My Child Lebensborn, Merging History and Gaming
The connection between gameplay and narrative can be tenuous. Modern AAA games are often pushed to make their games as action-packed as possible while still trying to make cutscenes and narrative points hold a bevy of consequences, which often don’t mix well together. Meanwhile, indie games often focus almost entirely on a narrative supported by gameplay.
My Child Lebensborn, developed by Norwegian developer Sarepta Studio, does an especially beautiful job of this, telling not only an incredible story but also one with historical significance. The developers were kind enough to send me a code to try their game, and it was an experience that will stay with me.
My Child Lebensborn follows a year in the life of Klaus or Karin, a half-German, half-Norwegian 7-year-old child adopted by the player after World War II. Playing as a single parent for the child, you must nurture them by feeding, cleaning, and playing with them to manage their needs. There is also an amount of time management involved, as each section of the day: morning, midday, evening, and night. Each has two total activities that can be performed during that time, except night which only has one.
While some activities don’t spend a unit of time, this means you must make decisions on how to spend that time. The game is clearly designed so that you don’t have time to do everything you need to do in a single day. Eventually, you need to work to earn money, further decreasing your available time.
Released initially on mobile devices in 2018, My Child Lebensborn also incorporates small touch screen components, such as scrubbing your child to bathe them or petting their head to improve their mood. All of this makes a simple but varied gameplay loop that allows the narrative itself to shine. The game’s story revolves around the many difficulties your child faces as they start school and the societal challenges of their birth.
You must attempt to support your child through bullying, abuse, and friendship, all directly resulting from the stigma around their German heritage in Post-World-War-II Norway. The game becomes a historical account of the Lebensborn Children and their experiences after the war’s end. Your character will write various journal entries in their office explaining certain situations and events.
I want to make it expressly clear that this is a historically accurate story featuring an actual group of people. Even the newspapers the player can read on certain days in-game are headlines from actual, real-life newspapers from the same time period.
Beyond anything else, My Child Lebensborn was created to showcase the stories and pains of Children of War such as the Lebensborn Children. Norway, the setting for the game, was notoriously cruel to German children after the war, and the developers make sure this point is clear. As the game continues, the player must support the child against further acts of bullying and violence, often feeling powerless to assist them. The simple gameplay loop emphasizes this perfectly.
Your child will often ask for new toys or other gifts, but those require money to buy them or time to make them. After being assaulted, their clothes will also be torn and require time to fix them. What begins as a simple decision-making exercise quickly escalates into situations for which there is no simple solution, and to do certain things, you must sacrifice others.
Eylul Ozekes, the Marketing and Community Manager from Sarepta Studio, was gracious enough to talk to me about the game. She commented that the game’s goal is to evoke empathy from the player. The developers’ intention becomes even clearer between the increasingly difficult situations the child finds themselves in and the various history lessons the player is given throughout the game.
The game is all about supporting the stories of the Lebensborn Children, showcasing the hardships they faced and the injustices inflicted on them. To that end, various flags were set in the game to prevent the player from intentionally harming the child, and each parenting option given to you is valid. The end of each chapter also shows you what other players chose to do and how your choices lined up. While the ending does not necessarily change, the child will react and comment on your choices throughout the game.
During my conversation with Ms. Ozekes, we discussed the impact of the message in the game and the good that sending such a message could do. Profits made by My Child Lebensborn are donated to the Children Born of War Project, not only supporting the Lebensborn survivors and telling their stories but also helping children of the modern day in similar situations.
My Child Lebensborn was even used as an educational tool in Norwegian schools for a brief time, further spreading the story. Sarepta Studio also worked with psychologists to ensure the child in their game reacted appropriately to any situation. As we spoke about the history of the game, its message, and how hard the developers worked to honor these stories, the passion Sarepta Studio has for this game cannot be denied.
Recently remastered on PC and console, My Child Lebensborn continues to spread a powerful message and tells a story that should be heard all over the world. The narrative is the entire purpose, and it is a story that will stay with me forever. Please go support the game on your console of choice, and maybe perhaps be looking for a new game from Sarepta Studio in the future. If the story impacts you even a fraction of what it did to me, then it’ll be worth the play.
Thank you for reading. A podcast episode is in the works for this game and a few others. Links will be posted when they are up! Go support Sarepta Studio, and thank you Eylul Ozekes, for talking with me about the game!
