Before you ask, yes, you can pet the dogs in To The Rescue!, an animal shelter simulation game where you take care of dogs until they're adopted. You can also play with the dogs, feed the dogs, medicate the dogs, clean up after the dogs, and glow up each dog to make them ready for their forever homes.
To The Rescue! comes courtesy of Little Rock Games, a game developer from Little Rock, Arkansas that used to make tabletop titles like Galactic Scoundrels and Honor Bound. To The Rescue! is their first digital offering coming to PC and Mac via Steam on November 4, with a Nintendo Switch version coming sometime in early 2022.
“To The Rescue! balances the wholesome feel of a loving and cozy animal game with some of the hectic realities of running a real animal shelter,” said Olivia Dunlap, co-founder of Little Rock Games. “We wanted to pay respect to all of the hardworking volunteers running actual animal shelters and raise awareness for their profession through the power of video games!”
While much of the game is dealing with the day-to-day business of keeping your shelter funded and operating, there's also a matchmaking game to play with each dog you take in. Dogs come in four different sizes and seven general breed types, with different fur coats and colors providing an approximation for specific breeds. All dogs also have unique personality traits that will need to be matched with the right human to convince them to take their new fur baby home.
There's also scheduling adoption drives, taking your shelter dogs to the dog park, and staying on good terms with the locals to contend with.
To the Rescue! will be priced at just $19.99, with 20% of all proceeds from both the Steam and Nintendo Switch versions of the game going to help The Petfinder Foundation, an organization that supports shelters and rescue groups that post their puppers on Petfinder.com.
To The Rescue! Arrives on Steam November 4. Remember: adopt, don’t shop.