That Dragon, Cancer has been succesfully funded, at $ 85,000.
The former Ouya exclusive, expanded to PCs using Windows, OS X and Linux, simulates the experience of a parent living through the final days of their son, who would soon succumb to cancer. The game garnered a groundswell of support after the word got out, and the devs were convinced to bring the game beyond Ouya as a result.
Because of the developer's choice to design it as an adventure game like Myst, it afforded an opportunity to create an open ended experience. There are no true end goals in sight in each scene, allowing you to interpret the experience and act as you see fit.
On a backer update, Ryan and Josh thanked everyone for their support, and added two stretch goals in the last minute. Remember that they already did much of the work needed to finish the game, and the $ 85,000 only represent a little over half the development cost. The stretch goals will be used towards getting them away from $ 75,000 in debt, and in turn, they will be rewarding fans.
At $ 95,000, backers will get a high quality digital poster made by Ryan's sister, Stephanie. You will also see this piece in a hospital wall, and as promised, you will get a file large enough to print for yourselves.
If you look closely at the poster, each tree is actually a fingerprint, and Stephanie took these prints the day before Joel left. Stephanie gifted this to Ryan and his wife the day their second child, and Joel's sister, Zoe, was born.
At $ 110,000, backers will get a PDF artbook of assets from the game. These will actually be comprised of contributor art from the $ 200 backers. This contributor art was originally planned to be placed on the hospital walls, and whoever wants to can also be added to this artbook. The book is completely noncommercial and will not be made available for sale.
As of this writing, the Kickstarter has 40 hours to go and has raised $ 94,310, so it seems highly likely the poster will be made, and if more last minute backers come in, so will the artbook. You can squeeze in for your last chance to back the game here.
