.display.render.render

  File "render.pyx", line 266, in renpy.display.render.render

  File "renpy/display/layout.py", line 884, in render

    surf = render(child, width, height, cst, cat)

  File "render.pyx", line 170, in renpy.display.render.render

  File "render.pyx", line 266, in renpy.display.render.render

  File "renpy/display/screen.py", line 704, in render

    child = renpy.display.render.render(self.child, w, h, st, at)

  File "render.pyx", line 170, in renpy.display.render.render

  File "render.pyx", line 266, in renpy.display.render.render

  File "renpy/display/layout.py", line 884, in render

    surf = render(child, width, height, cst, cat)

  File "render.pyx", line 170, in renpy.display.render.render

  File "render.pyx", line 266, in renpy.display.render.render

  File "renpy/display/transform.py", line 747, in render

    return transform_render(self, width, height, st, at)

  File "accelerator.pyx", line 187, in renpy.display.accelerator.transform_render

  File "render.pyx", line 266, in renpy.display.render.render

  File "renpy/display/image.py", line 506, in render

    return wrap_render(self.target, width, height, st, at)

  File "renpy/display/image.py", line 309, in wrap_render

    rend = render(child, w, h, st, at)

  File "render.pyx", line 170, in renpy.display.render.render

  File "render.pyx", line 266, in renpy.display.render.render

  File "game/portrait.rpy", line 88, in render

  File "game/character_sprite.rpy", line 202, in GetRender

  File "render.pyx", line 170, in renpy.display.render.render

  File "render.pyx", line 266, in renpy.display.render.render

  File "renpy/display/im.py", line 627, in render

    return cache.get(self, render=True)

  File "renpy/display/im.py", line 295, in get

    surf = image.load()

  File "renpy/display/im.py", line 1352, in load

    surf = cache.get(self.image)

  File "renpy/display/im.py", line 295, in get

    surf = image.load()

  File "renpy/display/im.py", line 720, in load

    raise e

IOError: Couldn't find file 'images/characters/Cove_23/water.png'.

Windows-10-10.0.22621 AMD64

Ren'Py 7.5.3.22090809

Our Life 1.7.1

Wed Feb 14 20:53:23 2024

Thank you for the kind words! Is the save file also from the most up-to-date version of the game DLCs? It's possible using an old save in a newer version with a lot of updates can 'cause an error.

Oh I see! That's probably the issue since it was an older save. Thanks for the quick response!

No problem!

(+3)

this is probably one of the best visual novels I have ever played in my life AND FOR FREE TOO???? I played this game for giggles and at the end of it I was so sincerely touched--it was way more than I was expecting. I appreciate everything is game has- you can tell this was really thought out and made with passion. awesome ass game, y'all gotta play!!!!!!

(1 edit) (+3)

this game means so much for me bc i played it in a time of my life when everything felt like it was falling apart but this game was just so sweet... it made me understand that i was just too inside of my head and that i needed to keep trying to get better even when everything around me feels like a movie and me the audience who can't interact with nor anyone nor anything. i also think this game would have impacted me even if i had played it in another moment of my life (although in a different form) bc it also helped me to appreciate more the silly little joys of life.

ig  i'm far from being okay but it just seems to be how life is when you grow up (don't listen to me, i'm really just a teenager who started being depressed since too early and now is just angry and depressed all the time), but even if now it's still hard to get out of the bed every day, this was what helped me to keep going for weeks by just making me feel the levity this game gives (when all i could feel for more than a year staying just at home (bc of a leg tendon problem) was physical pain, anguish, loneliness, but somehow, also numbness)

(this is not my first language, so sorry if something isn't understandable)

You should mention that this is also available on Steam! It is much easier to install through Steam.

(+4)

i will never get over this game

(+2)

Me too even if its finished i will always come back

(3 edits) (+2)

This game is just so amazing! The story line and the designs on these characters is just amazing plus all the DLC in this game is just ARGGGG This game is so good definitely my top 5 favorite games.  

(+1)

everytime I see Cove I'm like ekjfhhrsbfkbafbakbfhkbfkbjbHBHJBDHFB, I have an obsession and I'm NOT willing to get help I love Cove sm it's not even funny blud. This is my favorite game ever I forced my family into getting me the step 1, 2, 3, and wedding dlc BEST EXPERIENCE OF MY LIFE. My next goal is to make my friend give me the Patreon, wish me luck pookie bears.

UR SO REAL FOR THIS ALSO GOOD LUCK!

Thank you thank you🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️🙇‍♀️

I can't play it on my phone (Android) it's stop working 😭 Does anyone have any advice? Or can you recommend some phone specs? 

Anyway, I've played this game on PC before. But now I can't💔 It's a game I really love.🤲

(2 edits) (+3)

I have spent as much money on this game as I would have on a triple A game. What I mean by that is that I have bought not only most of the DLC for myself, but also for another person because this game is THAT much of a gem. By far the best and most meaningful VN I've played. At the very least, if you are reading this, I highly recommend you download and play the base game as candidly as possible. 

It's worth building a life here.

(1 edit) (+2)

you can kiss him after infodumping about birds. 9,000/10 would absolutely play again if my computer could handle it. if you're considering playing the game DO IT. oh my GOD i love this game so much.

(+3)

this game makes me wanna explode in a good way

(+3)

this entire game has my heart, when i finished the game with all the dlc including the wedding, I was sitting at my computer crying since this damn game captured my heart that no other games have, cove is such a cutie my goodness 

(+4)

I've been playing visual novel games for about 15 years and this is by far one of the best ones I've played. I went into this a bit close-minded. I joked with my friends that I was "sick of seeing that wiggly eyebrowed dude on my steam homepage" for about 2 years now and avoided this game when I could. I didn't like the art style and the concept for it felt too vague to me to feel interested. When I found out it was free on itchio I downloaded it just to give it a shot. Imagine my surprise when I played nonstop on a day off and loved it.

Well, to say I love this game is an understatement. Everything about it has been written with so much care and love that you can tell the developers who worked on it put their heart and soul into it. The amount of hard work that had to of gone into this must have been insane and it's not lost on the reader. The game cares. Not just about the themes or the story it's telling, but about the player. At every opportunity, the game checks in with you to see exactly how you're feeling about the way the story is progressing and what you're hoping to see. I never felt railroaded into an option or that I was forced to conform to the game just to advance the plot. The game constantly adapts. The full game on its own is free and the DLC is just nice extra added content if you loved the full game. I keep downloading "just one more" DLC to see more and at this point I might just download them all.

Anyways, Cove is best boy and thank you GBPatch for the amazing experience! I'm looking forward to whatever you put out next! Thank you!

(+4)

I just wanted to drop by and say that this is the best visual novel i ever played so far <33
I don't really know how to explain it but the story just feels so...there! While still being soft and cute..., And the characters ? Nothing to say! They are so well written, I actually can feel myself in the game!

but enough of my rambling, really great work, I highly recommend it!!

(-1)

Can someone help me i can't download the game it's say forbidden when the download is finished

(+2)

Are you on Mac or Android? Sometimes the settings for those devices make it harder to install.

Definitivamente este es mi juego favorito

(1 edit) (+4)

absolutely perfect

(+3)

I didn't know it was possible to blush this much for a fictional character... And I've been simping for anime boys for a long LONG time. If that doesn't say how absolutely amazing this game is, idk what will

(+3)

honestly, that was the best game I had ever played in my entire life. I NEED MORE OF THISS!!

(+3)

ABSOLUTELY LOVE THIS GAME SO MUCH THIS IS MY NEW HYPERFIXATION

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