This game is amzing! I've never seen anything like it and it's so refeshing, exciting and heartwarming!! I have a question, though. Does the demo receive monthly updates? I've heard from various sources that it does and doesn't and this is my first time playing this demo so I'm not sure and I would love to be on the lookout for any updates!!
Thank you very much :D! We will keep updating the demo to improve it and add more content here and there, but it won't be on a monthly schedule. I'd say an estimate would be every two months. Though possibly longer, depending on how busy we are with getting the game done. Making demo builds requires changing quite a few things so we can't do it all the time, sadly.
Our Patreon beta gets monthly updates, so that may be where some of the confusion comes from. Those builds are easier to do, since they don't need any special changes to make them right. It's just a beta version of whatever is done at the time, haha.
Thanks so much for responding! And yeah, that makes sense! I want to become a Patron but I'd probably only be able to maintain it for that one month. I'm probably still going to, though, hahahahaha.
Oh! Also do you think it would be better to become a supporter on KickStarter or Patron. Of course, I probably won't be able to be a consistent on but I still want to be able to pitch in anywhere I can!!
Thank you for wanting to support us <3! Kickstarter is a one-time donation and Patreon is subscription that repeats every month until cancelled. Kickstarter backers will get KS-exclusive updates with their one donation for the whole development period. Patreon-backers have to renew each month to keep getting the Patreon-only updates. But Patreon has updates for more than Our Life and has a big backlog of private posts already available to go through. Beta-Testing is more expensive on Kickstarter since you're paying for multiple builds at once, you can pay a smaller price to beta-test just one build in one month through Patreon. Both have good qualities and both help us out a lot, so it's really up on what sounds most interesting!
Thank you for informing me!! Right now I have a bit of money, I just need to put it on a card. I think I might be leaning toward KS though, since it's only a one-time payment and I probably won't be able to do monthly payment on a consistent basis. Either way, I really want to help and see how the game progresses!!
We'll see about setting up Paypal as an option to preoder the game :). I'm not sure we can add more tier, though. There are quite a few already, aha. But we will try to sell the artbook separately when the game comes out, for those who don't want to get those other rewards!
I'm absolutely obsessed with Our Life and after playing the extended demo I'm even more in love. Still, I have some concerns. It's obvious that romance is an important part of this game. And I think that there's not enough descriptions of how Cove makes the main character feel.
For example, at the end of the demo we have a choice to hug Cove. However, we don't really know how the MC feels about hugging him. It almost seems like this hug doesn't make them feel anything special. It bothers me a little. If the MC has a crush on Cove then it should be shown that they feel nervous/shy/their heart starts beating faster, and so on. Also, it’s a little strange that description of the hug is the same when the MC and Cove have a crush on each other and when they’re only friends. The blush on Cove’s face is the only difference. To give another example, when people tease Cove about liking MC we can see that he’s obviously embarrassed. But the MC doesn’t seem to have any reaction and I think that it would be more realistic if they were blushing too.
I remember that at the beginning of Step 2 the text says that the MC’s heart starts beating faster at the sight of Cove. I like it! This is exactly what I’m talking about! We need more descriptions like that. We need to know that Cove makes the MC’s heart go crazy. It makes the romance feel more real and natural. But I’m aware that it’s only a demo and that a lot of things will be added later. I just wanted to share my suggestions with you ^^
I disagree about the hugging part. At this point in time MC and Cove have known each other for five years. I hate when is stories like these when the MC's always feel nervous even though they have known said Love Interest for so long. Even though the MC usually relives from their nervousness it still makes the atmosphere of the scene feel awkward. I was almost dreading picking the "hug" option because I thought that like most other games the MC would become extremely flustered. I would get her becoming shy if it was the other way around and Cove hugged her instead and then sheh started blushing or her heart quickened.
But I agree on the other things! And I like how Cove's emotions are written. The scenes never feel awkward.
Ah, yes, I agree with you. I wasn't trying to say that the MC should be uncomfortable or stressed in Cove's company. I also like how comfortable they are with each other. I just think that it would be nice if the description of the hug was different depending on relationship between Cove and MC. It would feel like choosing the type of relationship with Cove really makes a difference in gameplay. Also, I think that hugging your friend and your crush feels very different, even if you know your crush for a long time. The heart starts beating faster and there's this funny feeling in your belly. At least in my experience, haha :) Sorry if what I've written before is confusing. English is not my first language.
And I agree there. Maybe MC's reaction (at least in that scene) should depend on the choices you make with her, like if you make her shy then she would be shier when having interactions with Cove, or if you make her more outgoing she would feel more accustomed to interactions like that.
But as someone who has coded choice-heavy stories/novels I'm not even completely sure if that's possible, haha. Since the game is having its full release in the Summer of 2020 I imagine that it'll be enough time for them to improve stuff like that, though!
Thank you for the suggestions and I'm glad you liked the demo! Our Life will have more variations and alterations as we continue developing it :]. But for that hug situation specifically, the MC is comforting someone who's panicking about their family. It'd be a bit out of place for the MC to take that moment to think about how they're attracted to Cove and that touching him makes their heart race, aha. There are other times where it comes up and there will be more in the future.
Thanks for replying! Now I know that I didn't really take the full context into consideration . Thank you for explaining that for me ^^ Good luck with the further development, you're doing really great!
Ah I'm so excited, I've been ! Congrats on the kickstarter! :D
(Just wanted to say, on the Android version of the demo it gives an error whenever you go to the playground, saying there's an error loading the background. ^^)
First, I'd like to join everyone in complimenting your team about the quality of the demo. As was already said many times, the concept of the game is quite original and fresh, which is commendable and very welcome. Most VN authors usually don't dare to take such risks, while they probably should to avoid stagnation of the genre. The game reminds a bit me of an old DOS game, called Alter Ego, and it definitely appeals to me.
Next, and again I think it was already said, your writer really displays talent with designing child characters. They appear as "believable" in their thoughts and actions, at least through the eyes of the adult that I am. The game also always provides us with a satisfying number of sensible options on how to experience "our" childhood, so that's really good (and promising for the rest)!
Maybe some more "innocent" or, let's say, "naive" actions as a child would be great to have too. As an adult, I can see the "motivation" behind most of the alternatives that the game presents to me. They all appear as rational, while most children probably have times where their demeanour appears as quite confusing or even totally irrational instead.
Who, as a child, hasn't burned themselves while touching stuff that they shouldn't have ? Or wasted the linings of our bedrooms with multi-coloured pencils, knowing perfectly well that parents forbid it and would punish us for it ?
I realize that such an addition could make the beginning of the game a bit more "chaotic", and that your intended target IS an adult population, but I thought that it could perhaps also help to further differentiate childhood from other ages. Not *everything* has to absolutely make sense when there is magic about ^.^
Finally, I admit I am a bit apprehensive when I saw that you locked a good number of "sequences" within an age behind DLCs purchases. I do understand where you're coming from and why you are doing it. Good work not only deserves praise, but also (financial) reward and support.
I do hope that you'll manage to keep these balanced, not to spoil the enjoyment of the (base) game, since I can't imagine many players being keen on the concept of purposefully skipping content, even if there is a gameplay motivation behind it (in a sort of "Game+"). Some events are also fairly short, depending on the choices of the player, so that could render the whole experience of the game rather thin. Usually, the more we have to read in a VN, in different, non-empty routes, the better. Maybe this will change when our characters grow up however, I can't say. It's only a demo.
Suffice to say that I wouldn't mind paying extra for, say, a DLC with an additional character, for example (a girl instead of a boy, or whatever).
In any case, I will definitely send a small token of my appreciation your way some time soon, because I think that this project is of high value, that it deserves to be supported and to take off successfully.
All my best wishes to the team, and thank you for creating this game.
Thank you very much for such a detailed feedback! We'll keep it in mind and do what we can. The full version will certainly have more options/alterations/scenes than the demo goes. And there are two DLCs that add new characters to romance, though I'm afraid neither of them are girls. This game just has guy LIs, but our future games will have lady love interests.
Of course I am a bit disappointed about no romanceable girl character DLC in the future, but it's fantastic to hear that such a talented team has more such projects (and perhaps with female LIs!) coming the future.
Please let me congratulate on your successful Kickstarter endeavour, and wish you again all the best. Really looking forward to you going Gold and playing the full game now. It can't come too soon ^.^
The concept really appealed to me. Playing the demo confirmed it. Have to echo another comment that said the way you write children is very realistic - they're not acting like literal toddlers, but they're not mini-preteens or mini-adults, either.
I also have to say that I very much appreciate the option to change pronouns at every step of the game. In fact, the roleplaying that's already in the demo is a fair step better than some other games I've played.
I have to ask out of curiosity, is facial hair a possible customization option for adult Cove (or adult MC)?
Thank you so much for the kind words! It's wonderful to hear that we handled the child portion of the game well so far ^^.
Facial hair will be an option for the MC later in the game. It's not currently a possibility for Cove. That's because facial hair doesn't end up working out the same as adding other types of optional layers. With regular hair, for example, you can just layer it over the head of the base sprite and it’s done. But facial hair has to fit with all of Cove’s different mouth expressions. From tiny frowns to being wide open. We’d need lots of different shaped facial hairs that switched out with Cove’s changing expressions to make sure the mouth was never awkwardly fitting with the facial hair. It’d be a lot of extra work and we aren't able to manage that right now.
I'm sorry. If the game gets enough support we could potentially make it happen, but it's not something I can guarantee.
This demo has convinced me to become a patreon once the new month starts. I will also probably be breaking my no kickstarter rule to help fund with the kickstarter when it goes live. I'm always on the lookout for new visual novels and this concept is unlike anything I have ever played and I'm excited to see how the game turns out when it is finished!
Aw, thank you so much for the support ^^! We're doing our best to make to have the concept live up to its potential and improve what's already there. And we have had a few successful Kickstarted/released projects in the past, so we're pretty confident we'll be able make this one worth the while.
I've stumbled upon this game by complete accident in my never-ending search for gay romance games that aren't just basically porn and I'm so glad I did. It looks absolutely incredible, the art and UI design are so clean it almost makes me cry how long it took me to find this.
The only other game I've found that scratches a similar itch is Straight!? which I've been following for over a year and now I don't need to restlessly wait every month for only one adorable romance! That's great! And Our Life is definitely more up my alley.
I'm hoping that by the time the final release comes we'll know Cove inside and out because he's just so precious I need to explore every possible scenario with him. And I just saw his design for the late teens/young adult portion of the game and holy shit he's going to be hot, can't wait.
Just major props for you guys, you're really about to end the genre's whole career with this.
Thank you so much for all of that! It's really nice of you to say ^^. And yeah, we tried to have Cove grow up to be a real looker, haha. We'll do our best to have he full version live up to expectations
When the complete game come out, will it be completly free? cI am sorry for such a question however the demo had me immersed and I would be very sad if the game costed money that I dont have!! However I really like your game so far so wonderful job so far
There will be a free base version that anyone can enjoy! But it's not 100% non-commercial, there will be optional paid DLC. I'm glad you enjoyed the game ^^.
Hi! I'm not sure what the problem might be. It could kind of be anything, aha. The file could've downloaded incorrectly, if you have a scanner that goes over everything you launch that might have decided not to let you access the file, or something else. What happens when you try to play the game? Does the game not open at all? Or is there an error that says something? Or some other thing?
Thanks, I get it now. Sometimes file scanners just mistake a new file for something bad when it's just a normal file. You'll have to look into the type of firewall/virus protection program you have and learn how to allow the file to go through. I'm afraid there's not really anything we can do to help with that. Good luck, though! I hope it won't be too much trouble to get your protection program to stop doing things like that.
This game is so cute~ I was so happy to see Shiloh I was literally screaming at how he cute he was!!( I’m not even exaggerating...) Keep up the good work~^^
Ahhh! i've been following this game for like a week , and i still play the Demo over and over to see everything! (i'm obsessed xD) it's so so beautiful, Cove is such a cute boy i need protect him :'3 also love the moms and Lizzie! x3. I can't wait for the full version of the game definetly i'm going to buy it when is out.One of the best visual novels i played i must say. Thankyou for this beautiful and cute game. ❤
Thank you <3! That's really nice of you to say and it's good to know the demo is worth replaying. Hopefully the full version will live up to expectations.
Heyo! I found your game a while ago, but just recently found out about the release date on Steam, and I am SUPER EXCITED!!I thought this game was just adorable, absolutely the cutest game ever! I hope to see the final product, cuz' I'm sure it'll be amazing. :] just like the demo oml cove is adorable xD
Aw, I'm glad you're excited! We were definitely hoping to make something cute and fun, it's great to hear you thought it was. We'll do our best with the full version, too ^^.
Hello, it's me again, ready to nag you guys about something that has been on my mind for a while now: will the game have a bad end? Or something like that?
I mean, what if there is a chain of choices that will lead to something a bit unpleasant or the MC-Cover relationship staying somewhere as just acquaintances or something lower than that — but now that I think of it, it doesn't sound like a bad end.
Anyway, that's just something I've been curious about, also, how many names you guys are planning on adding in the voice feature?
It's not a nag. We're happy to answer questions about the game C:. There are no bad endings in Our Life.
The choices that come up during events won't ever ruin your relationship or stop it from progressing. Players can pick whatever they like. There are some scenes with unpleasantness in the game as characters deal with difficulties, but the story as a whole doesn't end on a low note.
If you want to romance Cove, you just set the relationship meter to Crush or Love at the start of Step 4 or sooner. If you don't want to romance Cove, you leave the relationship meter at Fondness or Indifference at the start of Step 4. Not romancing him isn't treated as a bad thing.
And we're planning to have at least 400 names! Maybe more.
I hope you'll be able to find one you like! And there will be various chances to get a name added (including free ways, like giveaway) so you can keep an eye out for that too ^^.
In Step 2, Cove can have two different haircuts, right? (or more?)
If so, then I always obtain the same haircut, where Cove doesn't have a fringe... But never the other xD So I was wondering if the other haircut was present in this demo?
Yes, Cove has two different haircuts in the demo! You get the other one by making certain choices, especially near the end of Step 1. Appearance based deciding factors are generally attached to small choices that seem like they may not matter at all. I'm afraid it isn't obvious what to pick to get a certain look. I'd recommend going through the demo and picking things you've never chosen before c:
I'm afraid right now we don't have anyone on the team who's capable of making an IOS build. But maybe we'll eventually be able to hire someone new who can do that!
I just played the demo and I really love this game! I've never seen a game that can allow me to be one gender at one point in the game, and then change to another later! Since it goes from childhood into adulthood, a mechanic like this really helps immerse me.
I do have one thing I'd like to ask though, will there be any female romance options in the DLC? I'm assuming not, but it'd feel nice to have that layer of choice too.
Also, I found a bug; during the Fireflies moment, Shiloh will call your mom Mrs. Last even if you change your last name to something different.
Thank you so much! It's great to hear the game is immersive ^^. I'm afraid it only has male LIs, though. But we plan on having female LIs in our future projects.
And thanks for pointing out the error! It'll be fixed in the next update :].
This is a game that I've had my eye on for awhile! I've downloaded and played the demo and enjoyed it. I am definitely looking forward to playing it when it is released!
I just got the game and i LOVE it!!I cant really point out why but this game just seems to have all it needs to be perfect. Usally im not a fan of visual novels but damn for this im gonna spend my money as fast as i could.To GBPatch with this game your doing an amazing job and hopefully your keeping it up!<3
I am absolutely in love with the game already, I have never seen a gameplay system like that so I'm really excited to play the full version when the time comes! Cove is adorable and I'm interested in how his character development is mostly based on the player's choices, I am particularly aiming for the friends-to-lovers relationship since I'm a sucker for it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
I will try to pledge at least US$1 once I have the money and permission since I'm still a minor, it will cost me about R$4,09 but I don't mind at all!
Aw, thank you so much for the support ;v;. It's wonderful to hear you enjoyed the features! We'll do our best to have the full version live up to expectations.
I actually have a question I'm interested in hearing about. Later on, you mentioned that Cove will develop by our interactions to be sporty or studious, but how so? Is it locked in to what you make your character to be? Say I want my character to be the cheerful sporty type, but I wanted Cove to be the studious and more serious type? Would that be possible or is it set to Cove being sporty because my character is? Just curious, since I'm really into this game of yours and its future. =)
That is definitely possible! Most of the choices related to the MC's hobbies, talents, interests, and what they focus on education/career-wise are very direct and unsubtle. The game will generally just present a choice where the player directly picks what they want for those types of traits. And those choices intentionally don't impact Cove. All it does is collect info on you. So you can decide freely and not worry about whether it'll mess up your future Cove. His sporty-studious stuff is set entirely separately.
As for the personality combo you want- there are happy MC options that make him more outgoing, cheerful options that make him more reserved, and friendly choices that leave him as he is. So you can be cheerful person who ends up with a cold Cove. The tricky part is figuring out how to do that. The choices that do impact Cove aren't direct and it can be quite hard to tell what you'll get. A tip is that Cove can become quiet with a cheery MC if he's coddled by them. If they're always there to tell him it's okay and to stand up for him and to do things for him and to be his only company.
I see. Thank you so much for answering me question. I'm just really impressed by the direction you have taken this, as many games rarely evolve characters like this. I'm so glad that Cove won't be a direct copy of my mc. I admit I played the demo several times over just to see how different mc personalities and different interest levels affected him. =)
Gosh, I'm becoming a nerd over the small details. But my first playthrough of the demo was with this little red-head mc that is super cheerful and joking, but immediately latches on to Cove in the way a little kid just immediately decides someone is their best friend forever and is going to protect them. And now that's like my canon. xD
Only other thing is it is a little sad that they share the same interest levels. So you can't have mc secretly crush on an oblivious Cove who still sees them only as a friend.
Thank you for such kind words ;v;. And aw, that's a really sweet character and dynamic you went with!
Haha, it would be nice to have even more fun relationship dynamic possibilities. But at some point we had to stop ourselves or the game would never come out. Maybe someday if we have a bigger team we can do more.
Yes, and I completely understand. Its very important to maintain a decent scope size for a project. I certainly don't want to hinder this, as I'm absolutely looking forward to the full release and continuing the adventures of goofy red-head and Cove to the end of their days. xD
That was so cute and amazing, I really loved playing the game! I really like the system of changing the relationship with Cove and creation of the MC! I'm excited for the launch of your kickstarter, I'll make sure to pledge if I can ;) Good luck with development!
So adorable. And I love the whole idea of evolving our character and watching Cove grow to. I want more already. I wanna slow-burn romance and snuggle Cove. xD
One of the best demos I have played in a long time. I love that you can customise the main characters features as well as pronouns. And the fact that you get to choose your interest and how you approach Cove is a nice touch. Honestly I cannot wait for this game to be released in full.
I played the demo and I loved it! Like, the art is gorgeous, the story is really cool and the mechanics are quite a nice touch.
I played it on android and I did have some problems tapping the arrows during the character customization since they are so small. I also found some typos, do you guys want people to notify you of that? And if so, how can we do that?
Anyway, I wish you lots of good luck with the game and I'll definitely check it out once it releases.
← Return to game
Comments
Log in with itch.io to leave a comment.
This game is amzing! I've never seen anything like it and it's so refeshing, exciting and heartwarming!! I have a question, though. Does the demo receive monthly updates? I've heard from various sources that it does and doesn't and this is my first time playing this demo so I'm not sure and I would love to be on the lookout for any updates!!
Thank you very much :D! We will keep updating the demo to improve it and add more content here and there, but it won't be on a monthly schedule. I'd say an estimate would be every two months. Though possibly longer, depending on how busy we are with getting the game done. Making demo builds requires changing quite a few things so we can't do it all the time, sadly.
Our Patreon beta gets monthly updates, so that may be where some of the confusion comes from. Those builds are easier to do, since they don't need any special changes to make them right. It's just a beta version of whatever is done at the time, haha.
I hope that makes sense!
Thanks so much for responding! And yeah, that makes sense! I want to become a Patron but I'd probably only be able to maintain it for that one month. I'm probably still going to, though, hahahahaha.
Oh! Also do you think it would be better to become a supporter on KickStarter or Patron. Of course, I probably won't be able to be a consistent on but I still want to be able to pitch in anywhere I can!!
Thank you for wanting to support us <3! Kickstarter is a one-time donation and Patreon is subscription that repeats every month until cancelled. Kickstarter backers will get KS-exclusive updates with their one donation for the whole development period. Patreon-backers have to renew each month to keep getting the Patreon-only updates. But Patreon has updates for more than Our Life and has a big backlog of private posts already available to go through. Beta-Testing is more expensive on Kickstarter since you're paying for multiple builds at once, you can pay a smaller price to beta-test just one build in one month through Patreon. Both have good qualities and both help us out a lot, so it's really up on what sounds most interesting!
Thank you for informing me!! Right now I have a bit of money, I just need to put it on a card. I think I might be leaning toward KS though, since it's only a one-time payment and I probably won't be able to do monthly payment on a consistent basis. Either way, I really want to help and see how the game progresses!!
No problem! I really appreciate that you want to back ^^
Would be nice to be able to preorder the game here with Paypal.
And a deluxe version with Game + Artbook would be awesome ^^
We'll see about setting up Paypal as an option to preoder the game :). I'm not sure we can add more tier, though. There are quite a few already, aha. But we will try to sell the artbook separately when the game comes out, for those who don't want to get those other rewards!
Nice!
Thank you :)
You're welcome <3
I'm absolutely obsessed with Our Life and after playing the extended demo I'm even more in love. Still, I have some concerns. It's obvious that romance is an important part of this game. And I think that there's not enough descriptions of how Cove makes the main character feel.
For example, at the end of the demo we have a choice to hug Cove. However, we don't really know how the MC feels about hugging him. It almost seems like this hug doesn't make them feel anything special. It bothers me a little. If the MC has a crush on Cove then it should be shown that they feel nervous/shy/their heart starts beating faster, and so on. Also, it’s a little strange that description of the hug is the same when the MC and Cove have a crush on each other and when they’re only friends. The blush on Cove’s face is the only difference. To give another example, when people tease Cove about liking MC we can see that he’s obviously embarrassed. But the MC doesn’t seem to have any reaction and I think that it would be more realistic if they were blushing too.
I remember that at the beginning of Step 2 the text says that the MC’s heart starts beating faster at the sight of Cove. I like it! This is exactly what I’m talking about! We need more descriptions like that. We need to know that Cove makes the MC’s heart go crazy. It makes the romance feel more real and natural. But I’m aware that it’s only a demo and that a lot of things will be added later. I just wanted to share my suggestions with you ^^
I disagree about the hugging part. At this point in time MC and Cove have known each other for five years. I hate when is stories like these when the MC's always feel nervous even though they have known said Love Interest for so long. Even though the MC usually relives from their nervousness it still makes the atmosphere of the scene feel awkward.
I was almost dreading picking the "hug" option because I thought that like most other games the MC would become extremely flustered. I would get her becoming shy if it was the other way around and Cove hugged her instead and then sheh started blushing or her heart quickened.
But I agree on the other things! And I like how Cove's emotions are written. The scenes never feel awkward.
Ah, yes, I agree with you. I wasn't trying to say that the MC should be uncomfortable or stressed in Cove's company. I also like how comfortable they are with each other. I just think that it would be nice if the description of the hug was different depending on relationship between Cove and MC. It would feel like choosing the type of relationship with Cove really makes a difference in gameplay. Also, I think that hugging your friend and your crush feels very different, even if you know your crush for a long time. The heart starts beating faster and there's this funny feeling in your belly. At least in my experience, haha :) Sorry if what I've written before is confusing. English is not my first language.
You're English is great!
And I agree there. Maybe MC's reaction (at least in that scene) should depend on the choices you make with her, like if you make her shy then she would be shier when having interactions with Cove, or if you make her more outgoing she would feel more accustomed to interactions like that.
But as someone who has coded choice-heavy stories/novels I'm not even completely sure if that's possible, haha. Since the game is having its full release in the Summer of 2020 I imagine that it'll be enough time for them to improve stuff like that, though!
Thank you for the suggestions and I'm glad you liked the demo! Our Life will have more variations and alterations as we continue developing it :]. But for that hug situation specifically, the MC is comforting someone who's panicking about their family. It'd be a bit out of place for the MC to take that moment to think about how they're attracted to Cove and that touching him makes their heart race, aha. There are other times where it comes up and there will be more in the future.
Thanks for replying! Now I know that I didn't really take the full context into consideration . Thank you for explaining that for me ^^ Good luck with the further development, you're doing really great!
Thank you for understanding and for the kind words :D! We'll do our best with the coming content.
This game already looks so good!! I'm really excited for the full game to come! Cheering for you, creatiors! ❤️
Thanks so much for the encouragement <3
Ah I'm so excited, I've been ! Congrats on the kickstarter! :D
(Just wanted to say, on the Android version of the demo it gives an error whenever you go to the playground, saying there's an error loading the background. ^^)
Thank you so much ^^. And we'll fix that error in the Android version soon!
That error should be fixed now if you download the new file here on Itch!
First, I'd like to join everyone in complimenting your team about the quality of the demo. As was already said many times, the concept of the game is quite original and fresh, which is commendable and very welcome. Most VN authors usually don't dare to take such risks, while they probably should to avoid stagnation of the genre. The game reminds a bit me of an old DOS game, called Alter Ego, and it definitely appeals to me.
Next, and again I think it was already said, your writer really displays talent with designing child characters. They appear as "believable" in their thoughts and actions, at least through the eyes of the adult that I am. The game also always provides us with a satisfying number of sensible options on how to experience "our" childhood, so that's really good (and promising for the rest)!
Maybe some more "innocent" or, let's say, "naive" actions as a child would be great to have too. As an adult, I can see the "motivation" behind most of the alternatives that the game presents to me. They all appear as rational, while most children probably have times where their demeanour appears as quite confusing or even totally irrational instead.
Who, as a child, hasn't burned themselves while touching stuff that they shouldn't have ? Or wasted the linings of our bedrooms with multi-coloured pencils, knowing perfectly well that parents forbid it and would punish us for it ?
I realize that such an addition could make the beginning of the game a bit more "chaotic", and that your intended target IS an adult population, but I thought that it could perhaps also help to further differentiate childhood from other ages. Not *everything* has to absolutely make sense when there is magic about ^.^
Finally, I admit I am a bit apprehensive when I saw that you locked a good number of "sequences" within an age behind DLCs purchases. I do understand where you're coming from and why you are doing it. Good work not only deserves praise, but also (financial) reward and support.
I do hope that you'll manage to keep these balanced, not to spoil the enjoyment of the (base) game, since I can't imagine many players being keen on the concept of purposefully skipping content, even if there is a gameplay motivation behind it (in a sort of "Game+"). Some events are also fairly short, depending on the choices of the player, so that could render the whole experience of the game rather thin. Usually, the more we have to read in a VN, in different, non-empty routes, the better. Maybe this will change when our characters grow up however, I can't say. It's only a demo.
Suffice to say that I wouldn't mind paying extra for, say, a DLC with an additional character, for example (a girl instead of a boy, or whatever).
In any case, I will definitely send a small token of my appreciation your way some time soon, because I think that this project is of high value, that it deserves to be supported and to take off successfully.
All my best wishes to the team, and thank you for creating this game.
Thank you very much for such a detailed feedback! We'll keep it in mind and do what we can. The full version will certainly have more options/alterations/scenes than the demo goes. And there are two DLCs that add new characters to romance, though I'm afraid neither of them are girls. This game just has guy LIs, but our future games will have lady love interests.
Your reply is very much appreciated.
Of course I am a bit disappointed about no romanceable girl character DLC in the future, but it's fantastic to hear that such a talented team has more such projects (and perhaps with female LIs!) coming the future.
Please let me congratulate on your successful Kickstarter endeavour, and wish you again all the best. Really looking forward to you going Gold and playing the full game now. It can't come too soon ^.^
Thank you again :D! We'll do our best to get OL done and get started on more stuff.
This is one of my favorite games by you (The others include XOXO Droplets and XOXO Blood Droplets) I'm hella excited for when this comes out.
Thank you ^^! I'm happy you like our games and are looking forward to our next project.
Love this game everything about so amazing game.
Thank you so much <3!
The concept really appealed to me. Playing the demo confirmed it. Have to echo another comment that said the way you write children is very realistic - they're not acting like literal toddlers, but they're not mini-preteens or mini-adults, either.
I also have to say that I very much appreciate the option to change pronouns at every step of the game. In fact, the roleplaying that's already in the demo is a fair step better than some other games I've played.
I have to ask out of curiosity, is facial hair a possible customization option for adult Cove (or adult MC)?
Thank you so much for the kind words! It's wonderful to hear that we handled the child portion of the game well so far ^^.
Facial hair will be an option for the MC later in the game. It's not currently a possibility for Cove. That's because facial hair doesn't end up working out the same as adding other types of optional layers. With regular hair, for example, you can just layer it over the head of the base sprite and it’s done. But facial hair has to fit with all of Cove’s different mouth expressions. From tiny frowns to being wide open. We’d need lots of different shaped facial hairs that switched out with Cove’s changing expressions to make sure the mouth was never awkwardly fitting with the facial hair. It’d be a lot of extra work and we aren't able to manage that right now.
I'm sorry. If the game gets enough support we could potentially make it happen, but it's not something I can guarantee.
That's alright, just asking!
Thanks for understanding :D
This demo has convinced me to become a patreon once the new month starts. I will also probably be breaking my no kickstarter rule to help fund with the kickstarter when it goes live. I'm always on the lookout for new visual novels and this concept is unlike anything I have ever played and I'm excited to see how the game turns out when it is finished!
Aw, thank you so much for the support ^^! We're doing our best to make to have the concept live up to its potential and improve what's already there. And we have had a few successful Kickstarted/released projects in the past, so we're pretty confident we'll be able make this one worth the while.
Hi! I'm loving it and can't wait for the full game <3 I haven't been this excited about a VN coming out since forever!
There's a bug in the Fireflies event. Shiloh calls Mom 'Mrs. Last' when I had chosen a different surname.
Thank you so much :D!
And whoops, haha. We'll have that error fixed when we update the demo next month.
I've stumbled upon this game by complete accident in my never-ending search for gay romance games that aren't just basically porn and I'm so glad I did. It looks absolutely incredible, the art and UI design are so clean it almost makes me cry how long it took me to find this.
The only other game I've found that scratches a similar itch is Straight!? which I've been following for over a year and now I don't need to restlessly wait every month for only one adorable romance! That's great! And Our Life is definitely more up my alley.
I'm hoping that by the time the final release comes we'll know Cove inside and out because he's just so precious I need to explore every possible scenario with him. And I just saw his design for the late teens/young adult portion of the game and holy shit he's going to be hot, can't wait.
Just major props for you guys, you're really about to end the genre's whole career with this.
Thank you so much for all of that! It's really nice of you to say ^^. And yeah, we tried to have Cove grow up to be a real looker, haha. We'll do our best to have he full version live up to expectations
When the complete game come out, will it be completly free? cI am sorry for such a question however the demo had me immersed and I would be very sad if the game costed money that I dont have!! However I really like your game so far so wonderful job so far
There will be a free base version that anyone can enjoy! But it's not 100% non-commercial, there will be optional paid DLC. I'm glad you enjoyed the game ^^.
Thank you :)
I love this demo and I'm very excited for the type of gameplay I saw. Good luck with the Kickstarter!
Thank you so much ^^! We'll try our best to get the game funded.
hello I've tried playing the demo for PC twice now and it doesn't work do you have any advice? thank you
Hi! I'm not sure what the problem might be. It could kind of be anything, aha. The file could've downloaded incorrectly, if you have a scanner that goes over everything you launch that might have decided not to let you access the file, or something else. What happens when you try to play the game? Does the game not open at all? Or is there an error that says something? Or some other thing?
it won't let me play it it says the file could be harmful thank you for your reply
Thanks, I get it now. Sometimes file scanners just mistake a new file for something bad when it's just a normal file. You'll have to look into the type of firewall/virus protection program you have and learn how to allow the file to go through. I'm afraid there's not really anything we can do to help with that. Good luck, though! I hope it won't be too much trouble to get your protection program to stop doing things like that.
thank you
I've only had Cove for a couple of hours and if anything happens to him I will kill everyone then myself
Haha, I'm glad he's important to you. Cove is a sweet child.
That's a pretty neat gameplay style you got there, never seen one like that before. Nice.
And good luck with the coding, might be a bit tricky with that kinda gameplay I think? But yeah, cool prodject you got there.
Thank you for the well-wishes! It can be pretty time consuming to keep up with all the flags, but it's been worth it I'd say, haha.
I really like this game! I hope this game get complete so that many other people can play this awesome game too! Keep up the good work!
Thank you :D! We're pretty confident that the game will get done next year. We'll do our best with it!
I just finished this and I loved it so much! I really didnt expect to like it as much as I did and I'm eagerly waiting for the rest.
Aw, thank you c:! We'll try to get more out soon.
You've done a great job and I can't wait for the rest :)
❤❤❤
This game is so cute~ I was so happy to see Shiloh I was literally screaming at how he cute he was!!( I’m not even exaggerating...) Keep up the good work~^^
Haha, thank you very much! It's nice to hear you enjoyed the cameo :D.
Ahhh! i've been following this game for like a week , and i still play the Demo over and over to see everything! (i'm obsessed xD) it's so so beautiful, Cove is such a cute boy i need protect him :'3 also love the moms and Lizzie! x3. I can't wait for the full version of the game definetly i'm going to buy it when is out.One of the best visual novels i played i must say. Thankyou for this beautiful and cute game. ❤
Thank you <3! That's really nice of you to say and it's good to know the demo is worth replaying. Hopefully the full version will live up to expectations.
Heyo! I found your game a while ago, but just recently found out about the release date on Steam, and I am SUPER EXCITED!!I thought this game was just adorable, absolutely the cutest game ever! I hope to see the final product, cuz' I'm sure it'll be amazing. :]
just like the demo oml cove is adorable xDAw, I'm glad you're excited! We were definitely hoping to make something cute and fun, it's great to hear you thought it was. We'll do our best with the full version, too ^^.
Hello, it's me again, ready to nag you guys about something that has been on my mind for a while now: will the game have a bad end? Or something like that?
I mean, what if there is a chain of choices that will lead to something a bit unpleasant or the MC-Cover relationship staying somewhere as just acquaintances or something lower than that — but now that I think of it, it doesn't sound like a bad end.
Anyway, that's just something I've been curious about, also, how many names you guys are planning on adding in the voice feature?
It's not a nag. We're happy to answer questions about the game C:. There are no bad endings in Our Life.
The choices that come up during events won't ever ruin your relationship or stop it from progressing. Players can pick whatever they like. There are some scenes with unpleasantness in the game as characters deal with difficulties, but the story as a whole doesn't end on a low note.
If you want to romance Cove, you just set the relationship meter to Crush or Love at the start of Step 4 or sooner. If you don't want to romance Cove, you leave the relationship meter at Fondness or Indifference at the start of Step 4. Not romancing him isn't treated as a bad thing.
And we're planning to have at least 400 names! Maybe more.
Oh wow, that's a lot of names, I hope mine happens to be one of them, although is highly unlikely- oh well, thank you for the reply!
I hope you'll be able to find one you like! And there will be various chances to get a name added (including free ways, like giveaway) so you can keep an eye out for that too ^^.
Hi ! ☆
In Step 2, Cove can have two different haircuts, right? (or more?)
If so, then I always obtain the same haircut, where Cove doesn't have a fringe... But never the other xD So I was wondering if the other haircut was present in this demo?
If so, how to get it plz ;-;
And again, I really love your game (= u =) ♡
Yes, Cove has two different haircuts in the demo! You get the other one by making certain choices, especially near the end of Step 1. Appearance based deciding factors are generally attached to small choices that seem like they may not matter at all. I'm afraid it isn't obvious what to pick to get a certain look. I'd recommend going through the demo and picking things you've never chosen before c:
And I'm happy you love the game!
It's true that there are a lot of choices in the game. It's awesome! @-@ I haven't tested everything, yes... I know what I have to do now. :)
Thank you very much for the answer!
Good luck! I hope you find it :D
can u maybe make it available on iPhone
I'm afraid right now we don't have anyone on the team who's capable of making an IOS build. But maybe we'll eventually be able to hire someone new who can do that!
I just played the demo and I really love this game! I've never seen a game that can allow me to be one gender at one point in the game, and then change to another later! Since it goes from childhood into adulthood, a mechanic like this really helps immerse me.
I do have one thing I'd like to ask though, will there be any female romance options in the DLC? I'm assuming not, but it'd feel nice to have that layer of choice too.
Also, I found a bug; during the Fireflies moment, Shiloh will call your mom Mrs. Last even if you change your last name to something different.
Thank you so much! It's great to hear the game is immersive ^^. I'm afraid it only has male LIs, though. But we plan on having female LIs in our future projects.
And thanks for pointing out the error! It'll be fixed in the next update :].
This is a game that I've had my eye on for awhile! I've downloaded and played the demo and enjoyed it. I am definitely looking forward to playing it when it is released!
Thank you very much ^^!
I just got the game and i LOVE it!!I cant really point out why but this game just seems to have all it needs to be perfect. Usally im not a fan of visual novels but damn for this im gonna spend my money as fast as i could.To GBPatch with this game your doing an amazing job and hopefully your keeping it up!<3
Aw, I'm really glad you feel that way! We tried to make it engaging. Thank you for the kind words and support :D
Really invested already. Another sucker fo friends-to-lovers relationship :3. I'll work part time to support this game.
Haha, it's great to see another fan of that! And it means a lot that you want to support this project so much <3
I am absolutely in love with the game already, I have never seen a gameplay system like that so I'm really excited to play the full version when the time comes! Cove is adorable and I'm interested in how his character development is mostly based on the player's choices, I am particularly aiming for the friends-to-lovers relationship since I'm a sucker for it ¯\_(ツ)_/¯.
I will try to pledge at least US$1 once I have the money and permission since I'm still a minor, it will cost me about R$4,09 but I don't mind at all!
You guys are doing an amazing job! Love y'all!
Aw, thank you so much for the support ;v;. It's wonderful to hear you enjoyed the features! We'll do our best to have the full version live up to expectations.
I actually have a question I'm interested in hearing about. Later on, you mentioned that Cove will develop by our interactions to be sporty or studious, but how so? Is it locked in to what you make your character to be? Say I want my character to be the cheerful sporty type, but I wanted Cove to be the studious and more serious type? Would that be possible or is it set to Cove being sporty because my character is? Just curious, since I'm really into this game of yours and its future. =)
That is definitely possible! Most of the choices related to the MC's hobbies, talents, interests, and what they focus on education/career-wise are very direct and unsubtle. The game will generally just present a choice where the player directly picks what they want for those types of traits. And those choices intentionally don't impact Cove. All it does is collect info on you. So you can decide freely and not worry about whether it'll mess up your future Cove. His sporty-studious stuff is set entirely separately.
As for the personality combo you want- there are happy MC options that make him more outgoing, cheerful options that make him more reserved, and friendly choices that leave him as he is. So you can be cheerful person who ends up with a cold Cove. The tricky part is figuring out how to do that. The choices that do impact Cove aren't direct and it can be quite hard to tell what you'll get. A tip is that Cove can become quiet with a cheery MC if he's coddled by them. If they're always there to tell him it's okay and to stand up for him and to do things for him and to be his only company.
I see. Thank you so much for answering me question. I'm just really impressed by the direction you have taken this, as many games rarely evolve characters like this. I'm so glad that Cove won't be a direct copy of my mc. I admit I played the demo several times over just to see how different mc personalities and different interest levels affected him. =)
Gosh, I'm becoming a nerd over the small details. But my first playthrough of the demo was with this little red-head mc that is super cheerful and joking, but immediately latches on to Cove in the way a little kid just immediately decides someone is their best friend forever and is going to protect them. And now that's like my canon. xD
Only other thing is it is a little sad that they share the same interest levels. So you can't have mc secretly crush on an oblivious Cove who still sees them only as a friend.
Thank you for such kind words ;v;. And aw, that's a really sweet character and dynamic you went with!
Haha, it would be nice to have even more fun relationship dynamic possibilities. But at some point we had to stop ourselves or the game would never come out. Maybe someday if we have a bigger team we can do more.
Yes, and I completely understand. Its very important to maintain a decent scope size for a project. I certainly don't want to hinder this, as I'm absolutely looking forward to the full release and continuing the adventures of goofy red-head and Cove to the end of their days. xD
Thank you so much for understanding! I'm sure it'll be a beautiful life <3
Thank you so much <3! We're planning to release the game Summer 2020.
That was so cute and amazing, I really loved playing the game! I really like the system of changing the relationship with Cove and creation of the MC! I'm excited for the launch of your kickstarter, I'll make sure to pledge if I can ;) Good luck with development!
It's great to hear that you enjoyed the game's special systems. Thank you for the kind words and support!
I really want to play this game, but when i downloaded it for Android, it says it has trouble parsing the package.
I'm sorry about that! What version of Android are you using and which Android file did you download?
So adorable. And I love the whole idea of evolving our character and watching Cove grow to. I want more already. I wanna slow-burn romance and snuggle Cove. xD
Thank you so much ^^! And I'm sure Cove will be very happy to cuddle when the time comes~
This game is so great! I love everything about it! (Honestly almost got an actual crush on Cove X3) I can't wait for the full version!
Aw, I'm happy you like Cove so much! He's a good kid. And thank you for the kind words ^^!
He really is! And you're welcome!
One of the best demos I have played in a long time. I love that you can customise the main characters features as well as pronouns. And the fact that you get to choose your interest and how you approach Cove is a nice touch. Honestly I cannot wait for this game to be released in full.
Thank you so much :D! It's great to hear you enjoyed the special features.
I played the demo and I loved it! Like, the art is gorgeous, the story is really cool and the mechanics are quite a nice touch.
I played it on android and I did have some problems tapping the arrows during the character customization since they are so small. I also found some typos, do you guys want people to notify you of that? And if so, how can we do that?
Anyway, I wish you lots of good luck with the game and I'll definitely check it out once it releases.
I'm so glad you enjoyed it ^^. We're gonna create a better Android build with optimized versions of the screens as soon as we can.
You're welcome to put the errors you wanna report in a new comment or send us an email!
Contact Email: gb.patch.games at gmail
Thank you for giving it a try and the well-wishes!
One of the few games, that I am excited to pay the full price for!
Thank you for the support <3!
This game is the cutest thing ever <3
Can't wait to see more of it. You guys are amazing, thank you so much for your work!
Aw, thank you very much for the kind words! c: