That Dragon, Cancer is a 2016 Christian art video game created by Ryan and Amy Green, Josh Larson, and a small team under the name Numinous Games. The game is an autobiography based on the Greens' experience of raising their son Joel, who was diagnosed with terminal cancer at twelve months old. Though only given a short time to live, Joel survived for four more years before dying in March 2014. The game is designed to have the player experience the low and high moments of this period in the style of a point-and-click adventure game, using the medium's interactivity and immersion to relate the tale in ways that a film cannot. It was initially developed to relate Ryan and Amy's personal experience with Joel when they were uncertain of his health, but following his death, they reworked much of the game to memorialize and personalize their time and interactions with Joel for the player. That Dragon, Cancer was initially aimed for release as a time-limited exclusive for the Ouya, whose makers helped to fund the game's development. With expanded funding and a larger scope to the game, the developers engaged in a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, in association with Ouya, to secure additional funds to complete the game, assuring simultaneous release on other platforms including Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. The game was released on January 12, 2016, on what would have been Joel's seventh birthday. An iOS version was released in October 2016. The game was praised for being an example of video games as an art form and raw autobiographical experience from the parents' view, making the player deal with the difficult emotions and the strength of the Greens' faith. Alongside the game, a documentary, Thank You for Playing, documenting both the last few years of Joel's life and the development of the game, was aired in 2016.
Background That Dragon, Cancer bore out from experiences that Ryan and Amy Green had after their third child Joel was diagnosed with an atypical teratoid rhabdoid tumor at twelve months of age. By November 2010, the doctors had given the child about four months to live, but despite developing seven additional tumors, Joel continued to live for four years following his initial diagnosis. Joel's condition left him mentally underdeveloped, being unable to speak even by age 2, and he required additional parental care and supervision, alongside numerous visits to doctors and hospitals for palliative care and chemotherapy treatment. In early 2014, Joel's condition worsened, and the Greens temporarily moved from Colorado to San Francisco to take part in an experimental drug trial. The new drug failed to relieve the boy's new symptoms, so the Greens, following the advice of the hospice, decided to remove his feeding tube, and he died on March 13, 2014, at the age of five.
Gameplay That Dragon, Cancer is played as an exploration game from both third- and first-person perspective through a number of abstracted scenes based on the Greens' experience with raising Joel from learning of his condition through his death. The player takes the role of Joel's parents in fourteen small vignettes that capture some of the emotional moments they had to face during Joel's life expressed as interactive art. The player is able to interact with the characters and make certain choices, similar to those faced by the Greens. The first scene is where the parents have learned of their child's diagnosis, having the player consider their new responsibilities for caring for the child while reflecting on the "absurdity and sterility" of the hospital setting. The game includes fantasizing and imaginative reconstructions of some of the real moments the Greens experienced, such as a wagon ride in a hospital being envisioned as a colorful racing game. Alongside the interactivity, the game includes narration from Ryan, Amy, and other family members, as well as recordings such as voicemails that they had made during their time with Joel. The scenes include cards, letters, and other mementos of support for the Greens, sent by people who had experienced similar losses in their life.
… excerpt ends here. Continue reading the full article.
