WOBBLEDOGS
A pet management game that’s both bright and dark
Developer/ publisher Animal Uprising
Format PC
Origin US
Release TBA
As much as we love dogs – which is a lot – we don’t always feel great about what humanity has done to them. Specifically, the physical features that make dogs’ lives harder than they need to be. The brachycephalic wheezing caused by those adorably squashed pug faces; hip dysplasia in larger breeds; the assorted spinal complaints of the dachshund – all intentionally bred in the pursuit of ‘pedigree’.
Which is a rather heavy thing to be thinking about while playing a pet management game starring pups that look as though they’ve been assembled out of pink erasers and the contents of a school tuck shop. But Wobbledogs’ gooey surface conceals a sharper edge. “I am not super-interested in making, like, very edgy dark stuff,” designer Tom Astle says. “But that kind of subversion does really interest me. Getting people’s defences down a little and then pushing them with something they might not have expected.”