Our Life: Beginnings & Always is a free visual novel game for PC (Windows, Mac & Linux) by GB Patch Games, available on Steam and Itch.io. It is 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 neighbour who cares enough to remember what it is.

Game Features

– 3 different periods of life to experience: childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood
– 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
– 320,000 words, 15-20 hours of content in total

Game Plot

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…