Life Stages

There are six different **Life Stages** in Two Hours One Life. Currently, players can either enter the game and be born as an Eve (a young woman, without a mother), or a baby (a boy or a girl). Life stages can be divided by a character's age range, 0 to 120 years old. Age's curve also apply in this game, which means a player will start as a weak baby, getting stronger as they mature, and then weaken of old age before they inevitably die.

*Note: A year old in-game equals to a minute real-time.*

## Baby (0 - 2 yo)

When a player is born as a baby, they spawn in proximity to an adult woman. They can only be breastfed by adult and young adult women (menopause starts at age 104) by being picked up, or they can be fed by any other characters by literally handing them food items. For the first year of their life the baby cannot jump out of their mother's arms, but must wait to be put down. Babies start with 4 blocks in their food meter which grows one block each year/minute as the baby grows, allowing them to survive longer without being fed.

A baby being held by a male or post-menopausal character will not be breast-fed, cannot be manually fed, and is at risk of starving if not dropped, or if the player does not escape and acquire food in time. It is advised to pay attention to the age of the mother.

Babies cannot pick up any items, including food (with the exception of a Teddy Bear and a Rubber Ball). They have limited interaction with their environment, such as goose ponds, doors and chests. It is possible to place clothes and backpacks on babies, and also to indirectly give items (including a knife) within a backpack or apron placed on the baby. This is ill-advised as it is also possible to steal a baby's clothing and any contained items by swapping clothing. A baby is able to remove and drop its own clothing, but can't pick it back up from the ground. It is also possible for babies to give other babies their clothes.

Babies can speak too! A player can press the "enter" key to type. However, a baby can initially only say 1 character at a time. As they age, they can type more characters, up to 3 as a baby (the amount of letters is age+1). This allows a baby basic communication with its mother, especially when a baby needs to be fed. The most common way of asking to be fed in-game is by saying "F" for 'food'.

It is advisable for a newborn to learn from an expert in game. A baby is helpless and cannot do anything except be fed and cared for. Babies walk very slowly. This stage is a good time to start observing and learning how to craft and to survive later in game. Planning is the key.

## Child (3 - 14 yo)

During this stage you are able to pick up most items except for certain items like a Hand Cart or a Yew Bow. While a player can eat food on their own in this stage, they can still be breastfed for two extra years, which is more efficient as it doesn't consume food items, and the mother only loses 1 hunger point for each feed.

In this stage it is recommended to stay near a ready source of food or to always carry food, as the risk of starvation is high.

## Young Adult (15 - 24 yo)

During this stage, the character will get more food meter capacity until they reach adulthood. Young Adults are able to do all the tasks that a child cannot do, like riding a horse, pulling a Hand Cart, or handling a Yew Bow.

A female character in this stage will be able to give birth to a baby, and breastfeed them. Picking up a baby to breastfeed will fill the baby's hunger meter, and take one bar off of the mother's. Each time the baby is picked up will cost the mother food. Continuing to hold the baby will keep the baby's full at no extra cost to the mother. However, a mother may have to care for multiple babies at a time or carry out other tasks, making this difficult.

The most common method of child rearing is to leave the baby in a spot with balanced warmth meter (beside a fire), and only picking up when the baby gets down to two hunger bars (the baby can signal this by typing 'F' for 'food'). In this way it is possible to rear a child using only three feedings. However, this may not be convenient depending on the stage and location of a civilization.

Fertile females who are at an ideal temperature and have a high Yum Bonus will give birth more often.

## Adult (25 - 103 yo)

An adult’s food meter will no longer grow as they age. Pies and stew are common go-to foods for adults, although it is worth aiming to maximize Yum Bonus in this stage if convenient. This is the most mobile stage of life, and can be the most productive. Adults retain their all previous abilities until menopause (age 104), when they can no longer birth or nurse a baby, and soon after will become elders.

## Elder (104 - 120 yo)

A female in the elderly stage cannot breastfeed babies any longer, nor give birth to a new baby, making it easier to move and work freely. Characters who reach the elderly stage will begin to lose their food meter capacity by one block every year (a minute real-time) until there are only three blocks left. Similar to babies and children, this will make them prone to die of starvation rather than old age if they didn't prepare an easily accessible food stock.

Soon after they reach three food blocks, the elderly will die of old age. You may wish to stand somewhere with balanced warmth (beside a fire), with food in-hand, to say goodbye. A player's grave will drop on the closest available tile with all worn and held items. It is advised therefore, to pass on items before this stage is reached. Their age and lineage depth will be visible on their Family Tree.

It is bad manners to die in a high activity place like kitchen or smithy, especially while wearing clothes and a filled backpack. When you hit 115-117 years, put away your clothes and backpack in a designed place (tailor/wardrobe), gather your family to the graveyard or farm to say goodbye, and live your last years there. If your life positively impacted others, they might make you a marked grave - the highest honors one can give to a family member - otherwise your bones will be made into bone meal to feed future generations, or left to respawn.

## See Also

* Eve
* Starting Guide
* Characters