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Majora’s Mask Gets a Sci-Fi Twist in This Cozy 2023 RPG
I Was a Teenage Exocolonist is presented as a science-fiction life-simulation RPG that combines the time-loop structure of Majora’s Mask with romance, exploration and card-based challenges. Players guide Sol, a child born on a colony ship bound for the alien planet Vertumna, from age 10 to 20, with choices shaping relationships, abilities and possible storylines. The article argues that its central mechanic makes the game’s emotional themes especially effective: memories become playable cards, suggesting that identity is built from experience.
Each season, players choose activities such as studying, socialising, laboratory work or exploration, earning points to develop traits including Rebellion and Empathy; specialising can unlock or close off characters, dialogue and romances. The game is often described as cosy because of its gentle art, music and unhurried routine, but it also addresses trauma, grief and loss. After completing a life, New Game+ allows Sol to retain knowledge from previous playthroughs, creating decade-long loops that reveal new routes and avert earlier mistakes.
In short
- A sci-fi RPG turns childhood memories into strategy cards.
- Choices shape Sol’s relationships, skills and possible futures.
- Gentle presentation accompanies emotionally difficult themes.
Explained simply
Majora’s Mask is a Nintendo adventure game in which the hero relives the same three days, using what he learns to change events. I Was a Teenage Exocolonist also centres on repeated lives, but follows Sol, a child growing up from age 10 to 20 in a human colony on the alien planet Vertumna.
Sol’s life is shaped by seasonal choices: how to spend time, which skills to develop and whom to get close to. Those decisions affect relationships and which parts of the story become available, while challenges are played through cards representing Sol’s experiences and memories.
The game’s gentle art and routine sit alongside stories about grief, trauma and loss. Its repeated lives let players carry knowledge between playthroughs, making it possible to discover different paths and outcomes.