Our Life: Now and Forever – The LGBTQ-inclusive Sequel WE NEED
After Our Life: Beginning and Always we got another amazing title. Our Life: Now and Forever is GB Patch Games’s cozy, choice-packed sequel where you design yourself from head-to-toe, settle into a leafy mountain cul-de-sac, and spend four life stages growing up alongside Tamarack (she/her) and Qiu (they/he). Expect slice-of-life laughs, heartfelt drama, and LGBTQ-inclusive romance in a near-fully customizable story that’s Free-to-Play (with optional DLC), rated 16+, and available on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android, and Steam.
In this article:
Check Out the full interview here:
Our Life: Now and Forever Interview
Katelyn: Yeah, so the story is very simple and basic. You start as a 10-year-old child and you have a single mom. You move to a new town because she gets a job there. And then as you’re looking around the neighborhood for the first time, you find a paper airplane and then try to figure out where it came from and what the mysterious note means.
And after that you just continue living your life there and grow from childhood to adulthood with your two closest neighbors.
Katelyn: Way back in 2019—when I was first starting the original Our Life—I had to decide on the love-interest distribution. I knew I could only manage one big lead, Cove, plus some shorter side stories. I also didn’t want the only female love-interest to feel ‘one-third sized’.
So I thought: what if the sequel flips it? A female lead and a non-binary lead, both on equal footing. That was actually a stretch-goal on the first game’s Kickstarter—if we did well, I could promise a second game built around that idea.
Katelyn: They definitely have different aesthetics. The sequel is painterly and soft; the first game is cel-shaded and vibrant with sharp black lines. One smells of sunscreen and sea salt; the other of crisp leaves and wood-smoke.
The first town is a pricey California beach hotspot full of modern angular houses, while Golden Grove is a sleepy forest community of old classic architecture. Yet when you actually play, the emotional rhythm—silly childhood moments, awkward teens, worrying young adults, reflective finale—will feel familiar.
Katelyn: Well, it’d hinge on the season. For spring I sketched a countryside idea with wide farmland, maybe even living on a farm. I don’t remember for sure what winter would’ve been—maybe the big city—but those concepts sit in my notebooks. Honestly I’m out of steam on this exact premise and already have another project planned after Our Life: Now and Forever.
Katelyn: Qiu is very popular in this town—a small-town star everyone knows and likes. That was risky because the last thing you want is a character who’s supposed to be beloved in-universe but falls flat for players.
So far, though, players agree Qiu really earns the title, which is a huge relief
Katelyn: Tamarack is kind of the opposite show and very similar to the main character in that she’s also just moved into town and doesn’t know anybody. She helps you feel you’re not the only outsider. She’s confident and un-daunted, so you can face things together or let her take the lead if you’re nervous.
Katelyn: We’re trying to be as flexible as the first game, if not more. You choose if your neighbors are friends, crushes, or just neighbors at the start. This time you can shift that mid-step—go from neighbors to friends during a Moment, for example—which wasn’t possible before.
Katelyn: I’m mixing auto-scenes, skippable scenes, and ‘invite who you want’ scenes. It’s hard deciding which sweet moments are unique to one love-interest and which can happen with either. I want each route to feel authentic—**not just a copy-paste with different faces—**yet also fair if a scene should be available to both.
Katelyn: Thanks to a bigger budget and team, we added way more complicated features: extra pronoun sets, UI tweaks, and a doll-icon system so the fully custom MC still appears without needing thousands of painterly sprite assets.
The engine is also very accessibility-friendly, so things like font scaling were almost effortless.
Katelyn: Instead of influencing a lead’s whole personality, Our Life: Now and Forever lets you shape how they treat you. They start with a default vibe in Step 1, but in Steps 2–4 they can become protective, teasing, shy, etc. specifically toward your MC. It feels more natural yet still personal, though it’s very hard to implement—I keep wanting to add more alterations.
Katelyn: Yep—free from start to end. Then we’ll sell DLCs that add Moments, plus a wedding DLC later on.
We’re lucky we can make a game big enough that a lot can be free yet still leave content to sell; it’s a model I first tried with XOXO Droplets and I’ve never stopped believing in it.
Katelyn: The update adds two new Moments—one in Step 1, one in Step 2—plus the entire Step 2 prologue. At this point, especially because the game’s delayed, I thought: ‘Who cares? I’ll make the demo as big as I want.
Katelyn: I did not expect that many votes or such an even split. Episodic releases are the riskiest thing for a first project, but veteran players trust we’ll finish. Our Life: Now and Forever wasn’t designed for episodes, so we chose a giant demo instead—but I might plan episodic from day one for the next game.
Katelyn: I love cameo characters in a shared universe. Baxter was designed from the start as **an outsider—a strange, autumnal guy in a super-summery world—**which makes him perfect for dropping into Golden Grove. Cove or Derek wouldn’t fit there.
Katelyn: There’s one XOXO Droplets cameo that hasn’t been announced yet. Also, OL1 lets you meet Jeremy but only hear of Pran; OL2 flips it—you finally meet Pran but only hear of Jeremy. I think that’s hilarious.
Exclusive Content – Our Life: Now and Forever Early Concept-Art
Early character sheets reveal multiple hair tests for Qiu (including the scrapped buzz-cut) and a bunny-accompanied pose for Tamarack that the team adores.
Katelyn: I first tried a very short cut, but it just didn’t work. Even at that age Qiu wouldn’t want to look entirely boyish. They’re gender-fluid under the non-binary umbrella, so a longer style felt right—they fluctuate between more feminine and more masculine vibes.
Katelyn: I think red eyes are cool—they feel like red apples, instantly autumnal. I wanted both leads to scream ‘autumn’ yet stay distinct, so Tamarack gets the apple-red eyes and yellow rain boots, Qiu the scarf and notebook.
Whether you sprint into love at first sight, take years to confess, or stay best friends forever—the memories you make in Golden Grove are yours alone. Our Life: Now and Forever launches in 2023, so build your wishlist, tweak those pronouns, and get ready to watch the leaves (and your relationships) change color.
You can try the demo HERE.
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