Wireframe 2019

Early Access

Attract Mode

10 / wfmag.cc

 New dogs arrive all the time,

meaning your little shelter is

constantly short of room.

Early Access

Attract Mode

To The Rescue! hammers home the ethos ‘adopt, don’t shop’

ade by Little Rock Games –

Olivia Dunlap and Tanner

Marshall – To The Rescue! is,

quite simply, a dog shelter

simulation. Theme Park with

less salt. Jurassic World Evolution without as

many civilian casualties. SimCopter without any

‘copters. You get the idea. It has an adorable

look to it and is full of all the ‘snoot boops’, as

I’m forced to write, you would expect of anything

dog-related in the contemporary gaming world.

You run the shelter, look after the dogs and their

welfare, and aim for all the rescued pooches

to be adopted into suitable homes. But it goes

beyond that, into areas you might not expect of

something so bright and airy-looking.

“We really want to represent the good, the

bad, and the ugly aspects of running a shelter,”

Little Rock tell us. “Which means that even

though you get to interact with and get to

know all kinds of dogs, some of them are more

adoptable than others. Just like in real life, some

kinds of dogs are more appealing to adopters

for a variety of reasons like their age, breed, and

personality traits. But you also have to deal with

the threat of illness and disease, running out of

funds, and other adverse situations.”

And that’s where the unique aspect of a dog

shelter sim comes into play – your goal might

be to get these pooches into their forever

homes, but the simple fact is you will face many

roadblocks along the way, seemingly conspiring

to work against your efforts to keep the shelter

running. “Sometimes, when dogs are sick, or

old, or aggressive, and no one wants to adopt

them, you won’t be able to afford to keep taking

care of them and might have to make a tough

decision,” Little Rock explains. “But if everything

works out and the shelter gets plenty of

donations, you’ll be able to take care of them for

as long as you like.”

Those tough decisions mentioned incorporate

euthanasia, a hot topic for any animal lover, and

a constant source of controversy surrounding

shelters (and even activist groups like PETA)

around the world. But it’s a part of the dog

shelter experience, and it’s something Little Rock

felt strongly had to make up a part of the game.

“From the very beginning of the project, we

wanted to include euthanasia in the game.

“We know that the idea of it being an option

may be shocking to some people, but the truth

of the matter is that there are way more dogs

and cats in need than shelters can handle.

It can be hard for ‘no-kill’ shelters to take in

every animal that might need help. Those that

may be hard to adopt, rehabilitate, or find room

for may eventually end up at other shelters that

have no choice. A tragic side effect of this is

Best friends, inc

M

GENRE

Management sim

FORMAT

PC

DEVELOPER

Little Rock Games

PUBLISHER

Little Rock Games

RELEASE

2019

Info

10 / wfmag.cc