End of June Update!

Warning: I will be talking about tiny little spoilers in this review. Not plot points, but more like the gameplay and the tone of the game. 

My Child Lebensborn is a story-driven simulation game about raising an adopted child. The game takes place after World War 2, and you get to decide if you want to adopt a German boy named Klaus or a German girl named Karin. The game consists of caring for your child, comforting them, dealing with hardships, and trying to give them the best life possible. You choose what actions you want to take throughout the day, whether it's buying and cooking food, reading bedtime stories, going out, etc. Your time is limited, so you have to choose wisely. There are other choices you can make, but they don't lead to multiple endings. The choices are mostly dialogue options that can change how your child reacts to things. 

There is a clear message the developers wanted to convey with this game. It could have felt moralizing or like a bad history lesson, but it doesn't. It puts you in the shoes of someone in that time period and in that situation. My Child Lebensborn does a fantastic job at spreading a message, educating, and having me glued to the game the whole time. This game truly makes you feel like a parent. Every happy moment is exciting, and every emotional moment hits like a ton of bricks. Just be aware before you play, there are some difficult topics in this game. 

Overall, this game is not a masterpiece, but to me, it is masterfully crafted at having you walk in someone else's shoes and see the world through someone else's eyes. 

Growing Up is a life simulation game where you start out as a baby and end the game at your high school graduation. You pick skills you want to learn and train them, and then after each day you access a tree of traits such as intelligence, strength, etc. You pick which traits you want and then use those to unlock more skills that you practice. There is also a story where you can make choices that lead to different endings. This leads to a Candy Crush-like minigame that decides your grade for the year. There are probably a lot of differences depending on which skills you decide to learn and who you interact with in the story. I didn't love the game, so I only did one playthrough. I'm sure it's a lot better if you do more than one. 

For me, the game just went by way too fast. It didn't feel like I had time to explore or decide what skills I wanted to focus on. I would enjoy the game a lot more if I could take my time and explore a little more. On top of the skills, you also have to keep your mental health high by doing fun activities, but a lot of fun activities upset your parents. Then you have to keep your parents expectations high, accomplish the goals that they give you each week, and focus on chores if you want to buy things that help your skills. There are also rewards that can take up entire days, and you can visit different areas, which unlock more things. Basically, there is a lot to do in the game and not nearly enough time to do it all, or even a portion. I know that replayability is highly encouraged, but I like to get the most out of my games on the first run. 

This game has a lot going for it, and it's well done, but I liked the idea more than the execution.