Last updated on January 3rd, 2026 at 05:37 pm
Alter Ego – Entertainment Game Review
Alter Ego is a Entertainment/Simulation/Adventure game from Choose Multiple LLC, first launched in 22nd September 2009.
It’s rated 12+ and currently has 182+ ratings on the App Store.
What Makes Alter Ego Stand Out
What if you could live your life over again?
In this text-based interactive fiction, you choose what happens next. It's in the style of pick-a-path gamebooks, but with over a thousand multiple-choice questions, it's much longer and deeper than traditional gamebooks. Alter Ego starts at birth and ends at death, including two substantially different versions, depending on whether you choose to be male or female.
Will you grow up to be confident and happy? Will you fight with bullies, or befriend them? Will you find a date to the senior prom? Will you marry and have kids, or start your own business and become a millionaire? The choice is yours.
This game will change your life.
(Alter Ego was originally published in 1986 for the Commodore 64, MS-DOS, Apple II, and Macintosh. The current edition of the Alter Ego game is a production of Choose Multiple LLC. This edition includes an updated interface and fixes bugs in the original version of the game, but the content of the game hasn't changed from the original 1986 version of the game.)
This Entertainment game offers engaging gameplay and regular updates for mobile players.
Player Feedback
As a newer release, Alter Ego is building its player community. Early feedback suggests .
Recent Updates & Development
Latest Update: 31st May 2023
Recent improvements include:
Updated support the latest iOS devices. If you enjoy "Alter Ego," please leave us a written review. It really helps!
Download & Availability
Alter Ego is available through the official App Store for iOS devices.
Requirements: Requires iPhone 5s / iPad Air / iPad Air (Cellular) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina) / iPad Mini 2 (Retina, Cellular) / iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 Plus / iPad Air 2 / iPad Air 2 (Cellular) / iPad Mini 3 or later.
Compatible with iPhone and iPad devices.
Player Experience Highlights
Community Insight:
Most amazing game in the world that you have to play at least once! Always updated and supported! BETTER THAN BITLIFE NO ADS.
We always come back to this game and binge it for months at a time. We wish that you didnt get a turn counted when you click on a category like work and back out that it didnt count as a turn. Same with experiences that you end up being too old for or cant do cause a parent is dead. Wish the game got occasional updates too. Overall we will always keep playing.
Love it love it love it! Had it on 5 1/4 floppys back in the day(if we remember right, box opened like a piece of vinyl) anyway, life simulator where you actually care about the choices you make and the person you become. One caveat, especially for younger generation(Im 49), lots of reading.we love reading what the impact our choices actually make but its as much a story as a sim. 6 star.
As we understand it, this is a copy-paste of a computer game from the 1980sbut as such, there are some features that dont quite align with 21st-century values: – very pro corporal punishment – very heteronormativejust flat-out doesnt acknowledge that LGBT+ people exist – some events, without necessarily needing to be, are written differently depending on the player characters sex (theres one in the Infancy stage that, if youre a girl, youre pulling all the cards out of moms purse, but for boys its taking apart dads calculator) If there was a game that was just like this but more in line with modern sensibilities, it would be un-put-down-able.
How in 15 years do you guys not add the option to be gay? It would be an interesting choice to make in the game that could happen in adolescence, or maybe just randomly. Its not super taboo to be gay anymore, please make it happen.
We used to play this game when we were younger on the computer. We downloaded the game because we thought there would have been expansive upgrades to it after some time but we were pretty disappointed that there really wasnt. There is no diversity in the game. A lot of the people described are blonde with blue eyes. Furthermore, it doesnt include the LGBTQ+ community. It would be nice to go through a phase where youre trying to understand your sexuality or gender identity. We did just read their About page & we will check out the other choice of games to see if there is something more for what Im looking for.
The game has a few quirks. It was made in the 80s, so many situations havent aged perfectly. Some parts of the game, like relationships, seem odd or buggy (you might randomly break up with your partner without the game ever informing you if you date in adolesence). However, playing to the end is a joy if you take it seriously. We shed a few tears the first time from the ending text, which is something we cant say other life simulators can do. You feel more connected to these scenarios since theyre more detailed than is typical. Good for a few playthroughs before youve seen most of the content. Id say its worth the price.
We really love your game! It was the first one ever of its kind back then! We think you can revive! People will 100% like it since BitLife is super popular and uses a similar growing up theme! But this game has so much potential!! You could redesign it and keep a lot of the same stuff but make it more inclusive with race, gender, and sexuality! You could have more choices added that lead to different lifes and careers! And when the player dies you can make the children continue the game similar to BitLife! You could add more pictures and graphics for events/life choices to make it more user friendly! You could add more customization for characters and abilities that can be purchased! You could add more control or not, over other characters in the players life! And after this one gets updated overtime you could even create a whole new game similar concept and mechanics but a different theme like in medieval times! Or in the future! Theres many things that can be done to improve it and make it popular! Meanwhile Ill continue to play the game.
Been playing this game on the browser for almost two decades, decided to finally pull the trigger and buy it for our phone. Such a good game! We think about it a lot even though it has been a while since our last play.
We loved this game. It was satisfying to live such a happy life. It was also satisfying when the game taught us how different decisions could have been better or worse. We can recommend this game heavily, it could also be fun to play with a friend and see what decisions they made compared to you. Beautiful.
Okay, so Ive played this game about a dozen times. Id say its less addictive than well written enough to give you room to explore different lives while retaining its replay value. Its a solid game and we personally love a good life simulator like this one. One thing that stood out to us from the start was the lack of LGBT options. As a lesbian, this pulls us out of the gameplay experience every time. Do we choose an entire lifetime of male experiences in order to have a love life that includes women? Or do we choose a life of female experiences and accept that the entire romantic dimension of the game will center around men? More than once Ive ended the game a spinster. We dont think the game needs a modern LGBT twist. We think it would be vastly improved even if it remained nearly the same, but with options down the road to choose partners of different genders, choose pronouns, come out as a specific sexuality, change names, and options to come out as transgender (with the gameplay literally switching from Male script to Female script, or vice versa), with specific characters responding accordingly. Adding LGBT options just means more immersive gameplay for more people than you might think, and we feel it would vastly improve the game for players like us.
We had this exact game on a floppy disk for our Commodore 64 when we were a kid. We loved it then and we love it now.
Its the best game we have ever known. Its like living your childhood all over again. Our kids love it even more than we do. Once an hour they come running into the room shouting about how much they love alter ego. We have always been a fan of alter. Ego so we were over joyed when they said momma can we get alter ego. We highly recommend getting alter ego.
Absolutely wonderful game, the only problem we have with it is that the life stages are a it short. We enjoy this game a lot and play it often.
We enjoy the game very much. We appreciate its good balance of sound advice. We highly appreciated the sexual content notice. Sometimes we do wish there was a back button, so its nice it is listed on some options such as leave this icon and dont do anything. Even if it was just to view the previous screen again, that would be nice. Perhaps, bookmarks to go back from a certain specific point.
This 80s game is sweet charming and super fun.
No matter how many times we play this game, we never get bored. Sure a 30 minute break in between but we could play it all day. Overall, amazing game. Keep it up.
Really fun, a good way to spend some time. We appreciate how early choices can affect down the line.
We love this game, but theres something that bothers us when we play as a girl. We cant get with others girls… As a raging lesbian this is an issue for someone who likes to pretend the character is herself. Other than that, great game! 9.8/10.
Start to finish very good game. We cried, laughed and even had some madness. Button line this game is never the same it tosses random events so it keeps you on your toes. It be awesome if had some animation aside from just letters or even a fun narrator. We loved the game.
We do not under stand what people want out of this game it was made in 1986 and they probably will never update it its just a fun classic its like expecting someone to update the first Mario game.
This is one of the best experiences Ive ever had on a mobile game. Ive played it and experienced a lot of things we didnt expect to. We love the dialogue and responses that we get when we do things the right way. Definitely worth what we spent on it and we will definitely recommend to our friends.
We wish there are more games like this on the store. We have played many text based RPGs, but very few can have the same depth & replay value as Alter Ego. We have only had a few play-throughs, but we enjoyed every one of them. Shaping an alter ego is entertaining and educational at the same time. It helps us reflect upon ourselves and understand our social relationships better. We will definitely recommend the game to our friends & family. For $5, you wont regret it. Just one thing – please update more frequently & add more content/ scenarios.
This game has so much potential and we love the messages the game gives throughout the game. Its addicting, but also reminds you to leave your phone sometimes and enjoy life with your family. Its probably the best game Ive ever gotten. Our only complaints are pretty minor. First of all, we think its really hard to have a child, harder than it is in real life. Also, the names of people can get mixed up kind of easily. Our last complaint is that some of the experiences will say we need a wife or child and cant do it even though we already have one. Again this game is fantabulous and we recommend everyone who enjoys life games to try it out.
We've played this game many times over the years. It is a wonderful rpg that gives a unique experience every playthrough and evokes strong emotions with some of the scenarios. Thank you.
We really wish the lives lasted longer than this, but this was great. We love it so much. Im gonna go play it again. Bye.
Its fun to pass time and just have a little fun.
This is an amazing game. All of it's basically text based, and it's fun to go through all 7 stages in the game, or however long you last. We've had this game for about 2 years now, and we can't bring ourselves to delete it.
We normally dont write reviews but when we saw this only had 53 we knew had to write something. This game is soo much fun. You actually make choices that affect your character unlike in other games that claim to do the same. This game deserves so much more recognition. It would be awesome if it were updated a bit if you could be born into a single parent home or be born a gay character. But we realize that this is a script game and would require so much work. However, do know that many people would buy it if you were to do so. The alter ego forms where they suggest updates or changes have many people on them so we do believe you could make money if you did the new scripts for the changes you could make.
This game is very interesting and unique! It can take a little bit of time (2+ hours) depending on how you play or what you do but can be played multiple times and still be very fun. Overall, its an incredibly entertaining game that we will definitely recommend to friends. Good job creators!! :).
When we first got this game we were 8 yrs old. Our brother got it for us and we gave it a try. The game taught us so many life lessons in the time in our life where we are most vulnerable to being influenced. We keep on coming back to the game like every two years. Im gonna start the game again for the third time today. We love this game so much and recommend it to everyone.
This game is dope, so many options.
So entertaining and humourous, and accurate.
We keep coming back to this game, we do think though that it should be a bit more updated to modern times and wish we could play every option of every phase cause it ends before we can do that but great game overall.
This game absolutely destroyed us emotionally when we first played it. We had just lived an entire life in a matter of hours. It left us speechless so when we found out about the mobile version we had to download it.
This is by far the best game on the entire AppStore. It took choose your own adventure books and turned them into an app. The only issues is that the game ends. We could play endlessly. We highly recommend. 10/10 will play forever, and will always hope for more updates.
Honestly, Ive had this app off and on for about 6 years now, on various devices, and will always cone back to it. Its so well-thought out and we havent seen any app quite like it. Easily our favorite app. Thank you to all the developers and creators behind this masterpiece.
Ive had this game on our devices since around 2011 and find ourselves still coming back to it seven years later, so it feels criminal to not leave a review. Basically, its a fantastic life sim with a lot of replayability, thanks to its RPG-like stats system and its huge branching stories. Its almost entirely text-based, which is no problem at all since its so well written. The comedy scenes are hilariously cheesy (this is a port of a 1986 game, after all!), and it successfully builds on stories of relatable growing pains to deliver compelling scenarios for your alter ego to navigate. The childhood sections of the game feels bittersweet and nostalgic every time we go through them, and the older adult/elder sections hit hard and make us feel more empathy for real-life folks in their twilight years. Your character will face emotional yet realistic tribulations, like mental health crises and affairs and near-death experiences (or maybe just a horrible, crushing premature death). We could gush for ages about the unexpected engagement and entertainment this text-based adventure has given us all these years. We seriously recommend Alter Ego to anyone who likes the idea of everything Ive talked about and thinks it sounds even slightly fun. We guarantee you its even better than that once you dip below the surface. It is worth every penny youll spend on it.
This game is great we cant believe it has so little reviews.
Played the original Alter Ego some 20 or 25 years ago. Its been a great trip down memory lane. Highly recommended.
Ok… We barely write reviews for apps because we feel like it is a waste of time. But this app is exceptional and though it is five dollars, it is worth the money. The gameplay is smooth and unlike much other apps, actually makes sense. Whatever you say or do will effect all your stats, changing everything about your alter ego you play as, including physical and emotional traits. Everything is factored in to make it a unique experience every time you play. This app, in our opinion actually is the best thing we have on our phone. And that means a lot because we have 13 whole pages of apps and games on our phone. Now Im going to get to one piece of advice. Dont get this for someone young, even if they are 12 unless they are mature and you think they can handle kinda… Sexually explicit for someone normal that age.
Amazing game, could do with an update to the loan features. This is the only app that has ever made us cry and feel good about it.
Please update the user interface. Add more options? Please Ive loved this game since we found it on the internet when we were in elementary school.
This game is overall great and fun to play, but we feel like more variety and more updates are needed. Besides that this is a heartwarming, fun game! And Id suggest it to our friends.
Okay at first the game might of fell unnatural but its alright at once you get the hang of it.
Its just very heteronormative :/.
This game is a questions based RPG life simulator game. The questions can seem a bit dated since it feels like it was written in the 90s but its still overall a fun game with multiple outcomes. Some scenarios like going to college could be more fun if they made college driven scenarios instead of just clicking that section 12 (!) times to count as having gone to class. But overall its a solid game that is worth the 5 bucks. Would love if this was animated, and allowed you to choose your characters and see some of this stuff illustrated.
This game is good, but you can definitely tell that its dated. It doesnt age well. This isnt the developers fault, they simply added an already existing game into their collection. Still Ill admit there is one thing that really bothers us. Everything is so stereo typically female or male. We consider ourselves to be quite the tomboy, Exploring with our grandfather in the woods and playing Games that involve lots of explosions! Not being able to play as one seriously irks us. This doesnt mean that we dont enjoy feminine things to, for example we like to get our haircut at the beauty shop. Still like we said before, you can tell this game is dated.
We love this game and we remember being obsessed with it five or six years ago which is why we bought it for Christmas. But we were disappointed to find out that nothing had changed. All the options and stories were the same and we literally remember them word for word. We think the game would benefit from some updated gameplay and changing around some of the stories. Maybe some LGBTQ+ and crime options. The only reason we remembered this game was because of BitLife. We think you guys should take some ideas from them.
Love this game! But we think it could use an update. Maybe some differing options? We feel like we know the placement of all the scenarios.
User feedback from Apple App Store
App Details
- Version: 1.6.0
- Size: 29.49 MB
- iOS: 11.0 or later
- Languages: EN
- Content Advisory: Infrequent/Mild Sexual Content and Nudity, Infrequent/Mild Mature/Suggestive Themes
- Developer: [Choose Multiple LLC]()
Last updated: 31st May 2023 | Genre: Entertainment, Simulation | Developer: Choose Multiple LLC