I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is a 2022 role-playing game developed by Northway Games and published by Finji. Players begin as a ten-year-old colonist and navigate through events shaping the colony until their character turns twenty. The game launched in August 2022 for Microsoft Windows, macOS, Linux, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation 5.
How to play Excolonits ?
After Earth becomes uninhabitable due to catastrophic events, a group of brave colonists constructs a ship and embarks on a journey through a wormhole to their new home, Vertumna IV. Players begin their adventure aboard the Stratospheric, but the excitement is short-lived as the ship soon encounters the wormhole, causing the player to fall into a coma.
Upon awakening, players discover that the Stratospheric has been repurposed into a bustling colony. This new environment offers a variety of departments and opportunities for players to explore and develop their skills. As they navigate their new life, they must manage their time and make choices that influence their growth and relationships within the colony.
Midway through the game, the colony is nearly devastated by an alien attack. The situation is further complicated by the arrival of a militaristic faction from Earth, intent on taking control of the colony. Players are faced with a critical decision: they can either expose the military leader and thwart their plans to dominate Vertumna IV or allow the new regime to establish its authority. The outcome of this choice significantly impacts the future of the colony and the player’s experience in the game.
What is the main plot of Excolonits?
After Earth becomes uninhabitable, colonists build a ship and head through a wormhole to Vertumna IV. Players start on the Stratospheric, which soon reaches the wormhole, causing the player to fall into a coma.
Upon waking, the ship has been converted into a colony, where players can explore various departments and develop skills. Midway through the game, the colony faces near-destruction from an alien, followed by a militaristic group from Earth aiming to take over. Players can choose to expose the military leader and prevent further colonization or allow them to remain.
The success of Excolonits
Development of I Was a Teenage Exocolonist began in 2017, driven by a vision to create a deeply immersive and interactive experience. One of the primary goals was to ensure that character interactions felt natural and that player decisions had meaningful impacts on the game’s narrative. This ambition was realized through the use of extensive conditional statements, which allowed the game to adapt dynamically to the choices players make. The developers meticulously crafted a branching narrative with approximately eight hundred unique events, each of which could be triggered based on the player’s actions and decisions throughout the game.
To capture the essence of a ten-year-old’s experience with loss, the game presents early deaths with minimal foreshadowing and dramatic build-up. This design choice aims to reflect the sudden and often disorienting nature of loss as perceived by a child. The narrative’s focus on realism and emotional impact is central to the player’s engagement with the game.
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