Savant - Ascent REMIX
Savant - Ascent REMIX
Game
Game2017
Think of the Children
Developer Jammed Up Studios
Little Bobby’s dead, the BBQ is on fire, Jen’s eating poisonous berries and the birthday cake still needs icing. It’s just another wonderful day out with the kids in Think of the Children, a frantic co-operative parenting simulator. From the Steam store page
209 reactions from 3 sources (Steam reviews, Bluesky, Mastodon) · newest Oct 16, 2026 · last updated Oct 16, 2026 · How this works
Audience score
50
Mixed
92 positive · 91 negative
95% range 43–57%
| Source | + | − | = |
|---|---|---|---|
| Steam reviews | 92 | 91 | 0 |
| Bluesky * | 1 | 0 | 20 |
| Mastodon * | 0 | 0 | 5 |
* shown, not counted in the score (label accuracy below our 85% bar or not yet audited).
Steam's own rating
Mixed
103 of 196 reviews positive (all languages, per Valve)
What players are saying
50% recommend · 93 yes, 92 no
Counted from the reviewers’ own thumbs up/down on the 185 English Steam reviews we collected, not by the AI. Valve’s all-language rating: Mixed (137 of 246 positive).
Players find the game hilarious and fun with friends, especially as a couch co-op experience. [1][2][3] Many reviewers say the game is nearly unplayable solo due to lack of difficulty scaling. [4][5][6] Some players criticize the game for being abandoned by the developers without fixes. [7][8]
Liked
Representative posts
- [4]
The game doesn't scale the difficulty according to the number of players, which makes it unplayable in single player mode.
- [6]
This is probably a great multiplayer experience. But the single player is just a piece of garbage. You won't be able to finish this in single player. Difficulty scaling just really doesn't exist here. You will need four players in total to enjoy this. But you will have to be together in one house. Because this game has only local coop options. I just have to give this game a negative review.
- [2]
Some days you just want to play a game with your friends. Sit down and play something on a couch and pass the controller around. To me, think of the children is one of those games. It's good solid fun, You get to growl at and hammer-throw children. All the while micromanaging a day out, don't burn the snags, slop sunscreen on uncle over there. And most importantly don't let the kids die. The music is perfect. It …
- [3]
I probably wouldn't play it solo, but this is hilarious chaos for a couch game. Short enough to complete in one sitting, entertaining from start to finish, and simple to pick up and learn. If you've got a few local coop friends, this is absolutely worth picking up.
- [1]
Went to the park Threw some kids around Threw one into a BBQ Threw another into a Dingo Last time I saw them CPS took the rest of the kids away Got Tosser Medal Went home Played some Think of the Children Good times were had.
Summarised from 34 of the 206 public posts collected about this game; every point cites the posts behind it ([n] opens the post) and the split is counted from the posts’ own ratings. Updated Oct 11, 2026. How summaries are made
RottenBot@rottenbot · automated account
Think of the Children sits at 50% positive across 183 opinionated reactions from 3 sources. Fresh or rotten — where do you land?
Reactions
60 of 209 · most liked firstI have been playing Think of the Children with my 8 year old son. After seeing Reginald get impaled through the face, he now realizes why I yell at him to "stop juggling the ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ kitchen knives" in the supermarket. Thank you, Jammed Up Studios, for helping me to be a better parent.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Went to the park Threw some kids around Threw one into a BBQ Threw another into a Dingo Last time I saw them CPS took the rest of the kids away Got Tosser Medal Went home Played some Think of the Children Good times were had.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Some days you just want to play a game with your friends. Sit down and play something on a couch and pass the controller around. To me, think of the children is one of those games. It's good solid fun, You get to growl at and hammer-throw children. All the while micromanaging a day out, don't burn the snags, slop sunscreen on uncle over there. And most importantly don't let the kids die. The music is perfect. It just fits so we into the style of the game for me. It's bright, cheerful and…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Also if your response to this is "Well They Are ACTUALLY Going After (Insert "Harmful" Type Of Game Here)" - yes, you fool, that's the point. It's the "THINK OF THE CHILDREN! MEDIA NOT MEANT FOR CHILDREN EXISTS! BAN IT NOW!" thing. And then they ban all queer content because that's "not for kids".
neutral · AI labelView post →Wow, as a parent of 5 kids I can confirm that this game is pretty close to real life in just how stroke inducing taking care of a small herd of children can be! The devs have created a real couch co-op gem here with funny yet challenging gameplay, and if you like a challenge and having to use a little strategy than even the single player can be surprisingly rewarding too. I created a little lets play overview for your viewing pleasure that covers the first 3 real levels after the tutorial.…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Think of the Children is fun for a couple levels but ultimately gets repetetive and frustrating. My main issue is that it doesn't seem like there was any effort put into balancing the game for different player counts, the level seemed to be the same level of hectic for 2 players as it was for 1, and it already seemed like too much for 2 players (but by the end, we were sure that if it didn't scale, 4 players would be far too easy). Unfortunately the gameplay isn't all that compelling either. We…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I had previously been suffering from acute parenting troubles where I wasn't able to function properly as an adult let alone as a parent of children, however I was recommended this game by my epihany in hopes it would help reduce my need to throw children into hordes of seagulls. Turns out this game was quite accurately my cure for the illness, and I couldn't be any happier with how well-equipped I am at dealing with my children when the need arises to rescue them from kangaroos or those…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I received Think of the Children in the most recent Humble Bundle. I've only played it for about an hour with my partner and we've had a decent time with it so far. Despite that, there's absolutely no chance I could recommend this game to anyone who isn't getting it in aforementioned bundle. Here's just a few reasons why. The game is buggy: Controller support randomly stops working in the menus. I then went to my computer, restarted the game without a controller. Half of the prompts were…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →We got a better idea! Just give them the APK file for the game! Fighting a platform that forces you to censor it to fit their "standards" or them saying "ThInK oF tHe ChIlDrEN!", isn't worth it! It was never about "kids", but about controlling what they deem as safe!
neutral · AI labelView post →impossible in singleplayer.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game doesn't scale the difficulty according to the number of players, which makes it unplayable in single player mode.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Most of the bad reviews say it's really hard without friends. This is true. This game is meant for 4 people. Pros: Loads of funny costumes Less then $10 Easy to learn, Hard to master Slightly Educational Great For Team Building Cons: Not enough levels Only 4 player maximum The achievements are broken Difficultly Escalates Too Quickly
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I'm pretty late to playing this game and I played it solo. Game was only designed and balanced for 4 player couch co-op. No matter how many players are in the game, you will need to take care of 6 children. You can't pass the level unless at least 4 children are alive because they are score multipliers. The side objectives give almost no points, yet some are mandatory to progress. Some levels have almost insta-kill hazards that ruin the game. Dev studio talked about a possible bug fixes and…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Wow, our experimental game workshop, “Think of the Children!,” was absolutely incredible! Thanks to those who came with such a spirit of openness to be productively uncomfortable and to roll with it!!#AOIR2026
positive · AI labelView post →The game specifically says there is a single player option on the Store Page. Please do not be deceived. You will not even be able to finish the first level as a single player. Very deceptive to list it this way (and sad for me as I missed my window to refund it). If you want multiplayer, check out the other reviews. If you want a single player option, this will NOT make you a happy daddy.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Beautifully crafted! Well written! Side splittingly funny! The most accurate portrayal of Australian parenting ever put to a screen. The gameplay was simply yet challenging and entertaining. The music was fantastically crafted and well suited to each level. The level designs themselves always maintained the same basic ruleset but offered challenges in completely different and hilarious orchestrated ways. Worth every dollar and more!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Absolute abandonware. Left to rot. Many of the menus have glitches, remote play together doesn't work, difficulty doesn't depend on player count. When I bought this game, it was kinda fun, but now it's just stagnant, like raw sewage. Don't buy this if you value your money. Even if you don't, there are other just as irresponsible purchases to make, and this should NOT be one of them. Ugh.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A fun concept for an overcook-like couch coop game, but unfortunately a not so fun (at least for us) implementation of the same. The game becomes very quick very frenzied and very confusing, lacking the clean design of OC. The large scene and small scale of the interactable also doesn't help focusing, and things go too wild too fast to be entertaining for long enough. Were I the dev, I would certainly consider the idea of a sequel with a cleaner and simpler design. Sometimes less is more (also,…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Probably fun if you can find people to play this with, but it's pretty much unplayable solo.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A real turd. Its a multiplayer game that doesn't scale to 1 person and the dev won't adjust it. So theres like 6 kids and 4 separate tasks and the second you fix them they run right back and die and as one person its impossible to do it and you lose every time even on tutorial. Also theres no way apparently to play local MP, so pretty much just a wasted game. 3/10.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This is probably a great multiplayer experience. But the single player is just a piece of garbage. You won't be able to finish this in single player. Difficulty scaling just really doesn't exist here. You will need four players in total to enjoy this. But you will have to be together in one house. Because this game has only local coop options. I just have to give this game a negative review.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Game was built for 4 players only. And by that I mean any less and the entire game just becomes a pointless exercise in frustration. I played solo and with 2 players and it just isn't any fun at all. You can yell at the children (and you have to be within 8 feet of them for them to respond so I guess that's pretty realistic) to get them to stop whatever moronic suicidal task they were taking part in and run to you but as soon as they get within 2 feet of you they IMMEDIATELY run off and try…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Kids are stupid, my heart hurts, rage stroke coming, must not let dingo eat baby, oh good two kids got run over and the bbq blew up.. E- report card. Heart may actully implode. Love this game!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Some children shouldn't be saved
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →+20 SOCIAL CREDIT ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠟⠋⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⢁⠈⢻⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⠃⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠈⡀⠭⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⡟⠄⢀⣾⣿⣿⣿⣷⣶⣿⣷⣶⣶⡆⠄⠄⠄⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⡇⢀⣼⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣧⠄⠄⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣇⣼⣿⣿⠿⠶⠙⣿⡟⠡⣴⣿⣽⣿⣧⠄⢸⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣾⣿⣿⣟⣭⣾⣿⣷⣶⣶⣴⣶⣿⣿⢄⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⡟⣩⣿⣿⣿⡏⢻⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣹⡋⠘⠷⣦⣀⣠⡶⠁⠈⠁⠄⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣍⠃⣴⣶⡔⠒⠄⣠⢀⠄⠄⠄⡨⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣦⡘⠿⣷⣿⠿⠟⠃⠄⠄⣠⡇⠈⠻⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣿⣿⡿⠟⠋⢁⣷⣠⠄⠄⠄⠄⣀⣠⣾⡟⠄⠄⠄⠄⠉⠙⠻ ⡿⠟⠋⠁⠄⠄⠄⢸⣿⣿⡯⢓⣴⣾⣿⣿⡟⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄ ⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⣿⡟⣷⠄⠹⣿⣿⣿⡿⠁⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄ +1 WAIFU ⣿⣿⣿⣿⠛⠛⠉⠄⠁⠄⠄⠉⠛⢿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⡟⠁⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⡇⠄⠄⠄⠐⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠄⠠⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⡇⠄⢀⡀⠠⠃⡐⡀⠠⣶⠄⠄⢀⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿ ⣿⣿⣶⠄⠰⣤⣕⣿⣾⡇⠄⢛⠃⠄⢈⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿⣿…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I want to like this game. It has all the makings of a fun casual console game. -Tutorial is way too easy compared to the first level's madness. -Controls are not intuitive, UI is not very friendly on xbox controller or keyboard, please simplify if you make a 2nd game -the task list could be clearer, more prominent on the screen -sprint? -time for children to die is too quick on first level, or maybe start with fewer children. Over all I liked the graphics, story and idea of the game play. The…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I probably wouldn't play it solo, but this is hilarious chaos for a couch game. Short enough to complete in one sitting, entertaining from start to finish, and simple to pick up and learn. If you've got a few local coop friends, this is absolutely worth picking up.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It is extremely frasturating and difficult to play alone. Although multiplayer is allowed, you can only play with friends in your room. Please introduce an online team-up alternative for the players, otherwise it is only fun to watch youtubers play this.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Think of the Children is a happy little game about looking after your six darling childr-BARRY! GET OFF THE SWINGS RIGHT NOW-en while going about normal everyday activities. You and your fellow parents can spend time in the backyard sharing a barbecue, buying groceri-BJORN! STOP PLAYING ON THE ROAD BEFORE YOU GET RUN OVER!-groceries for the party you're throwing for your friends toni-HEATHER! STOP SHAKING THE STACKED CANS OR THEY'LL FALL ON YOU! IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT TO HAPPEN!?-ght. Enjoy a…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I have just proved to my fiance that I should not have kids. This game is absolute AWESOME tho. I have a somewhat short gameplay of it for those who want to see a demo of it. https://youtu.be/cjJEhraDpaw
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →“Vladimir Putin signed Federal Law 139-FZ on July 28, 2012, an amendment to the statute on protecting children from harmful information, child abuse imagery, drugs, suicide methods. It created a single national registry of blocked sites under Roskomnadzor, in force that November. By the end of 2013 the Lugovoi law had bolted extrajudicial blocking for extremism and calls to protest onto the same registry, and by 2022 it was the instrument shutting down independent outlets and war coverage. The…
neutral · AI labelView post →When I bought this, I was hoping it would be the next Overcooked (a quirky couch co-op). We found it to be very frustrating and disappointing. The gameplay is so manic and chaotic that it takes the fun out of it. We were constantly running around like a headless chicken and we still ended up killing most of the children. A nice idea, but poorly executed. If you're looking for a decent couch co-op, don't bother with this. 2026 Update: Now a parent myself, I decided to go back to this with a…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →kinda fun if you play with others but way the ♥♥♥♥ to hard to play alone. got it for $0.33 6/10
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Think of the Children is a novel premise where you control parents and you have to round up children and perform various other activities safely and effectively to progress through levels and get a decent parenting grade. Of course the children wander off, bbqs get out of control etc so players must juggle their attention rapidly. While the premise is unique and should be applauded, the implementation here is lacking. The developers used chunky block graphics (whether this is stylised art…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →The game has a fun premise but the difficulty doesn't scale properly with the number of players. That takes away the fun making progression very frustrating as you have to replay the same level.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Planning to have kids after marriage?
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Being the first game produced by a new studio, there are some of the expected bugs and quirks, but this really is a fantastic idea and a hilarious game! It currently lacks online co-op, which is unfortunate. But seriously, buy it, enjoy it, play with friends!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Singleplayer is impossible.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Amusing. Love the art style. Tried this out at PAX West and decided I had to get it. Difficult to play solo though.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →I can never have kids after playing this game.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Nah, don't bother with this one. It's only got about an hour of content and it's quite difficult. I played with one other person and it was still pretty overwhelming, I cannot imagine how awful it would be to play alone. It reminds me of games like Overcooked, but Think of the Children doesn't manage to capture the same fun and chaotic energy. This is mostly because of the children themselves. They're an additional worry on top of the existing tasks, but the true problem here is that you can't…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →It's not a bad game. The concept is fun, and makes you aware regarding a parent's responsabilities to kids. However, the levels are hard to get a good score, and you need a good one to be able to progress. Therefore makes it very grinding and you have to repeat the levels over and over and look for a good pattern to survive the task at hand. :)
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game could have been fun if you had people to play with. It is just way to difficult to play by yourself. Trying to manage 8 kids and set up other tasks is to much for one. I just can't give this a thumbs up. Unless you have some friends hanging out to play then do not bother.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game could be fun with other people, but solo is pretty much impossible. You can't change the amount of children there are (6), so being there alone with 6 children, not having anyone else to help you with, is pretty hard. On PC, you can't play with other people... I got this game expecting maybe I could play with other online players, but nope.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Local Co-op is probably fun on whatever console this was made for. It's impossible to figure out how to do it on the PC.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →consept is good but way to hard to control on the computer and cant figure out multi-player.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →A fun an bizzare premise, but ultimately it is pretty much impossible for a single player. Even the tutorial gives you six kids that all go separate ways and immediately die. Best I ever got was a D- and it requires a C- to go to the first level. Even two players is really hard, you still have 6 kids. Only way I can see playing it really working is with at least three. Thats never going to happen.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Video review (including score): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-dJAuIa8Ho If anything, Think of the Children has further solidified my reasoning behind never becoming a parent. This game gives some firsthand experience when it comes to being a parent, and I went at it solo, doubling the frustration. Pros: Brilliant concept. I have to give it to this game, the concept is brilliant. Really goes to show just how hard parenting can be, but in the most ridiculous manner possible. I was constantly…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Really enjoyed the couch co-op. The single player is hard still cant beat the last level! have had lots of fun! Great game gets better with som beer and friends.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Found out about this game at their first 48 hour gamejam, been following them ever since. Game is an absolute blast with friends and worth every penny. Also only lost 1 kid and still got a B+ cause I set up all the pinatas and BBQ for the other favourite kids, so overall, I give this game a good solid 8/10 and would recommend to upcoming parents to let them have a taste of whats to come.
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Never played such an accurate simulator 11/10
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Love the game so far. Stupid, Silly and so damn fun. The game is one big escort mission. WAIT COME BACK! Okay, hear me out. It's a GOOD escort mission. Normally I hate escort missions. I hate them with a passion, the NPCs are always idiots and get themselves killed all the time and there's nothing you can do about it. But here? Here they're still idiots that get themselves killed all the time! So why do I love this game? Frankly I have no idea. Maybe it's the charming music, maybe it's the…
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Tomorrow, Friday: Join us to play "Think of the Children: An Adventure in Safety, Policy, and Design" game! It's an RPG and an unfolding story that you will chart. Limited capacity to 24, so arrive early! 1:30 PM - 3 PM, Regency G2 #AOIR2026
neutral · AI labelView post →As other people said: PROs: - fun premise and gameplay (at least short time) - local co-op for up to 4 - Customizable characters with unlockable "body parts" CONs: - Not balanced for different palyer counts (i.e. alone it becomes impossible, with a group it becomes easier with higher player count) Buy it on sale/discount/an external key, if you want to have some hours/days of local coop fun, but don't expect too much!
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →fun but very hard to play without others
positive · reviewer's own thumbsView post →This game's difficultly is not scaled for one person to play. Yes you can technically play single player in this game but keeping all 6 kids out of trouble is extremely difficult, some of the levels it feels near impossible. You'll be barely keeping enough kids out of danger to get the minimum grade to go on to the next level. Forget trying to get A+ rank on all the levels, I got a few but some of the levels I really don't know how you can do it alone. ( Like the camping level where you have…
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Even though there is a single player mode, there's no way to even complete the first level without co-op. I had several children die in a min or less.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Too difficult for just 2 people. Meant for 4-player parties.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Decent game, but it is impossible to complete. In the last level, one kid will get stuck forcing you to not be able to complete the game :(
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →Practically impossible solo. Needs major rebalance. Menu auto scroll bug needs fixing. Great idea but currently an unplayable mess. Do not buy.
negative · reviewer's own thumbsView post →
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