We Grew Up in War has a new teaser!

Hello dear fans!
We have finally recovered from our fifth anniversary celebrations and we have some exciting news to share. Our upcoming game got a new look and a new teaser!

As we continued working on We Grew Up in War it became apparent that we needed to update how we present the game to the public. After all, so much has changed! New characters from new places, new mechanics and upgraded graphics called for a brand new teaser – one that features Anna from Ukraine, the fantasy levels from Bosnia and more.

So without further ado, let me present to you our newest We Grew up in War Teaser:

In the teaser we placed a larger emphasis on the imagination of our kids. For them, it is a way to make sense of the dire circumstances they find themselves in. A chestnut throwing contest turns into a battle against a dragon; drawing while sheltered from bombs becomes a journey into a fantastical land where whales become alive.

We never wanted to make a game that depicts children as helpless victims – thus, in We Grew Up in War we took great care to show how resilient Mak, Zeina, Melisa or Anna are.

I could talk at length about the interactive timeline where you put boxes (full of memories) together form an intertwined narrative; the way we collaborate with War Childhood Museum to make sure we depict the wars in Bosnia, Ukraine and Syria accurately and tactfully; or the many mechanics in our vignettes that include tuning radios, racing in imaginary cars, sorting rations and more. But we have special videos and content prepared about all of this – so follow us on Bluesky or Instagram to make sure you don’t miss a thing.

Also, head over to our Discord and tell us what you think about the new teaser. And if there’s something you’d like to know about the game, don’t hesitate to ask!

I’ll leave you with an updated outline of what We Grew Up in War is all about as it:

• offers over 20 interactive vignettes with diverse gameplay. Battle imaginary monsters, overcome fears, face ordinary hardships in a shelter or hang out with friends in the rubble

• shows memories as boxes that players can unpack and sort to discover the complete story

• features a rarely portrayed children’s perspective on wars in Ukraine, Bosnia and Syria, inspired by the memories of real people

• draws from a long-term historical research by the War Childhood Museum, highlighting children’s resilience and creativity

The rest i on the updated Steam page.

If you like the game and want to help us, consider telling your friends about it. The word of mouth really helps quite a lot.

In other news, our games have receiver some nominations at some nice festivals. We are grateful people all around the world are interested in what we do. Here’s a round-up:

• Velvet 89 is competing at The Game Development World Championship

• Playing Kafka is in the official selection of the Czech festival Anifilm alongside Animal Well and Indika! (we’ll be there in person!)

• Playing Kafka was featured at The Storyteller’s Festival on Steam (check out if you missed it)

• Playing Kafka & Velvet 89 are part of the Women’s Day Sale (a cool initiative)

And as things settle down after a slew of announcements and anniversaries, the recommendations section continues!

While we keep playing Citizen Sleeper 2 (really great) or Fallen London (storytelling masterclass), we keep coming back to a little older, quirky game: Copper Odyssey, a whimsical, characterful JRPG set in a printmaking workshop at an art school. You can battle Euro Paper Kings or use special abilities like Etching on your quest to save the workshop before the finals. The game was developed by a single developer and is free on Itch.io, albeit a somewhat expanded version is available on Steam. And there’s a sequel out now.

That’s it for today and thank you. We can’t wait to show you more from We Grew Up in War and other projects we are working on (several, actually). We hope your March started the right way!

Ondřej

Charles Games