War-torn Indie My Child Lebensborn Tugs at the Heartstrings
Following a successful kickstarter campaign, harrowing story-driven indie My Child Lebensborn is heading towards release for mobiles. Set in the 1950s, it scopes out a fairly untouched part of history – the fates of kids born during war – and through its complex choice-based system, gives players the chance to manage a child’s emotional needs. Developer Teknopilot AS is working together with Lebensborn-children in order to convey the struggles and difficulties they experienced while growing up in order to deliver a more authentic experience for gaming audiences. 
You play as a parent. Every word, every interaction you have with your child feeds into a mood system, which is reflected by its expressions and body language. Like its sensitive subject matter, My Child Lebensborn is often fraught with difficult choices that have lasting impact:
- Balance meagre resources and emotional needs – Time is the main currency in the game. You are free to choose how this time is spent, either by working to earn money (letting you buy and do more, but leaving the child alone), or to spend with the child (supporting the child’s development, but having less for food or rent).
- Influence the child’s personality, emotions and views – How you interact with the child will affect their emotions and wellbeing. It respond differently to you based on the choices you make, and ultimately their view on the world will change.
- Make tough choices – The story will be experienced differently from one player to the next and will take you through an increasingly emotionally challenging experience.
My Child Lebensborn is expected to release on Android and iOS in Autumn 2017.