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Growing Up
This is the story of your life. Experience the entire journey from toddler to adulthood. Go to schools, learn new things, meet new friends, and have wild adventures! Every choice you make will influence your future career, and decide who your romantic partner will be. Who will you become?
What players say
Steam review score and the most-helpful voices, which may include critical ones. Score via Steam as of 2026-09-02 · quoted reviews as of 2026-05-13.
What reviewers agree on
53 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“While I really did find the mechanics of the game fun once I figured them out and the overall story can be enjoyable, I think the fact that one of the characters will kill themselves if you do ONE thing wrong is gross.…”
28 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“I absolutely adore this game! My main focus was on my characters ending and the romance part is just a plus. The story with each character is good, but I found it tiring for fixing their issues. Everyone just had a…”
“If you love a story based game this is awesome. its a lot like bitlife on the phone. but better. I just wish it would go past high school.”
“The main appeal of this game is the visual novel segments, and the gameplay is fun enough to buoy you from scene to scene without feeling like a chore initially; it is insanely easy, though. If you're looking for an…”
23 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“Interesting gem of a game. It's essentially resource management with a few cute emotional stories in-between -- Nothing too crazy, but you can feel that there's a lot of heart put into the game. Replayability is decent,…”
“It’s a great game for a quick break between other things. You build a character, play for about two hours, finish the run, and then come back later with a new character to relax again with a fresh story. The concept is…”
“Cutest and coziest little life sim x visual novel game I've played with a decent amount of replayability! Game is set in the 1990s~ You can also create LGBT couples which is an absolute win.”
8 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“Gameplay is very easy but very addicting, great to play when you're bored. So many unlockable careers and romancable characters, however they can get kind of repetitive if you want to 100% it. I love games like this…”
“Cutest and coziest little life sim x visual novel game I've played with a decent amount of replayability! Game is set in the 1990s~ You can also create LGBT couples which is an absolute win.”
8 of the 103 reviews raise this.
“Love this game a bit repetitive and challenging but its still rlly fun”
“This is right in my niche of gaming I like. Resource management, specifically with raising a child. Don't ask me why I tend to love these kinds of games. I just seem to accel at them. Anywho, this game has mechanics…”
18 of the 103 reviews raise this · 13 of them still recommend the game.
“Gets very repetative dont mind the simulation, but could do with more story.. College -> Adulthood. Its like it has the start, gets to the middle and resets. While the game will let you go through multiple generations…”
“The game feels pretty boring overall. It’s repetitive, and most choices don’t really feel like choices—you’re basically picking between “study” or “don’t,” with very little in between. There’s rarely anything unique or…”
17 of the 103 reviews raise this · 15 of them still recommend the game.
“Gets very repetative dont mind the simulation, but could do with more story.. College -> Adulthood. Its like it has the start, gets to the middle and resets. While the game will let you go through multiple generations…”
“it's a good game, and i originally thought i would've played for a bit, then hop off to play it another time, but the whole playthrough i was hooked for almost 5 hours straight in the middle of night, it was very…”
“I absolutely adore this game! My main focus was on my characters ending and the romance part is just a plus. The story with each character is good, but I found it tiring for fixing their issues. Everyone just had a…”
13 of the 103 reviews raise this · 5 of them still recommend the game.
“Gets very repetative dont mind the simulation, but could do with more story.. College -> Adulthood. Its like it has the start, gets to the middle and resets. While the game will let you go through multiple generations…”
“It is at times tedious I will admit that. But I love this game.. It's just chill. Every now and then I will play this game for a while daily, then not touch it for a while.. But will always get back to it pretty much. I…”
“I absolutely adore this game! My main focus was on my characters ending and the romance part is just a plus. The story with each character is good, but I found it tiring for fixing their issues. Everyone just had a…”
11 of the 103 reviews raise this · 3 of them still recommend the game.
“Gets very repetative dont mind the simulation, but could do with more story.. College -> Adulthood. Its like it has the start, gets to the middle and resets. While the game will let you go through multiple generations…”
“While I really did find the mechanics of the game fun once I figured them out and the overall story can be enjoyable, I think the fact that one of the characters will kill themselves if you do ONE thing wrong is gross.…”
“Contents include: Suicide, Under-Aged Drinking, Heavy Swearing, Drug Addiction ... I did not get that vibe from the promo materials... not my scene, I tried to get it refunded but like the hours i tried to like this…”
10 of the 103 reviews raise this · 7 of them still recommend the game.
“While I really did find the mechanics of the game fun once I figured them out and the overall story can be enjoyable, I think the fact that one of the characters will kill themselves if you do ONE thing wrong is gross.…”
“Gameplay is very easy but very addicting, great to play when you're bored. So many unlockable careers and romancable characters, however they can get kind of repetitive if you want to 100% it. I love games like this…”
“The main appeal of this game is the visual novel segments, and the gameplay is fun enough to buoy you from scene to scene without feeling like a chore initially; it is insanely easy, though. If you're looking for an…”
Counted across 103 English reviews, sampled to match this game's 87.7% positive rating · as of 2026-05-13
“Grow up in the United States during peak 1990s. [u]Information[/u] • 12 romanceable characters? (There a guides that claim they know each characters’ romantic preferences, but I keep finding conflicting info, and experiencing different stuff in playthroughs. I honestly have no…”
— a player, Steam review · 57 hrs played“[h1] ♫ ɴᴏᴡ ᴘʟᴀʏɪɴɢ: childhood i dream - prombl [/h1] Growing Up is a pretty solid coming-of-age simulator with a visual novel twist, where every little thing really affects who your character will be by age 18. The artwork is super pleasant and cozy, both the characters and the…”
— a player, Steam review · 214 hrs played“Solidly fun. I won't pretend its perfect, as those looking for flaws will find them, but I've been having a lot of fun with this. The biggest issue that I've had is how it ends with graduating high school, and while I know why that is, it still leaves me wanting more. Which, if…”
— a player, Steam review · 103 hrs playedPlayer activity
Monthly average concurrent players. Live data self-collected from the Steam API · history through 2026-06 via SteamCharts.
Achievement stats
Global completion rates across all Steam players — a data view of how far people actually get. Source: Steam official stats · as of 2026-09-05.
Price tracking
US-region pricing (USD), sampled twice daily by our own tracker since 2026-07-11. Steam prices vary by region — always confirm your local price on Steam.
Regional prices at last sample, in local currency — Steam sets each region's price independently.
Cheapest → most expensive, converted to USD at ECB reference rates (2026-09-04). Relative comparison only.
Latest official news
Developer announcements via the Steam news API — links go to the original posts. More across all games on the news hub.
The Last Alchemist, a new title from Vile Monarch, is now available!
Hey y'all! We know you love Growing Up, so how about trying another title developed by Vile Monarch as well? https://store.steampowered.com/app/1536570/ Welcome to the wholesome science-fantasy world
[Game Hotfix] 1.2.3903 - Localization issue fixed
Hello all, We have fixed some localization issues. Fixed the issue with the game displaying unlocalized texts upon launch The Bowling Alley location can now be unlocked through Alex's and Wendy's stor
[Game Hotfix] 1.2.3903 - Localization issue fixed
Hello all, We have fixed some localization issues. Fixed an issue with the game displaying unlocalized texts upon launch A handful of typos corrected
Nominate Growing Up for The Steam Awards!
Hello, everyone! We’ve received over 800 reviews on Steam after releasing the new DLC! Thank you so much! As 2021 comes to a close, that means it's time for the annual Steam Awards! We're delighted th
[Game Hotfix] 1.2.3900 - Localization issue fixed
Hello all, We have fixed some localization issues. All languages - text overlapping in scheduling list Polish - Gender issue Minor updates to Polish and Chinese localization
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Screenshots
Official Steam store screenshots — click any shot to enlarge.
Facts & details
From the Steam store record, snapshot 2026-05-13.
| Genres | Adventure, Casual, Indie, RPG, Simulation, Strategy |
| Player tags | Life Sim · Story Rich · Choices Matter · Simulation · Emotional · RPG · Adventure · Multiple Endings · Choose Your Own Adventure · Singleplayer · Casual · Management (SteamSpy community voting) |
| Features | Single-player · Steam Achievements · Steam Trading Cards · Steam Cloud · Family Sharing |
| Languages | English, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, French, German, Russian, Polish, Portuguese - Portugal, Portuguese - Brazil |
| Achievements | 62 |
Minimum system requirements (PC)
Minimum: Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system OS *: Windows 7 (SP1), Windows 10 Processor: 1.2 GHz Intel or equivilent AMD family Memory: 2 GB RAM Graphics: DirectX 10 compatible GPU DirectX: Version 10 Storage: 2 GB available space