| That Dragon, Cancer | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Numinous Games |
| Publisher(s) | Numinous Games |
| Designer(s) | Ryan Green |
| Programmer(s) | Josh Larson |
| Writer(s) | Amy Green |
| Composer(s) | Jon Hillman |
| Engine | Unity |
| Platform(s) | Microsoft Windows, OS X, Ouya, iOS, Android |
| Release | Windows, OS X, Ouya
|
| Genre(s) | Adventure, art |
| Mode(s) | Single-player |
That Dragon, Cancer is an 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 succumbing to the cancer 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.