Simulation games are my favorite genre. Debatably, the way I play some RPGs and strategy games by ignoring main quests or playing in sandbox mode probably makes them sim games too. Hold on, could EVERYTHING be a sim game? I mean they're all simulating something, right?

Let's back it up. I just reinstalled the Sims 4, arguably King of Sims, which is ten years old and still in the top 30 most played games on Steam[steamcharts.com]. I never played with dolls as a kid but hoo boy watching these poor creatures slapfighting and peeing themselves in public never gets old.

Despite I Was a Teenage Exocolonist not simulating bladder-fullness, I still hope people get a similar joy from guiding Sol/Solane/Solanaceae through all the many possibilities of adolescence on Vertumna.

Oh, right, and the game is on sale, with a limited time demo, for SimFest 2024 from July 22-29!

- Sarah ːnyaaː

We're celebrating the sun with a tremendous trio of I Was a Teenage Exocolonist deals:

Our lowest price yet!

The demo includes the entire first year of the ten-year game, and your savegame will transfer over to the full game if you buy it.

Our month-long campaign for Nomi-Nomi plushes[www.makeship.com] via Makeship ends July 2nd

Nomi has reached the minimum number of sales (🎉hurray!🎉), so these dolls will definitely get made, and will be shipping out in September. But we don't plan to make a second run or to sell them elsewhere, so this is your one-and-only chance to bring the one-and-only Nomi-Nomi into your home and heart. These are a limited-time pride month exclusive.


More info and rainbow-Nomi goodness in the original announcement.

- Sarah :exosmile:

Our first round of ✨ limited-edition Exocolonist plushies ✨ was a big success, with Sols and Vrikis now nestled down in their new homes all over the land.

But someone felt left out. Someone who absolutely needed to be incarnated in plushie form.



The first 200 sales will include a Steam key for I Was a Teenage Exocolonist, and 10% of all sales go to the Trevor Project[www.thetrevorproject.org].

Nomi is a perfect fit for plushification. You know they'd want to own a doll of themselves.


These Makeship campaigns[www.makeship.com] run like Kickstarter: we need to reach a minimum order size of 200 for the dolls to get made, and there will only be a single run of them. They should start shipping out at the end of September.

Nomi enjoying some of their favorite hobbies: video games and old zines. Well, they would be holozines in Exocolonist, but these Art Disk[artdisk.tumblr.com] back issues will do.

Nomi hanging out with their buddies Sol and Squidley Feeterson.


Again, these dolls will only be for sale for one month, and you can preorder them here[www.makeship.com]!

Because this is a Pride Month event at Makeship[www.makeship.com], each doll comes with a cute little detachable cape. Nomi's dress is detachable too, if you wanted to, say, design custom clothes for them. Just putting it out there. If you do customize your Nomi plush, please let us know[discord.com]!

Sorry about the rainbows[www.freepik.com]. I can't seem to stop.

- Sarah ːr3fuelː

Time for one of my favorite yearly Steam events: LudoNarraCon, a festival featuring demos and discounts from story-rich games like our very own I Was a Teenage Exocolonist.

This year's featured new games include some of my recent favorites:

🔮The Cosmic Wheel Sisterhood
🎵Stray Gods
🗡️Slay the Princess
💰Final Profit

Plus 50 other new narrative games, newly-minted demos, big sales on tons of older games, and two days of panels and fireside chats from devs.

[www.ludonarracon.com]I Was a Teenage Exocolonist will be 35% off from May 6 - 13, and our demo will be available for the week!

This festival brought to you by the following Steam tags:

• Choices Matter
  
• Story Rich
  
• Multiple Endings
  
• Interactive Fiction
  
• Visual Novel
  
• Dating Sim
  
• Choose Your Own Adventure

For one week only, the demo is live and game is on sale as we celebrate the best of deckbuilders on Steam! I LOVE deck building games. Some of my recent favorites (all roguelikes):

🛸Cobalt Core
🗡️Inscryption
🚂Monster Train
🐉Dream Quest (obscure but essential)
🃏Balatro (current obsession)

But there will always be a special place in my heart (and a not insignificant part of my brain) for Magic the Gathering. It's been years since I've played online, but I have an unopened box of Lord of the Rings in my closet just waiting to be drafted. Something about the feel - and that smell - of glue and cardboard.

So naturally when I was designing the deckbuilding component for I Was a Teenage Exocolonist, I was already thinking about how to make a physical game out of it.

Behold: you can buy it from https://www.thegamecrafter.com/games/i-was-a-teenage-exocolonist for $14.99 USD!

These are made to order (so it might take a while to ship) and feature 52 UV-coated cards in a cute mint tin, with card art from the game. I originally designed them as promotional merch so I'm selling these at cost.

And yes it includes instructions for a playable 1-person game, a simplified version of the minigame in Exocolonist. Shuffle and draw 7 cards, then play a hand of 5 which scores at least 3 points to win the round. Points come from straights, flushes, pairs, or total score, and yes, order matters.

Or screw playing the game, just enjoy the feel of your favorite Exocolonist cards right in your hands. Breathe deeply and smell that hot ink and glue. Ahhhhhh[www.thegamecrafter.com].

- Sarah ːcccatː

🚀We're celebrating the launch of our friends' game Regency Solitaire II with a limited time bundle.

🎁Buy both I Was a Teenage Exocolonist and Regency Solitaire II this week for 10% off, or complete the set for a 10% discount on whichever game you're missing.

Like Exocolonist, Regency Solitaire II features a mix of story and card game, but set in a Jane Austen-esque world of romance, intrigue, and shifting fortunes. You play as Bella, the heroine from the original 2015 casual hit Regency Solitaire, who finds herself embroiled in a new maze of family secrets.


Revisit romantic Regency Britain and build a glorious garden, in this charming solitaire sequel. Brought to you by the creators of the hit casual card game, Regency Solitaire.

Resolve a tangled web of family secrets to help Bella silence the gossips, and host the season’s most anticipated soiree.

Unlock gameplay features with your makeover project, and reveal bonus 'Collector's Edition' levels and a love story. Don't miss the party everyone's talking about!

From January 29th - February 4th, I Was a Teenage Exocolonist will be featured alongside the best recent and upcoming interactive fiction and narrative games on Steam. If you like stories that move you, choices that matter, and word counts in the hundreds of thousands, this festival is for you:


We'll be celebrating with a discount, looping restream of me playing the game, and the Exocolonist demo will be up for a limited time.

Happy reading!

- Sarah ːnyaaː

❄️ It's that time of year, ❄️
❄️ full of cheap games and cheer, ❄️
❄️ Exo plushies are near- ❄️
❄️ ly gone, ❄️
❄️ So don't miss out, it won't be long! ❄️


ːexobrainː Sol Plush: https://www.makeship.com/products/sol-plush ːexobrainː

ːexoflexː Vriki Plush: https://www.makeship.com/products/vriki-plush ːexoflexː

Sol and Vriki dolls are flying off the (figurative, preorder) shelves. This limited run campaign is ending January 5th. We don't plan to sell them again after that, so if you've had your eyes on one make sure you preorder soon.



Exocolonist is 35% off for the Steam Winter Sale, a magical time when I impulse buy far too many games even though I'll never have time to play them all. I tell myself it's important for "market research", but really I just love all the games and I can't resist a good deal.

The demo is also up for a limited time, and we're re-streaming a cut of 💎 Syafire's 💎[syafire.carrd.co] August 2022 launch day playthrough. She's so lovely! She designs her own VTuber characters and posts tutorials on how it's all done on Youtube and Twitch[www.twitch.tv].

- Sarah ːnyaaː

Get your Vriki and Sol plushies here[www.makeship.com] for a limited time ending Jan 5th 2024.


We've partnered with Makeship[www.makeship.com] to do a limited run of Sol and vriki plushies. It's like a Kickstarter thing, where we need to reach a minimum order size (200 of each) for the campaign to succeed and the plushies to get made. Once that happens, they'll manufacture and ship them out by March/April.

The campaign runs from now until January 5th so preoder yours now!

ːexobrainː Sol Plush: https://www.makeship.com/products/sol-plush ːexobrainː

ːexoflexː Vriki Plush: https://www.makeship.com/products/vriki-plush ːexoflexː

Get a 10% discount if you buy both together! And the first 200 purchases of each comes with a free Steam key - share it with friends if you already own the game.


They sent me some samples to play with and I looooooove them. The minky material is so soft and pettable, they're sturdily constructed with dyed fabrics and embroidered details. Exocolonist artist Mei worked on the production design for these to make them look just right, and finally we know just how many tentacles a vriki has.

I took them out to explore the wild and alien world of my houseplants and deck and they fit right in.

One last time - we don't plan to make or sell these again after Jan 5th, so preorder yours today[www.makeship.com]!

- Sarah ːnyaaː