Hit game Chinese Parents is a funny and insightful look at growing up in China

PC game Chinese Parents is now in English, letting you experience life as a Chinese millennial

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Hit game Chinese Parents is a funny and insightful look at growing up in China

Published: 7:40pm, 1 Jul 2019Updated: 9:08am, 20 Sep 2019

This article originally appeared on ABACUS

The idea of “tiger parenting,” based on ideas of strict Chinese parenting, has drawn a lot of attention over the last several years. But what is it actually like to grow up with tiger parents in China? If you ever wanted to know, now you can experience it in the simulation game Chinese Parents.

This indie title is now accessible to an international audience, with an English version of the game that has already sold hundreds of thousands of copies in China.

This life sim, developed by Moyuwan Games, puts you in a Chinese household with tiger parents who are obsessed with your grades above everything else. You go through this journey starting as a newborn and ending at the age of 18, with the ultimate objective being to pass China’s ultra-competitive National College Entrance Examination -- commonly known as the Gaokao -- at the end of the game.

I love Chinese Parents. In fact, I’ve written about the game twice before. But with a newly translated version available, I’ve come to realize that Chinese Parents offers far more to players than just a few hours of escapism.

Chinese Parents shines as a great piece of interactive entertainment that offers non-Chinese players a rare glimpse into the thoughts and feelings of Chinese millennials. It sheds light on how young people in modern China have adapted to such a high-pressure environment by learning to look at their hardships through a satirical lens and roll with the punches.

This dad literally has the character ‘love’ tattooed on his arm, but he always threatens to beat up my beloved character. (Picture: Coconut Island Games)