Written by Moriah

When my friends ask what video games I’m interested in, I mostly just say puzzle games and Animal Crossing. Which is true, I have over 1,000 hours put into Animal Crossing New Horizons with no rebooting or deleting the island I started during the beginning of the pandemic. And too many sudoku puzzles open on my phone. However, this summer I have played a lot of games I didn’t expect to love, but I Was A Teenage Exocolonist is so tempting in its construction that I had to start a new run just so I could write this.

Exocolonist is a science fiction role-playing game released in 2022 by Northway Games and Finji. Following the main character Sol from the ages of ten to twenty, dealing with the aftermath of their colony ship crashing onto the planet Vertumna. And having odd dreams of an attack. Broken into months with special events happening each season, Sol has the ability to go around the newly structured buildings and based on what they do, can gain points or money that will pay off in the future.

There are many things I enjoy about this game, one of which being the ability to change Sol’s name, pronouns, presentation, and nicknames. And get the option to pick out Sol’s best friend on the ship and favorite toy which leads to the characters strengths and weaknesses. I often change Sol’s name to anything space related, my current playthrough is named Astra.

Another thing I enjoy from the game are the ways to boost Sol’s stat blocks. With three bases but different structures. Yellow for social, red for physical, and Blue for mental. And through activities like working at the shop, farming with Sol’s mother, learning, or exploring banned sections of the forest, Sol gains experience and forms memories in any of those fields while also developing friendships with the other characters in the game. The best part of those activities are the events where forming those memories pay off. They are often unlocked as cards with numbers and you have to combine them to beat the challenge set. Kind of like a dice roll for dungeons and dragons.

!!Spoiler warning!!

Pretty much everything I want to share is after the game ends for the first time. So proceed with caution please, I do think it is better to play not knowing everything.

!!Spoiler warning!!

Sol goes through a lot of shit, the people on the base die from attacks, diseases, electrocutions, and famine. And at the end of Sol’s twentieth year on Vertumna, an attack on the base happens which leads to the fire from the first scene I mentioned. After that plays out and the game ends, you get to see where Sol end’s up. With nearly 30 possible career endings, there is the option of doctor, athlete, astronaut, rebel, and so much more. And depending on how close you got to other characters [there are romance options by the way] you’ll see how their lives played out as well. After ending a playthrough while dating a character, they’ll be unlocked and shown on the main screen. I’ve gotten a few so far.

After the credits roll, Sol sees an older version of themself and offers a chance for Sol to try things differently to save the people who died over the last ten years. Just by hitting the button to start a new game, things are a little different. Sol has memories from a past life and gets more options to save their friends and family from aliens, famine, electrocutions, even the original ship crash itself. I’ve played it roughly eight times and still have yet to get the “perfect” ending, or better put, one that suits what I want. Yet this time around, I’m focusing on foraging and seeing more of the planet, maybe working towards a more creative route even though I prefer the mental stats for winning the events.

I have always loved science fiction stories. Growing up with Star Trek, Star Wars, and Doctor Who has set me up to be a huge nerd. Time loops, time travel, alternate lives, advanced technology, robots, space. If it has a futuristic plot line, I will watch it. And to see how Sol from their first life lost so much and be given the opportunity to fix something within their control was something I didn’t expect from a game I got on a random sale. The ability to go back and try again with the knowledge you know now is a feeling I understand all too well. And even though it isn’t possible for me in real life, I can do it in a game. Normally once I start playing Exocolonist, I get super focused for eight hours and don’t talk to people. So I’m trying to balance it out by finishing a few quizzes first and then playing some more. I might just play more Animal Crossing until I can block out more time for a full playthrough.