The World & Story

WELCOME TO EDGEWATER

Parental Consent takes place in Edgewater, the city that exists everywhere and nowhere. Coastal enough for beaches, landlocked enough for suburbs, cold enough for seasons, warm enough for outdoor culture.
It's the city you grew up in, moved to, or escaped from. Edgewater has everything a family needs and everything that can destroy one.

The world ages with your child. Neighborhoods gentrify or decline. Schools improve or collapse. Beloved local shops close. Technology evolves.
The playground where your toddler scraped their knee becomes the parking lot where your teen has their first kiss.

Thirty years pass. Edgewater notices.

THE TONE

The game lives in the space between satire and sincerity. One moment you're fighting a literal manifestation of your toddler's tantrum (a screaming, flailing boss called the Tantrum Titan). The next, you're sitting in silence after your teenager tells you they don't trust you anymore.

Comedy and weight coexist. The absurdity of parenting (the shit, the screaming, the school pickup politics) shares space with its genuine terror (am I ruining this person?). Neither cancels the other out.

Reference Points:

• South Park: The Stick of Truth (satirical edge, nothing sacred, turn-based combat with timing)

• Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game (stylized beat 'em up, relationship as combat, absurdist tone)

• Castle Crashers (chaotic co-op brawling, cartoon violence, genre-blending humor)

• Cuphead (punishing difficulty, expressive animation, boss-focused design)

• Cult of the Lamb (rogue-like progression, dark comedy, managing a community)

• Shin Megami Tensei (cosmic stakes, moral ambiguity, consequences that stick)

• Chrono Trigger (ATB combat, time as theme, earned emotional payoffs)

THE CHAPTERS

Your child's life unfolds across seven chapters, each with distinct mechanics, challenges, and emotional stakes.

ChapterAgeThe Challenge

Prologue - Pregnancy - Tutorial. Preparation. The vision arrives.

Chapter 1- Birth to 2 - Survival. Sleep deprivation. Keeping them alive.

Chapter 2 - 2 to 5 - Tantrums. Defiance. The word "no" as a weapon.

Chapter 3 - 6 to 10 - School. Friends. The outside world starts shaping them.

Chapter 4 - 11 to 13 - Puberty. Secrets. They start hiding things from you.

Chapter 5 - 14 to 18 - Peak rebellion. Maximum stakes. The Revelation.

Chapter 6 - 18 to 30 - You lose control. They become an adult. You watch, help when allowed, and hope.

Each chapter has its own enemies, bosses, and mechanics that reflect the developmental reality of that age.

Toddlers throw tantrums. Teens throw words that cut deeper.

THE PROPHECY

At the start of the game, you receive a vision. Something vast and indifferent shows you a possibility: your child, fully grown, bringing ruin. The apocalypse takes many forms depending on the child you raise.

Apocalypse Types:

Cosmic - Literal end times. Demons. Fire. The works. Your kid becomes the antichrist.

Political - Your child radicalizes. Ideological violence. They become an agent of destruction with a manifesto.

Economic - Soulless success. Your child exploits, manipulates, and destroys lives for profit. Legal apocalypse.

Social - Your child becomes a black hole. Everyone who loves them is damaged. Relationships destroyed in their wake.

Personal - The quietest apocalypse. Your child destroys only themselves. Addiction. Isolation. An empty life.

The prophecy isn't fate. It's potential. Your job is to raise a child who chooses differently.

THE REVELATION

Somewhere in Chapter 5, your child learns about the prophecy. Their reaction depends entirely on the relationship you've built.

A child who trusts you might reject the darkness outright. A child who resents you might embrace it just to spite you. A child who's been isolated, traumatized, or ignored might see it as confirmation of what they already believed about themselves.

This is the climax the game builds toward.

Eighteen years of choices distilled into one conversation.

THE WORKPLACES

Your job is mostly background. You work, you get paid, you miss things. But your career shapes your stats, your schedule, and your story.

White Collar Corporate offices. Law firms. Tech startups. Emails at midnight.
High income. Low presence. Promotion quests compete with family time. Your child has everything except you.

Blue Collar Construction. Auto shops. Plumbers, electricians, HVAC. Union or non-union changes everything.
Moderate income. Physical exhaustion. Your child learns to fix things. Respect is earned, not given.

Service Retail. Restaurants. Hotels. Tips vary. Shifts conflict with school pickup.
??? income. High chaos. Your child learns hustle. They also learn which customers are assholes.

Public Sector Hospitals. Fire stations. Police. Teachers. City jobs with pensions.
Stable income. Irregular hours. Your child either admires the service or resents the absence. Hero complex optional.

Gig Economy Driving. Delivering. Contracting. Flexible until it isn't. No benefits.
Unpredictable income. Maximum flexibility. Your child sees you grind. No safety net if you fall.

Creative & Freelance Artists. Writers. Musicians. Craftsmen. Instructors. Content creators. Adult film.
Feast or famine income. Ultimate freedom. Your child thinks your job is cool or pretends you don't have one.

Remote Kitchen table. Always working, never "at work."
Moderate income. Maximum presence, minimum attention. Your child sees you but you're not there.

Criminal Dealing. Scamming. Off the books.
High income. High risk. Your child either never knows or knows too much. CPS and cops are always one slip away.

THE NEIGHBORHOODS

Your economic status and choices determine where you live. Each neighborhood shapes your family's story.

Crestwood Heights Old money. Manicured lawns. Judgment disguised as politeness.
High income required. Access to the best schools. Your child gets opportunities and learns to look down on people.

Millbrook Comfortable middle class. Block parties. Soccer leagues. The Joneses live here.
Moderate income. Stable childhood. Your child grows up normal. The pressure to keep up is constant.

Sunnyside Working class. Tight-knit. Everyone knows your business.
Low income. Strong community. Your child learns loyalty and grit. The school is underfunded but the neighbors show up.

The Flats Gentrifying. Artists and young professionals pushing out longtime residents.
Variable income. Creative energy. Your child grows up around change. They either ride the wave or get displaced by it.

Riverside Rough around the edges. The neighborhood people warn you about.
Low income. Affordable. Real people. Your child learns survival. Danger is closer here but so is authenticity.

Harbor Point New development. Soulless but shiny. HOA rules everything.
Moderate to high income. Everything looks perfect. Nothing feels real. Your child grows up in a simulation of community.

Greenfield Rural outskirts. Farms, land, space. Forty-five minutes from everything.
Variable income. Freedom and isolation. Your child either loves the open sky or feels trapped by it. Everyone drives trucks.

THE SCHOOLS

School quality varies by neighborhood and philosophy. Your child's experience depends on where you can afford to live, what you believe, and what they need.

Elementary & Middle

Lincoln Elementary / Lincoln Middle (Public, Millbrook) - The "good" public school.
Your child gets balance, normal childhood, and friends from all backgrounds.

Sunnyside Elementary / Chavez Middle (Public, Sunnyside) - Overcrowded. Overlooked.
Your child gets street smarts, loyalty, and a chip on their shoulder.

St. Catherine's K-8 (Catholic) - Nuns. Uniforms. Fish Fridays.
Your child gets discipline, community, and lifelong Catholic guilt.

Greenfield Elementary / Greenfield Middle (Public, Rural) - Same twelve kids for eight years.
Your child gets deep roots, self-reliance, and outsider status if you move there.

Preschool & Early Childhood

Little Sprouts Academy (Private, Millbrook) - Waitlists longer than the kids.
Your child gets an early academic edge. Competitive parents become future network or future enemies.

Sunnyside Head Start (Public Pre-K) - Underfunded but warm.
Your child gets resilience, community roots, and teachers who remember them at graduation.

St. Catherine's Early Learning (Catholic Pre-K) - Uniforms start at age 3.
Your child gets a faith formation, structure, and a guilt foundation.

Alternative Education

Homeschool (The Kitchen Table) - You're the teacher now.
Your child gets your values. Your blind spots. No escape from each other.

Edgewater Homeschool Co-Op - Potlucks. Field trips. Shared teaching.
Your child gets socialization without institution. Weird kids find their people.

High School

Lincoln High (Public, Millbrook) - Full American experience, state championships and scholarship dreams.
Your child learns social navigation. Prom matters here.

Sunnyside High (Public, Sunnyside) - Metal detectors at the door. Teachers who haven't quit.
Your child either hardens or breaks.

Greenfield Regional High (Public, Rural) - Small town. Big hearts. Football is religion and the whole town shows up.
Your kid plays for something bigger than themselves; the only bigger than that are the trucks.

Edgewater Prep (Private K-12, Crestwood) - Legacy money. Legacy pressure.
Your child gets connections, imposter syndrome, and the Ivy League pipeline.

Harbor Point Academy (Private Boarding) - Dorms, freedom, no parents watching.
Your child matures fast or spirals unsupervised.

Archbishop Carroll (Catholic All-Boys) - Ties. Brotherhood. Jesuits.
Your child gets male bonding, service ethic, and either repression or growth.

Fontbonne Hall (Catholic All-Girls) - Skirts. Sisterhood. Expectations.
Your child builds confidence without boys watching. Pressure to be perfect.

Edgewater Charter Academy (Charter, The Flats) - No grades. "Assessments."
Your child gets creativity and self-direction. Or complete lack of structure.

Riverside Behavioral Academy (Therapeutic Day School) - Last stop before giving up.
Your child gets actual help, carries the stigma, and earns a second chance.

THE INSTITUTIONS

The systems your family navigates.

Edgewater Family Court Divorce. Custody. Emancipation. You hope you never see the inside.

Child Protective Services They're watching if you slip too far. Lose condition lives here.

Edgewater Police Department Could be your job. Could be called about your kid. Depends on the playthrough.

Edgewater General Hospital Birth. Emergencies. The worst nights of your life.

Greenfield Counseling Where you go to fix what's broken. Or where you refuse to go.

Edgewater Community College / State University Where your kid might go. Where you might go back. Second chances.

THE DANGER ZONES

Locations where things go wrong.

The Quarry Abandoned. Where teens go to drink, hook up, make mistakes. You went here once too.

Edgewater High Parking Lot After dark, a different world. Deals, fights, first kisses, last conversations.

The Internet The digital dungeon. You can't see it but your kid lives there. Rabbit holes, influences, communities you don't understand.

Route 9 Overpass The place in every town. You hope your kid never thinks about it.

The Basement Any basement. Where your kid disappears to. What are they doing down there?

THE COMMUNITY SPACES

Where families intersect.

Edgewater Community Center Youth sports, classes, community meetings. Where Soccer Mommies reign.

Millbrook Park Playgrounds, picnics, awkward encounters with other parents. Birthday parties gone wrong.

The Churches / Temple / Mosque Faith communities. Support systems. Judgment. Belonging.

The Edgewater Mall Teen hangout. Where you lose your kid for three hours. Where they become themselves without you.

The Creamery Ice cream shop. Reward location. Bribery location. "We need to talk" location.

THE QUESTION

Every system in the game circles back to one question:

Can you raise a child who chooses to be good when they have every reason not to be?

Not a perfect child. Not a compliant child. A child who, despite carrying the potential for destruction, despite the mistakes you made, despite the world pushing them toward darkness, looks at the prophecy and says no.

That's the win condition. That's what you're fighting for.