I am proudly part of an ongoing book club for more than a decade. Over that time, we have had some gems, some duds, some mainstream, some oddities. I mostly read the picks and sometimes listened to them. And I had even watched a few.
But until recently, I had never played any of them.
Our previous pick was Shakespeare’s The Tempest, which I am glad to have done, but I sensed it had pushed the group a bit too much. I overcompensated with by suggesting that we play a video game: either Citizen Sleeper, which I had recently picked up, or I Was a Teenage Exocolonist (or just “Exocolonist”), which a coworker had recommended. The group picked the latter, and a few weeks later, we had our first video game discussion for book club.
What is Excolonist?
The premise is all in the title: you are a teenager growing up on an alien planet. Depending on your choices, the colony may thrive or suffer. You have to decide whether to spend each month studying or exploring or working or whatnot, which takes you through a lot of text and dialogue options.
And there’s a card battling mini-game as well.
The game takes about ten to fifteen hours to complete, but it is also designed to be replayed to explore how other choices impact the outcome of the game.
The Discussion Questions
Having suggested it, it was my job to come up with the discussion questions.
Note that these discussion questions have some spoilers in them, so skip ahead if you want to avoid those.
Here’s what I came up with:
- How does it compare to other books or games you have consumed? What are your touchstones for this? How did this game meet or subvert your expectations?
- How many playthroughs did you do?
- When you play roleplaying games, what sort of character concept do you tend towards? Do you play characters more similar to yourself? Or maybe you have a specific style? What did you decide to do for Excolonist?
- Which skills did you decide to specialize in early? How did your build and focus change ove the course of the game?
- The first big moment in the game is when Tammy dies. What was your reaction to that?
- Did you sneak out, and if so, how early did you do it?
- There are a few options for the card battling: normal, hard, and auto. What sort of strategies did you use for the card battling?
- Things are going pretty badly for the Colony when the Heliopause arrives. The Heliopause is definitely a mixed bag, though, with likable characters like Rex and less likable characters like Lum. How did you engage with the Heliopause?
- One of the big themes in this game is in the title: colonialism. And there are different takes on how to deal with the existing wildlife.
- A key part of the game is deciding which relationships you want to invest in. Which relationship did you foster? Which did you neglect?
- The game has many different endings, though most aren’t so different. Which endings did you get? Were you satisfied with that?
- There are some very familiar sci-fi concepts in here, such as wormholes and time loops. Were you really struck by anything?
- Separate from the sci-fi setting, Exocolonist certainly has a specific vibe to it. Do you think the vibe is realistic and exists in our world somewhere.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I really enjoyed this game. The story was solid, and I enjoyed the core gameplay loop with the card battler.
I don’t think I was as impacted as other community members by the story and world. However, it did get me thinking enough to write a blog post on my Daggerheart blog based on what I learned from the game, so I really did get something out of it.