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About Our Life: Beginnings & Always
Our Life: Beginnings & Always is a visual‑novel style simulation where you create a protagonist and watch them grow from childhood through adulthood alongside the neighbor boy, Cove. The story focuses on everyday moments and lets emotions like sadness, anger, stress, and worry appear and be met with reassurance.
The game offers deep customization of name, appearance, personality, pronouns and tiny preferences, and it spans four life periods with about 397,000 words of content (roughly 16‑24 hours). It is a free‑to‑play single‑player title for Windows and Linux, featuring Steam achievements and Family Sharing.
01 / THE GUIDE
character customization
Players set a name, appearance, personality and a pronoun (he, she, or they) for the main character. These details can be altered as the character ages, allowing the story to reflect the evolving identity.
Customization also covers minute preferences such as a favorite drink, which the game remembers and references later, reinforcing the sense that the world tracks the protagonist’s choices.
- Try different pronoun selections early to see how dialogue references change.
- Note favorite preferences; they reappear in later scenes.
02 / THE GUIDE
four life stages
The narrative is divided into childhood, adolescence, young adulthood and fully grown periods. Each stage presents its own set of scenes and emotional beats, guiding the protagonist through a full lifespan.
Progression through the stages is linear, with the story’s total word count of 397,000 delivering roughly 16‑24 hours of content that spans everyday moments across the ages.
- Observe how early decisions echo in later stages.
- Take advantage of the slower pacing of childhood for richer detail.
03 / THE GUIDE
dynamic relationship with cove
Cove Holden is the primary love interest whose personality, interests and appearance evolve based on interactions with the player. The game records how you treat him and reflects those choices in his development.
A unique dynamic setting lets you decide the speed and nature of the bond, ranging from instant romance to a long‑term friendship, influencing how Cove remembers your traits.
- Experiment with a slow‑burn dynamic to notice subtle changes in Cove’s behavior.
- Switch dynamics between playthroughs for varied story outcomes.
04 / THE GUIDE
text appearance options
Pressing the "A" key opens a screen where you can adjust font style and size, letting you tailor the reading experience to personal comfort.
These text appearance options offer a simple way to tailor the reading experience without affecting story content.
- Increase font size for longer reading sessions.
- Try different fonts to refresh the visual feel.
05 / THE GUIDE
story length and content
The game contains roughly 397,000 words, which translates to about 16‑24 hours of narrative. This extensive script supports multiple playthroughs with varied character traits and relationship dynamics.
The large word count allows for detailed everyday scenes and emotional moments across all four life stages, giving players plenty of material to explore.
- Allocate time for each life stage to fully absorb the story.
- Replay with different character traits to discover new dialogue.
COMMUNITY
Player discussion