Creative Vision / Rationale / How Did You Incorporate the Theme
Why did I make this, over all?

There were two strong motivators to make this game. One, to simply practice game dev work so that, when the time comes to make a game for my PhD, I have practiced some of the skills necessary. However, when the theme was revealed, I realised I could get two birds with one stone here. My PhD very broadly focuses around meaning and virtual pets. The theme - an image of two hands coming together - fills me with the sense of connection. So where is the overlap here?

What are some of my most meaningful connections?

My partner, my family and my friends, for sure. But who else? Who is *constantly* there for me, with *zero* expectations of me, and zero reservations from giving me the entirety of their heart?

It’s my little spaniel, Tienie. And before it was Tienie, it was my little staffy, Honey.

Tienie has had a rough journey with me. I have had her as a puppy and I have always tried to do the right thing. But Tienie was a difficult puppy: she had a lot of fear, and that fear could sometimes realize itself in biting others. There were points at the deepest pits of despair within our journey that I thought the only thing to do was to put Tienie to sleep.

But thanks to support from the many other people that Tienie had impacted in her four short years of life, I was told to keep trying. We went through different trainers, different techniques, and became inseparably close. My heart beats where Tienie is.

It was my therapist who asked me one day what I liked about my dog. After I finished my list, my therapist asked me, “well, have you told any of this to her?” and that is why I made this game.

I have written the message for my dog. And after I submit for this game jam, I will read it out to her.