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The world of wholesome video games is growing larger with indie developer Little Rock Games’ To the Rescue! The upcoming dog shelter simulator will task players will caring for adorable dogs and helping them find forever homes while dealing with all of the challenges the come with running a shelter. Players will have a hand in everything from buying supplies and feeding the dogs to expanding the building and (of course) making sure each furry friend gets playtime and pets.
CBR was able to go hands-on with To the Rescue! while speaking with one of its developers, Olivia Dunlap. While going through the game’s basic mechanics and getting a taste of its many features, we found the game to be both a charming and powerful experience that shines a spotlight on the important, challenging and sometimes heart-wrenching work that those who run real-world animal shelters do.
While (like other simulators) To the Rescue is not a story-centric game, it does have a story mode that helps introduce its mechanics. It starts out with the player finding a puppy outside their new home and, after learning that the local shelter is full, deciding to care for the dog and find its owner. After reuniting them, the player is offered a job at the shelter, working there until they eventually have the opportunity to open a shelter of their own.
To the Rescue‘s story mode is meant to give players a better idea of how open and closed admission shelters work and, as Dunlap told us, “situates the player and the shelter as part of their community” — something that is incredibly important for real shelters. As for the story mode itself, it takes place over the course of eight in-game weeks, and should take around five or six hours to complete. There’s also a sandbox mode for those who want to start with everything unlocked and just take care of the dogs.
The majority of the player’s time will be spent tending to every dogs’ needs while also getting them ready to meet potential adopters. Each one has a profile listing its age, breed, size, traits and conditions, which will help players match them with those who come in looking to adopt. They’ll have to keep track of the dogs’ hunger, thirst and hygiene levels, as leaving dogs neglected will lower the shelter’s reputation. There are also option to play with and groom the dogs, which involve cute little mini-games. As the game goes on and the shelter takes on more dogs, balancing everything will become more challenging, but players will also be able to AI helpers to complete basic tasks.
Of course, running a shelter involves far more than just caring for the dogs themselves. Players will also have to buy supplies (such as different kinds of food), build additional kennels or rooms, expand the size of the shelter itself, and keep an eye on their reputation and funds. Running completely out of money will get the shelter shut down, but just like in the real world, players can apply for grants, which will provide additional money if they complete certain goals. The game also has a small skill tree that players can earn and spend points on to unlock new buildings, abilities and ways to interact with the community.
While To the Rescue is overall a colorful and fun game, it doesn’t shy away from the very real and difficult challenges that actual shelters face. One of these is the heartbreaking and controversial practice of euthanasia, which the game does depict, though there is an option for players to opt out of the mechanic entirely. This was something the developers knew they wanted to include from the start. “One of our big goals is to show some of the harder realities of running a dog shelter — because it’s a real hard job,” Dunlap told us.
Though she doesn’t view To the Rescue as an educational game per-say, she does want the game to accurately represent the world of animal shelters in a way that creates empathy for those who have to do the work. Dunlap explained “open admission shelters often don’t have a choice to euthanize dogs. They don’t have anywhere else to take them, and they have to make room so they can keep the shelter open.” She also pointed out that, though such shelters have bad reputations, they are often trying to help dogs the most, but are desperately low on resources.
Dunlap also made it clear that the game doesn’t want to glorify euthanasia or treat it as an easy way out from a gameplay perspective. Instead, it’s there to “paint a more complete picture of what the industry can be like” and help players understand how a shelter might reach a point where that becomes the only option. However, even for those who keep euthanasia enabled, it’s possible it won’t show up during a playthrough. It’s also not something that can be done repeatedly, as it will impact a shelter’s reputation.
Additionally, the developers are also doing more than simply raising awareness for this difficult work through gameplay. Little Rock Games has announced it will donate 20 percent of the profits to the PetFinder Foundation, a charity that aims to prevent euthanasia by helping out shelters and rescue groups across North America. Ultimately, To the Rescue is a game about taking care of dogs while portraying shelters in all of their complexities. While it presents challenges, it is a colorful and charming game dog lover will appreciate.
Developed by Little Rock Games and published by Freedom Games, To the Rescue will be available on Steam and Nintendo Switch. No release date has been announced.
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