Growing Up

Grow up in the United States during peak 1990s.
Information
• 12 romanceable characters? (There a guides that claim they know each characters’ romantic preferences, but I keep finding conflicting info, and experiencing different stuff in playthroughs. I honestly have no idea what the characters’ official preferences are supposed to be. This is why, for game mechanic simplicity, everyone should be bisexual.)
• 52 career endings.
• Typical gender binary assigning at birth. No option for child to realize differently later.
Praises
• Gameplay is very addicting. Played for 12 hours first session.
• The art for the character portraits and backgrounds are very nice. I really like how detailed everything is. So American 1990s!
• You can change your character’s clothes at age 5, then both hair and clothes once they reach middle school.
• Some of the romance scenes are actually written well. Cute and/or thrilling teenage love. My favorites were Nathan, Kato, and surprisingly, Alicia.
• A lot of the lesson animations are amusing and over-the-top.
• Racial diversity is decent.
• Thicc character rep.
• Disabled character (with prosthetic arm) rep.
Complaints
• The devs want credit for being LGBTQ inclusive but without actually being that inclusive. Alex should totally be a trans man. I thought that’s where the story was going, but nope. She looks the part at the end of her story and has a triggered reaction to the given name “Alexandra” but is still called “she/her” at the end of the story. Richard seems like a sex-repulsed asexual, but that’s never actually confirmed. I don’t want hints, bruh, I want the words spoken. Hints and implications are for cowards. Charles is only confirmed as gay at the epilogue and I had no idea he was supposed to be. There’s no indication of that while playing as a female character. The same goes for Vivica, unless you try to kiss her. Then, omfg, during Flick’s story, there’s so much homoeroticism while playing a female character, but she’s supposed to be hetero and I’m like “wtf is this teasing sh!t?” Don’t be cowards. You’ll just piss off the social minority you’re supposedly trying to represent.
• I hate Sam’s route. It seems like there is no way to get through it as a female character without her demeaning herself. No thanks. He’s the only character I enjoy seeing getting a bad ending over and over again.
• The English occasionally has British English, which is weird to read when there is an American flag in the background of many scenes.
• “Skip” skips choices. Just because I don’t want to re-read dialogue I’ve already read doesn’t mean I don’t want to make good choices to get characters’ good endings still. There is no option in the settings to change this.
I know it would’ve been a lot more work, but what would’ve been really cool is if the game had a set amount of generations and with each one there was a different time era, rather than being perpetually stuck in the 1990s. Just a thought I had.
Despite my b*tching, I did enjoy the game. Like I said, addictive af. I just wish people wouldn’t be cowards when it comes to queer representation. Stop giving too many f*cks about how bigots might react to the game, when it clearly isn’t for them. Other than that and some other needed improvements, it’s a good game. I recommend it to people who like the genre.

I love being able to play with generations of the same family, but the game get's a bit repetitive if you play for long enough. Do recommend though, for relaxing gameplay.

Solidly fun. I won't pretend its perfect, as those looking for flaws will find them, but I've been having a lot of fun with this. The biggest issue that I've had is how it ends with graduating high school, and while I know why that is, it still leaves me wanting more. Which, if a game leaves you feeling like its biggest flaw is that you want more of it? It's why I'd definitely recommend it for anyone who's into life sims or other "playing with dolls" type games! (Tho, maaaybe wait for it to go on sale unless you're a dedicated life-simmer).

It is at times tedious I will admit that. But I love this game.. It's just chill. Every now and then I will play this game for a while daily, then not touch it for a while.. But will always get back to it pretty much.
I really wish there'd come more to it tho, but sadly I don't think it'll happen. But I'd love for it to get a DLC with new stuff, new characters... Or maybe a 2nd game with new people.
The achievements are decent enough to do, although some of them was a bit... harder to get.

Growing Up is a stat-raising life sim where you raise a child from birth to age 18 by having them learn skills, organize their schedule, fulfill parental expectations, and manage their mental health. Along the way, you'll have the opportunity to make friends with other characters, and ultimately unlock an ending based on your skills and stats at graduation.
The gameplay loop is pretty simple. Each turn, you select which attributes to level up in a minigame called the brain map. Then, you're able to unlock different subjects using general knowledge points and your accumulated skill in each subject's related attribute. You also have action points, which let you perform different actions around town, and schedule slots, which let you study different subjects or take actions you've unlocked. Every action allows you to improve attributes, parental satisfaction, mental health, and/or earn money. The game proceeds through four different life stages which get gradually more complex, with more activities available and more things to manage. Between the other activities you do, you get requests from your parents and periodically have conversations with side characters that progress their stories. At the end of each life stage, you have an exam minigame. Doing well on the exam gives you a bonus at the start of the next life stage, and your score on the SAT at the end of high school plays a part in determining your final ending, along with your relative attribute levels, and possibly what bonus skills you unlock. You aren't able to make any choices about your final career. Once you get the hang of the mechanics, it isn't too hard to keep your character happy enough to unlock enough skills to finish side stories and do well on exams, although trying to keep mental health and parental satisfaction high at the same time can be challenging at different points. There were also a couple of points where the parental expectations you get don't make sense or are impossible to fulfill (perform outside non-entertainment activities when you haven't unlocked any, for example).
For each of the stages at school, you meet a new friend. There are 12 friends you can meet, four for each life stage, and other than each having a specific life stage when they'll meet you, which friend you get each game is random. The conversations you have with them will determine whether or not you stay friends, whether you have a relationship in high school, and what your friend's epilogue ending is. Making choices to stay friends is usually pretty common sense, but some of the romance options are less intuitive to unlock. A couple of them also felt like they required you to make a romantic choice at an inappropriate moment and would not give you the opportunity to try for romance again at a less serious moment later on. I liked all of the friends that I met, and I appreciated that even the ones you only meet in high school have deep stories. There are also a number of mentors that you can meet that are associated with optional skill trees you can unlock around town. These characters were all fine, although their dialogue choices don't change the progression of their stories at all. What I didn't like about these characters is that your interactions with them don't affect the rest of the story in any way. Aside from occasionally unlocking specific locations, your choices with each character don't affect your relationships with other characters or your parents. I had a couple of times where my character got in big trouble with a friend, but they still had really high parental approval.
The game gets super repetitive after a couple of playthroughs. Other than the friend relationships, the gameplay is basically the same every life. Playing a second generation of the same family has no affect on the game other than skipping the tutorial and ruling out the previous generation's friends as your second character's friends. The personality of your parent (or parents if your first character got married to a friend) has no affect on the expectations or conversations they have with their child.
Overall, I enjoyed Growing Up. I liked the main gameplay loop and trying to unlock different endings, although it's too repetitive to want to do more than a couple of playthroughs in a short period of time. I liked the side characters in general, although there were a number of places where I wished the game had a bit more depth. 7/10

A great pick for anyone who enjoys narrative-based life or raising sims. I’ve played through a few generations now, and while there are things that could be refined in a sequel, overall it’s a thoughtful and fun game - especially for the price.
Visuals & Music
The art style is honestly one of the best in the genre. It’s warm, expressive, and fits perfectly with the story’s tone. The soundtrack also deserves praise - chill, nostalgic, and really sets the mood.
Customisation
Being able to customise your character is a nice touch, though I wish there were a few more options to make each generation look more distinct.
Tone & Story
The writing is emotional and often relatable, but it leans heavily on sad or serious storylines. I found myself playing therapist to my friends more often than expected! A few more lighthearted or uplifting moments would help balance things out.
Friendships
Friendships are a big focus, but they sometimes feel one-sided - you spend a lot of time helping others through tough times without much in return. A bit more mutual growth or fun in these relationships would make them feel more rewarding.
Skills & Choices
The skill system is enjoyable, but some paths seem to matter more than others (sports in particular). I also didn’t always feel like my choices had much impact on how the story played out, which made some playthroughs feel similar.
Parents & Mental Health
Balancing your mental health with parental expectations can feel harsh - simple leisure activities can tank your relationship points fast. It’d be nice if there were more positive interactions or family moments to offset that.
Exams
Exams are presented as a mini-game, which is fine, but a little underwhelming after all the skill-building. Something that ties more directly into your progress could make it more satisfying.
Overall
I really enjoyed Growing Up, even if it can feel emotionally heavy at times. There’s a lot of heart and nostalgia in it, and you can tell the devs put personal experience into the story. It’s a unique, touching take on growing up - I just wish it had a few more bright and playful moments along the way.

I like the slow development idea for sure. It is enjoyable as a kind of strategy game. I'd like to have more interaction with more characters. Very limited interaction with the few other characters who enter the story.
The game needs more characters, more personal interaction, more potential for conflict and struggle.
What about bad parents? Like, really bad parents?