What's teenage life without making friends? Learn how to find your BFF in I Was A Teenage Exocolonist!

Most civilization sims primarily focus on gathering and managing resources or building military strategy. I Was A Teenage Exocolonist, however, is more personal. While the game feels like a card-battle RPG at some points, it becomes a dating game at others. But that's the cool part about I Was A Teenage Exocolonist: you get to be a teenager.

Related: I Was A Teenage Exocolonist: Beginner Tips

Considering this game is about adolescence, relationships are a significant part. Building friendships and making romantic connections are here, sure. However, you'll also form bonds that will affect the colony's welfare and impact the adult you become. In Teenage Exocolonist, relationships get tracked with points. Here are the basics behind this system.

Relationship points track the bonds you share with various members of the exocolony, including your friends, parents, and authority figures. However, they're most relevant for navigating your relationships with your fellow teenagers. You can gain or lose relationship points whenever you spend time with someone, whether in school, work, or story events.

Forming strong bonds with others yields many benefits. For instance, characters with high relationship points will confide more life details with you. In addition, you may witness new storylines and unlock perks like unique memory cards from these experiences.

Building relationship points is straightforward. If you wish to get closer to someone, spend more time with them. And if you miss opportunities to be with them, give them gifts to remind them you care. Lastly, pay attention to their interests so you can make choices that align with their preferences and values.

Most, if not all, of the monthly activities in the colony shape your bonds with one person or another. So, if there's a character you wish to know more about, take up activities that reward relationship points for said character.

Let's suppose you want to earn relationship points with Tangent. In this case, you should engage in Engineering wing activities, such as class or nursing, which grant one relationship point with Tang after completion.

Furthermore, monthly activities often activate short scenes where you can share bonding experiences with others. For example, in one scene, you can gain a relationship point with Tang after succeeding in a Life Sciences group project.

Lastly, gaining relationship points is not the only goal of engaging in similar activities as those you befriend. These activities also build skills that will help you relate to other characters. Consider the Tang example from before. If you build your reasoning skills in Engineering class, you will unlock new conversations with her. In turn, these conversations reward new memory cards.

Daily interactions are another practical method to gain relationship points. For example, anytime a friend has something to share with you, a speech bubble will appear over their head. If you ignore these bubbles and rush into the next monthly activity, you'll miss out on important moments between you and that character.

Did you know you can gift the collectibles you scavenge in the colony and buy in the supply depot? You can gift a collectible to someone once per season. However, unless you know the person very well, there's a chance they may refuse your gift, which will cost you relationship points.

Gift-giving involves some trial and error. Sometimes a random gift will be your friend's favorite thing. In other moments, you may give your friend a gift that holds no value for them. Other times, you will give someone a gift on their birthday! Still, every present gifted is another opportunity to learn more about your friends.

Story events can impact your relationships with others. After all, you can't expect to make decisions that everyone will like. Sometimes you'll have to choose sides between friends or manage intense conflicts. In other cases, you'll talk about something trivial with your friend group that interests one person and turns off another. But ultimately, it's essential to know that most decisions affect your relationships.

Related: I Was A Teenage Exocolonist: How To Unlock New Memory Cards

You can date other characters in I Was A Teenage Exocolonist. However, unlike other life sim games where romance can form by spamming flirtatious actions, Teenage Exocolonist is more complex. So, what can you expect out in the dating field?

The Content Warnings menu says, "Through the course of the game, your character will have a number of opportunities to be intimate with love interests. All scenes fade-to-black. These scenes are not available until your character is sixteen." So forming romantic relationships, including sexual ones, is possible.

Still, while forming romantic relationships is possible, it's also challenging. Several characters in the game unavoidably date each other, so you can't expect a courtship to blossom once your friendship reaches 100 points. Furthermore, wooing the game's single characters takes work. You'll need to spend plenty of time in the same places as them, regularly talk with them, give them presents, and learn their likes and dislikes.

If you are looking for an easy start to dating, avoid trying to romance Tammy, Cal, Anemone, and Vace.

Next: I Was A Teenage Exocolonist: How To Build Your Skills

Chris Sanfilippo (He/Him) is an actor, singer, writer, and gaming fanatic based in New York. Career highlights include work at The Gateway Playhouse, Fireside Dinner Theatre, and 54 Below. Chris's favorite game genres to play are fighting games, visual novels, puzzle games, and music/rhythm games. He is still waiting for a proper sequel to Super Puzzle Fighter II Turbo.