Our Life: Beginnings & Always

"A twenty dollar bill, four summers, fifteen years, and a one of a kind life."

Our Life: Beginnings & Always is the first installment of the Our Life series made by GB Patch Games. It was released on November 16, 2020. For the second installment, check Our Life: Now & Forever.

The game description is as follows:

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 stepping stones 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 neighbor who cares enough to remember what it is.

Synopsis
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…

Features

 * Customizable main character with changeable first name and surname. Shape your appearance, choose your pronouns, and express yourself.
 * Your character changing and growing in the span of three life stages is completely up to you; including transitioning to new pronouns, gaining new hobbies, establishing your preferences, etc.
 * Affect the way the boy-next-door and your potential love interest, Cove Holden, grows as he spends time with you. Whether you want to stay as just neighbors, become best friends, or develop into something more depends on you.
 * 397,000 words, 16-24 hours of content in total, with loads of moments to spend time with characters as they understand you (and you, them) every step of the way.

Characters

 * Main Character
 * Cove
 * Cliff
 * Pamela
 * Noelani
 * Shiloh
 * Elizabeth
 * Derek
 * Jeremy
 * Lee
 * Kyra
 * Miranda
 * Baxter
 * Terry

Build Version History
All of the patch notes for every build of Our Life is listed below:

Our Life 1.1

 * Choosing your room in Step 3 now plays like more of a decorating mini-game where you see the background and flip layers on/off, rather than a series of normal choices in the living room.
 * New save files will display the name of your MC to help you differentiate saves between multiple playthroughs.
 * The gender/body series of choices had a bit of an overhaul. One branch was missing and that's been added, but we also updated all the branch choices in some sections to be clearer on what you'll get as a result for picking them.
 * The Relationship Screen has easier to use fill bars now and a pop up will ask you to confirm you want a certain relationship type before the game continues. Also, if you fill the bar any amount and go to a new Step the screen will lock the fill amount in place so you can't go lower while still showing it was filled. The bar won't move back to the bottom with no fill amount like before.
 * Certain word choices were changed to make them better apply to a wider group of people.
 * Some small typos were fixed.

Our Life 1.2

 * There are now two MC "cut-in" images! These are small, partial CGs that actually show parts of your character with all your customization details included. You only see them if certain choices are made, it's possible to play through the entire game without getting either.
 * The character creation screen itself was updated to include new details that are important to the cut-in CGs.
 * The relationship selection screen was redone to be easier to use.
 * The Cove creator got a pop-up to explain what to do with it.
 * CG 2-2 was remade to better fit with the rest of the game's style.
 * Various errors were fixed and small tweaks to certain lines were made.

Our Life 1.3

 * Minor error fixes
 * Required to make Step 3 DLC work

Our Life 1.4

 * Step 4, the game's epilogue, was added!
 * The Voiced Name DLC currently doesn't work in Step 4! We'll add in all the voiced lines soon
 * There is a higher amount of save slots
 * The game now auto saves
 * Reported errors from prior builds were fixed
 * Small additions to the script were implemented

Our Life 1.4.1

 * The errors on the character/Cove creation screens are gone
 * The game skipping to the wrong Step is resolved
 * Part of the ending CG not being able to appear for some MCs was fixed
 * Some typo/continuity errors in the script were updated
 * A few wrongly set flags were switched
 * And other miscellaneous small tweaks

Downloadable Content
As of the moment, there are four DLCs for Our Life: Beginnings & Always; one for Step 1, another for Step 2, one for Step 3, and a wedding DLC for Step 4. All of which are available in Steam and Itch.io. All DLCs each contain five additional moments except for the Wedding DLC which only contains one big moment.

Voiced Name Expansion
There is also a free Voiced Name Expansion available in Steam and Itch.io.

The names currently available in the base game and the expansion are: Aaron, Aayria, Abby, Ace, Adrienne, Aeon, Aeriie, Aesling, Aga, Aine, Aisha, Aisling, AJ, Aki, Akira, Akua, Alaina, Alex, Alexis, Alfonzo, Ali, Alice, Alijah, Alison, Alvis, Alyssa, Amanda, Amber, Amelia, Amy, Anaïs, Andra, Andre, Andrew, Andri, Angel, Angela, Angie, Anima, Anita, Anna, Anna-Maria, Anne, Annie, Annika, Anthony, Antoine, Aoife, Arabella, Aram, Ari, Arielle, Arrow, Arthur, Arturo, Arty, Ash, Asher, Ashla, Ashleigh, Ashlyn, Aspen, Asteria, Astrid, Athena, Atticus, Audrey, Aura, Aurora, Austin, Autumn, Ayanna, Ayase Barbie, Basil, Beach, Beata, Bec, Becky, Bee, Belen, Ben, Bethany, Bia, Blue, Bobbi, Bonnie, Boyd, Braden, Breanna, Brian, Briana, Brielle, Brittany, Brooke, Brooklyn, Bryony, Bunni Cadence, Cai, Cam, Cami, Cara, Carmine, Caroline, Casey, Cassidy, Cato, Cecilia, Cecily, Celestia, Cerise, Chance, Chantal, Chara, Charlie, Charmaine, Chelle, Chris, Christie, Christina, Chuck, Ciara, Ciaran, Cillian, Claire, Cléo, Coco, Col, Conny, Cookie, Cora, Cori, Corrina, Cristal, Cristina, Crystal, Cygnus, Cyina Dan, Dani, Dante, Daphne, Dara, Dayton, December, Denny, Deremy, Desiree, Desmond, Destiny, Devyn, Dexter, Diamond, Diana, Diane, Dorothy, Duane Eddie, Eden, Elaine, Elda, Eleanor, Elegance, Elena, Elenus, Elissa, Eliza, Elle, Ellie, Eluned, Elysa, Ember, Emilith, Emily, Emma, Emmy, Enjel, Ennae, Eric, Erica, Erii, Erin, Ester, Eve, Evren, Ezekiel, Ezra Felicia, Felicity, Felix, Fianna, Finist, Finn, Flynn, Francesco, Franklin Gabrielle, Gaby, Gail, Garnet, Gavin, Gemma, Genevieve, Gerry, Gigi, Gin, Giovanni, Giulia, Glen, Grace, Gray, Gwen Haley, Hazel, Halima, Hana, Hannah, Hanni, Haru, Heather, Helena, Héloïse, Hime, Hiyori, Hollis, Holly, Hon, Hunter Ian, Iga, Illidan*, Imani, Irene, Iris, Isabel, Ishan, Isla, Isolde, Issa-Kabeer, Ivy *Illidan is not yet fuctional in the game. J.R., Jacob, Jade, Jaden, Jaiet, Jake, Jamie*, Jan, Janice, Jas, Jasmine, Jasper, Jatin, Javi, Jax, Jay, Jaycie, Jazz, Jeannie, Jeff, Jemma, Jen, Jennifer, Jenny, Jess, Jesse, Jessica, Jessinia, Jill, Jinx, Joanie, Joanna, Joelle, Johanna, Jordan, Jordanna, Joseph, Josh, Josie, Joy, Juleyma, Juli, Julia, Julianne, Julien, June, Jupiter, Justina *Jamie is the only name available in the base game. Kaden, Kai, Kala, Kaleton, Kalina, Karat, Karen, Kat, Kate, Katelyn, Katrina, Kay, Keita, Kel, Kellie, Ken, Kendi, Kenton, Kevin, Kia, Kiara, Kiba, Kie, Kien, Kim, Kimberly, Kimory, Kira, Kirsty, Kisa, Kit, Knox, Kodie, Kozmo, Kra, Kristen, Kyan Laëtitia, Lanz, Laura, Lauren, Lavender, Lea, Leaf, Leah, Leann, Leina, Leo, Leon, Leslie, Letty, Levi, Lex, Lexi, Lia, Libbi, Lidia, Lilith, Lillian, Lily, Lindsay, Lindt, Linley, Lisette, Liss, Livia, Lotus, Lucy, Luke, Luna, Lyla, Lyric, Lysander, Lysella Maddy, Madeline, Mae, Maggie, Mahari, Mai, Maia, Mali, Mallory, Malyia, Mandy, Marcel, Marcella, Marcia, Marco, Margaret, Mari, Maria, Marianne, Mariposa, Maris, Marissa, Marlene, Martina, Mary, Mary-Elizabeth, Mason, Matina, Matthew, Maus, Max, Maya, McKenzie, Megan, Mel, Melanie, Melia, Melissa, Melly, Melody, Merlin, Mia, Mich, Michael, Michelle, Michiko, Mickie, Mikaela, Mikey, Mimi, Mina, Minette, Mini, Mira, Miranda, Mishal, Missy, Mizuki, Molly, Monica, Mordaine, Morgan, Morgana, Moriah, Morina, Muriel, Mykaela Nakira, Nancie, Natalie, Natasha, Nathaniel, Neelam, Nessa, Nessi, Niamh, Nicholas, Nicole, Nier, Night, Nikki, Nina, Noah, Noe, Noel, Nui Oda, Oliver, Olivia, Ollie, Omar, Onyx, Opal, Ori, Osmond, Oumou Paige, Parvati, Patience, Patrice, Patricia, Patrick, Peter, Philippe, Phoebe, Phoenix, Polly, Priya Querriana, Quinn*, Quinniece *Quinn is not yet fuctional in the game. Rachel, Rain, Rainie, Ran, Randi, Raphaël, Raven, Rayne-Beau, Rayraye, Rebecca, Reed, Rei, Reina, Rémi, Ren, Revan, Rhiannon, Rhi-Rhi, Rhyne, Rika, Riley, Rini, Riona, Risa, Riven, Riza, Robyn, Rory, Rosa, Rose, Rosetta, Rosie, Rowan, Runa-Lucienne, Ruth, Ryan, Rye Sabrina, Sage, Salem, Sam, Samantha, Sammi, Sandy, Sara, Saro, Sasha, Savannah, Season, Selena, Selkie, Serena, Shaelei, Shakyra, Shay, Shayla, Sheena, Shelbie, Sid, Sienna, Silvia, Simmy, Simon, Sinead, Siobhan, Skye, Skyla, Skylar, Soffia, Soleil, Sonja, Sora, Soraya, Stacey, Star, Stefan, Stella, Steph, Stephanie, Stephen, Stevie, Story, Susan, Suzy, Sydney Tama, Tammy, Tanisha, Tanya, Taylor, Ted, Teddy, Terra, Terrence, Terry, Thomas, Thorgunna, Tiago, Tida, Tobias, Toki, Tokiko, Tom, Tommy, Tomoko, Trey, Tricia, Tristan, Twila, Tye Uma, Undyne V, Vaeril, Van, Vandy, Vaughn, Vaylin, Velise, Venla, Vera, Verly, Verv, Vesper, Vi, Vicky, Victor, Vina, Vincent, Violette, Vivi, Vivienne Wendy, Westley, Whispthera, Winnie, Wonder Xander, Xavier, Xiri Yasmin, Ylthin, Yon, Yoonie, Yuki, Yukino, Yuli, Yvette, Yvonne Zachary, Zack, Zae, Zariyah, Zayla, Zen, Ziya, Zo, Zoey
 * A
 * B
 * C
 * D
 * E
 * F
 * G
 * H
 * I
 * J
 * K
 * L
 * M
 * N
 * O
 * P
 * Q
 * R
 * S
 * T
 * U
 * V
 * W
 * X
 * Y
 * Z

Patreon Moment
An NSFW Patreon moment is available for Fans-tier patrons. It can be accessed starting from July 2021 onwards. This moment contains NSFW content including writing and CG.

Trivia

 * XOXO Droplets, another visual novel made by GB Patch Games, is in the same universe as Our Life. Three characters from the former make an official appearance in the latter with two of them having in-game sprites. Several other characters from XOXO Droplets are mentioned.
 * Lake of Voices, another visual novel made by GB Patch Games, is canonically a game in Our Life. The player can choose to decorate their phone with a reference to the game.
 * Having their names added to the Voiced Name DLC was a limited opportunity for Patreon backers around September-October 2019 and backers of the Kickstarter campaign. The pronunciation of the names depended on the backers. Adding other voiced names apart from the already available ones is no longer possible as of the moment.
 * The story was written starting 2016.
 * GB Patch Games announced the future release of the second installment of the Our Life series "Our Life: Now & Forever."