games similar to this?

[edamame]

honestly this is such an amazing game, and i've done most of what it is to be done after playing it non stop for about five days, racking up forty hours like that. i am extremely impressed with it and enjoyed my time enormously

as the title of this says, I do wonder though if there's anything similar out there that might scratch the same itch. I really love the whole idea about it being a growing sim where you develop relationships and whatnot

[AmberBean]

It's not exactly the same, but you might be interested in a game called Our Life. It also has you growing up along side other characters and puts a lot of emphasis on personal choices. It doesn't have in-depth game-play elements like this one, and there's only one love interest, but you aren't missing anything if you don't romance him. The base game is free too as a sort of "Lite version", playable from beginning to end, with the full game as "DLC". Which I think is a very clever idea for giving players options.

https://store.steampowered.com/app/1129190/Our_Life_Beginnings__Always/

[kittykat0510]

There's a lot of games similar to this. There's Chinese Parents and Growing Up. There's also the Princess Maker games, Ciel Fledge, and Cute Knight. And there are probably a ton more I've never heard of. Just a fair warning; not all of these games have the... ah... best translations.

[No Life King]

I was playing Growing Up before Exocolonist and it's similar in lots of ways, very good game.
Oh and Our Life:Beginnings and Always is a visual novel focused on one character but there's a DLC for a second love interest out now, and it's very slice of life, feel good game, I love it.

[edamame]

thanks for all the suggestions; I was roughly looking at some of those, but some i hadn't heard about. will make sure to check those out.

[Silerva]

Yeah, Im definitely seconding Our Life and everything kittykat0510 said. If you like raising sim Id suggest you try Lullaby Days too, its basically a Princess Maker but better (it does focus more on the stat than the relationships tho, but every important NPC has scenes and at least 1 ending)

[eric-belair]

surprised no one led with this. golden treasure:the great green. It has a demo mode you can play for free, and it works similar to this. You select each event and it gives you options and skills like a visual novel (Aka this). the big differences is you have a cool pokemon fight minigame instead of a card minigame. Also each "run" where you unlock endings or achievements you get a straight buff. So here you get better convo options, there you might get better convo options OR you might get a bonus consumable or a bonus +3 to all stats OR a new set of convo options.

The game also has a definitive ending unlocked by getting all the other endings, and it has the option to drop into it 1/3rd or 2/3rds of the way into the game (although those tend to be less lucrative or specialised then if you play from the start). The Dating sim part of the game doesnt really unlock until part 3.

There are some big parts im leaving out but the vibes and conflicts stay the same. Try it and let me know what you thing

[NerdExtrodinare]

Bit old but made me think of Long Live The Queen the most. (The reverse of that is actually how I found this game. From the 'similar to" off Long Live The Queen.)

[mar]

This game is too good, I haven't played anything that's got me as hooked in a long time. I've already tried most of the suggested games above but none of them seems to satisfy the itch i have to play this game all over again for the first time or discover more content. The only one that gets close enough for me is Growing Up and The Sims 4 even though the Sims 4 is more of a life sim and not at all similar to an indie visual novel game

[Thanak]

Really depend on what aspect you want

Deep relationship building with NPCs : Try the Rersona serie (P5 Royal) if you want triple A title
Levelling up your stats with dating sims mechanics : Roommate is pretty good. Long Live the Queen too.
Long term aging of your character : I enjoyed 'Growing up' a lot
Specifically LGBTQ+ friendly : Not my area of expertise, so other here will probably have better recommendation