Order Up!: I Was a Teenage Exocolonist
By Rae
When I saw the description “narrative deckbuilding RPG,” I wasn’t quite sure what to expect – especially after coming fresh from another card-based RPG focusing on tarot cards with a wild amount of chance and luck to it. However, Northway Games’ I Was a Teenage Exocolonist was pretty different from anything I’ve played before, with an in-depth tale of adventure in space, a sweet (and sometimes bitter) passage of time, and a card deck built from moments in your life.
The story starts out a little confusing – intentionally so – as you’re pulled from some sort of wreckage by someone familiar… When you fully awaken, you’re a 10-year old in a small colony that has left the strict laws and capitalism of Earth to seek out a peaceful existence of equality on a new planet. At first, everything seems innocent and peaceful – and from the eyes of a ten year old the world is new and exciting. As the game continues, the player will start uncovering cracks in the façade – inhospitable soil, dangerous creatures, secrets, and mysteries…
I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is everything you would expect from a sci-fi story – humor, worldbuilding, tragedy, excitement, and fear – on top of a coming of age adventure. As your character gets older, they start to question more about the world around them, become more loyal or rebellious towards the colony, and have increasingly mature reactions to the shattering of the once supposedly idyllic new world. It’s a combination that really feels like going through life – sometimes it becomes too late to enjoy the past-times you used to or talk to someone who’s no longer there. As you become older, you get more opportunities, but the colony will also change and people will be lost (and sometimes found).
You also become stronger in a lot of ways - will you be tough? A strong leader with persuasive skills? A researcher unparalleled in biology? How will you contribute to the colony, and to your future? Who will you become? Who will your friends become? I Was a Teenage Exocolonist has taken all the wonder and excitement of growing up and given players a chance to do it all over again in a new and wondrous place.
Each year is split into seasons, which are split into months, and each month you can pick an activity to do. As you keep going, you’ll uncover more options if you have the stats to unlock them. When you’ve done too much work or life has gotten too difficult, you can use your time to rest and come back next month at ease. One of the highlights to me was getting to explore different areas outside the colony and learn more about the biodiversity and wildlife of Vertumna.
The story is well-rounded, and you can uncover different parts of it based on what you choose to do each month – studying life sciences can lead you to help look for a cure to the fungal disease plaguing colonists, while working in geoponics gives you a chance to hear more about earth from your mother and father. With so many options, I can imagine that it would take multiple playthroughs to find every piece of every story path, and I already have begun planning what stats I might want to work on in my next life so that I can find new things or retry the challenges that I failed.
Most of the game plays like a visual novel, with a touch of adventure exploration, and fun card challenges at the end of each month or to pass stat challenges. I was initially worried the card mechanic might be complex, but it’s actually a really nice fit to the game. As you play the game and have conversations with those around you, you’ll pick up different cards – each has a color, a value, and sometimes also a special effect, such as -1 stress or additional points under certain conditions. Each time you relax, you’ll have the option to forget one of two random cards, letting you potentially weed out your hand of low-value pieces.
The card game itself is fun – very light puzzling – and even if you lose that’s not necessarily a restart – it’s just a loss, and the game moves on. Occasionally you’ll get a card challenge that’s labelled “impossible” so that you know from the start that if you try it, you can’t win, but continuing may still change your stats or get you a new piece of story (or, if you’re me, destroy half the colony and lose a lot of kudos – that was the one time I’ll admit to resetting).
It has to be mentioned that the game is also beautiful. With soft, watercolor graphics and unique character design, it’s lovely to look at and explore, and features a range of cute and fascinating little alien creatures to potentially tame (I managed to get a pet, and loved watching it hop after me!). The soundtrack is also fantastic – ambient enough to not be distracting, but fun and enjoyable to listen to. Even better, you can skip tracks and toggle endless music on and off in the menus to personalize your experience a bit.
One of the key things I really liked in I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is the agency the player gets in both gender and sexuality. How the game handles puberty is surprisingly soft and open – you can adjust your identity and experience however feels right and comfortable to you, and you aren’t stuck with a pure male/female binary. The end result is a character that feels a little more natural to what you want and need. These types of approaches are becoming more common in gaming today, but this was the first I’ve seen a game handle the physical aspects of growing up in such a thoughtful manner, and the whole experience is stronger for it.
Overall, I Was a Teenage Exocolonist was a really enjoyable ride – the exploration and newness of the first playthrough was a magical experience to me, and even my boyfriend would watch over my shoulder sometimes to see what was happening because I was so into it. This is a good fit for anyone who likes emotional games with light gameplay and lots of story – and absolutely one of my favourites I’ve gotten to play this year.
Note: Special thanks to Sarah at Northway Games for sending me a copy of her game in return for an honest review! We hope to have the chance to chat with her at PAX West a little bit about her work.