My Child: Lebensborn concerns the fate of the children born to the Lebensborn program in Norway after the Second World War. I was not aware of such a program before I came across this game but it did a good job of explaining it specifically in the case of Norway as well as attempting to explain why these children faced the abuse they did without veering into apologia.

I am going to provide a few links below but without going into too much detail, the Lebensborn program was an initiative by head of the SS Heinrich Himmler to promote the birth of "biologically valuable" children as per the Nazis own racial eugenics policies. It took place all over the occupied territories but Norway especially given its place in Nazi racial ideology. The Nazis would set up centers for women giving birth to children from soldiers/ss officers away from the judging eyes of their families and neighbours.

After the war, many of the women involved in the program and even just suspected of having slept with german soldiers were punished severely with public humiliation and even arrest/internment. As the game points out, at times these women were treated more harshly than people who had actively collaborated with the occupiers, mostly due to a misogynistic "their bodies belong only to norweigans" attitudes.

The children born of the program faced mental and physical abuse by the general population following the war, hatred for the nazis and their ideology being channeled into mistreating children who had nothing to do with it beyond the circumstances of their birth. Many were even interned in mental asylums for years following prevailing psychiatric consensus that they must be mentally stunted.

My Child Lebensborn follows a single parent adopting one of these children, a boy or a girl depending on your choice. It follows essentially the same core mechanics as Pou or other pet simulators, which seems insane to say about raising a human child but thats genuinely what the mechanics most resemble, taking care of hunger, cleanliness and boredom of the child whilst having to go to work monday through saturday with limited time to do everything from sewing clothes, cooking, bathing the child etc.

You follow this routine as little (klaus in my case) starts to go to school at seven years old and starts to wonder about their biological parents as well as facing bullying from the schoolchildren and even the teachers at the school. There is a walking dead style system of dialogue choices pushing Klaus into either hardening his heart to endure the stigma he will have to deal with and trusting no one or trying to keep whatever innocence is being taken from him by the cruel conditions hes facing. Its genuinely heart breaking stuff, it makes me wonder what I would do if I ever had childen myself and dealt with such a horrible thing happening to them without inmediately flying into a white hot rage and doing something impulsive.

There is also the subject of either investigating and sharing Klaus' parentage with him, including also whether or not to try to explain what the nazis were and why their actions are responsible for the bullying he endures whilst also making clear that none of this is Klaus' fault, which is hard for a kid to understand and for an adult to explain.

I don't really have much of a conclusion here, this game was honestly upsetting, but in a way that is obviously intentional. I think I would just encourage anyone who's read this far to read up on the stories of these children which are documented below. I would also encourage people to visit the Children of War website, I believe part of the profits made from the game go to the NGO.

https://mychildlebensborn.com/about-us/
https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/lebensborn-program
https://www.thechildrenofwar.org/
https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/the-chosen-ones-the-war-children-born-to-nazi-fathers-in-a-sinister-eugenics-scheme-speak-out-771017.html

My Child Lebensborn é um jogo/campanha que serve para divulgar a existência das crianças nascidas pós-guerra na década de 40 que acabaram em casas de adoção por não serem da ''raça ariana''. Bastante tocante e me fez chorar no final com relatos de pessoas reais.

A gameplay pode ser descrita basicamente como uma espécie de Tamagochi onde você precisa cuidar da criança adotiva (podendo escolher entre menino e menina) alimentando-a, dando banho, vestindo, brincando, etc.

Diversos eventos ocorrem ao longo do jogo que dificultam as atividades do cotidiano, te obrigando a lidar com a situação e procurando alternativas para remediar os problemas. Enquanto ao mesmo tempo precisa trabalhar para sustentar a casa.

Muitas coisas consideradas 'gatilhos emocionais' estão presentes no jogo de forma explícita (como racismo, abusos físicos, sexuais, e psicológicos), então não é recomendado para todos.

É um jogo consideravelmente curto e contém muito texto.

Duas vezes presenciei um bug que faz os botões da tela não funcionarem, apesar de ainda assim dar feedback visual (não ''congelava'' porém ficava travado na mesma tela). Pesquisei e aparentemente ninguém teve a mesma experiência. Apenas fechando e abrindo o jogo novamente pude continuar progredindo.

Recomendo fortemente o jogo para quem não se choca facilmente, e que leiam sobre a história de Crianças Lebensborn reais após terminarem de jogar.

Que nunca esqueçamos da história deles e dos horrores do Nazifascismo e suas consequências.

This game focuses on the struggles a child faces living in post WWII Norway, as the biological child of a Nazi.
with a charming soundtrack, you play as their adopted parent, making decisions on how you spend your day, with a limited number of actions, and hard choices to make.
Its a definite tearjerker, as you watch your child struggle due to their background, and is even more so to learn that real people have suffered through this cruelty, whilst doing nothing wrong themselves.
as another review mentioned, I also was unaware of this part of history and am glad to have learnt about it and am grateful for games like these that help to spread awareness and educate others on what had such a big impact on some peoples life's.
money from sales is also donated towards The children of war program, so if theres any reason to pick up and try it, its that.

Quase chorei no final, nunca vi uma criança tão doce sofrer tanto preconceito. A narrativa é perfeita, curti muito a arte do jogo também, adoro jogos que mostram uma visão sobre acontecimentos reais, no caso desse, o jogo conta a história de uma criança que nasceu de um projeto nazista para criar uma "raça pura", mas não conseguiu se desenvolver nesse projeto pois foi resgatada antes no final da segunda guerra. Adotamos essa criança e agora precisamos lidar com situações do cotidiano dela, explicar o preconceito, bullying e ainda lidar com as perguntas frequentes sobre o mundo de uma criança que nasceu de pessoas que cometeram atos horríveis contra a sociedade e vive sendo culpada pelas escolhas de adultos egoístas e preconceituosos.

A really sad, bittersweet, and tragic raising sim. It seems so simple at first, but then really ropes you in with its unique premise. As the narrative unfolds, you really get attached to your kid, and you just want to the best for them. But you also see the writing on the wall, and know that you have to take your steps carefully, while also not scaring them, guiding them in the right way.

The mechanics of the game are quite challenging at times. Every time I got comfortable with the amount of money or food I had, a new emergency would crop up, forcing me to ration down everything we had. I also like how the game keeps playing with your sensibilities: is your child in danger or is he just scared for legitimate reasons? Is letting him go to school a good idea or could he actually get hurt?

All this with the truly unique historical aspect of this game, based on a variety of true stories, leads to a truly unique experience.

I never knew about the Lebensborn program before playing this game, so it was a valuable educational experience for me on that front. Essentially a resource management game where you have take care of your adopted child, whose biological father was a Nazi, in post-WWII Norway. The social situations that come up in this game will tug at your heartstrings as you try to take care of this kid. I'm glad this game exists, as we should never forget these historical events, and how they shape the societies and individuals around them.