My Child Lebensborn

My Child Lebensborn Poster

*Remastered Version*
**Android/iOS**
June 23, 2023
**Windows, Switch, PS4, Xbox One**
July 9, 2023

**My Child Lebensborn** is a story-driven nurture game - a dark tamagotchi - letting you experience the fates of Children Born of War. Take care of Karin and Klaus and help them survive in a post-war society. Find out what happened to their parents and try to find a better future.

My Child lebensborn combines genre and theme in a unique way. Play as the adoptive parent of Klaus or Karin and guide your little one through the issues they face due to their heritage.

* Influence the child’s feelings, personality and worldview through choices.
* Explore a gripping storyline based upon true events.
* Earn money as you work, cook, craft and play.
* Manage your time and resources while guiding the child through a hard year in their life.

The game was released as a multi media project as a collaboration between Sarepta studio (Developers) & Teknopilot (Producer), The game touches on the real history of Lebensborn children. The events in the game is the reflection of what really happened to real life Lebensborn - inspired by the interviews with them.

The game won multiple awards, including a BAFTA in "Games Beyond Entertainment" category.

The game is available on mobile (Android & iOS) , PC (Steam) and Console (Playstation, Xbox, Switch).

## Gameplay

In *My Child Lebensborn*, the player plays as an adoptive parent of a Lebensborn child in Norway after World War II. The player must make choices based on off-screen events (e.g. responding to child being bullied at school) and help to take care of them at home (e.g. making food for them). Each day, there are two units of time that the player can use to help to make sure the child's "need" meters (food, hygiene and rest/affection) do not empty. At the end of each chapter of the game, the player sees how their decisions fall on an emotional spectrum and how it has affected the Child.

## Development

While Elin Festøy was developing a documentary about the children of Lebensborn, she decided instead to focus on a project that would elicit empathy for the children amongst a broader audience. She met developer Catharina Bøhler, a developer who was already creating a child nurturing game, and they created what Festøy called "a documentary game".

Festøy was concerned that a documentary film would just be a movie about old people talking about war, and felt that a video game would work better to show the story of what the children had to go through. "We want to make people know what it felt like for those kids," Festøy said. "We want to highlight how war isn't over until the hatred ends. Our game will be a simulator letting you experience first hand what it is like to grow up in a hateful society, focused on the situation of the child instead of the greater conflict." The game was among the first wave of video game titles that were permitted to display the swastika in Germany. The game was funded partially by a Norwegian government arts grant, and partially through a successful Kickstarter campaign.

## Sequel

A sequel game to My Child is in early development, described as an emotional successor to My Child Lebensborn, where you take care of Klaus or Karin in a different time and place. The game does not yet have a release date.

## My Child Lebensborn Remastered

*My Child Lebensborn Remastered* was announced on May 20th 2023, at the Indie Live Expo. The remaster features updated graphics and more opportunities to create memories with the child. The remastered game was released June 23rd 2023 as a free update to the paid version of the mobile game, and released for all other platforms July 9th 2023 as another, standalone game.

## Reception

Reviewers commented that the game was not fun because of its dark story, but felt the game taught important lessons for players and was still an experience worth playing. *Polygon*'s Colin Campbell described *Lebensborn* as a "sort of bullying-management simulation" and praised the game for being an uncomfortable experience. *Der Spiegel*'s Matthias Kreienbrink called the game "not fun" but noted that it was a "partly depressing, partly enlightening" experience. *The Guardian*'s Simon Parkin felt that the game was "fierce and unflinching", and that although the game succeeded as a portrait of time in history, it was a "a difficult ride – oppressive, psychologically strenuous and repetitive." *Pocket Gamer*'s Emily Sowden felt that it was an educational experience that was worth it for the "price of a cup of coffee".

The game won a 2018 BAFTA Games Award from the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) at the 15th British Academy Games Awards on 4 April 2019 as a "Game beyond entertainment".

## Behind the Scenes

My Child Lebensborn is based on the real life Lebensborn programme created by Nazi Germany. The term *Lebensborn* itself means “Fount of Life.” Once WWII ended, many Lebensborn survivors were mistreated and often subjected to ostracization. Their stories became the inspiration for the game.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/My\_Child\_Lebensborn
2. ↑ https://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2021-07-20-theres-a-follow-up-to-the-acclaimed-my-child-lebensborn-in-the-works
3. ↑ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F9hraT8j1lU
4. ↑ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lebensborn