Dog Cannibalism and Death

[Avis]

Did anyone else zoom in on their cute dogs head flying off as they died and then see their other dogs feast on the remains or was that just me

On one hand its hilarious considering how otherwise cute the game is, on the other I really wasn't expecting it and startled my cat with how loud i gasped lmao

I think maybe there should be a content warning for the cannibalism and the falling apart of the corpse? I love the game, I just would have liked to have a warning lol

[THE BATTER]

Just for anyone else reading this thread: "Corpse" and "cannibalism" are really strong words for what this actually is, which is a cute, blocky dog exploding like a cartoon robot with no gore whatsoever. If your dog chooses to eat the parts left behind, you can clean up the parts beforehand, but there's no gore when the dogs eat that either: the dog parts are basically treated like a piece of fruit or any other food item.

I don't personally think a content warning is necessary, especially since it's not a gory scene so much as a weird, amusing surprise, but I understand others' experiences may differ. It was definitely a surprise to me too, but not an upsetting one.

Maybe a footnote at the start of the game during the tutorial that warns you like, "Your dogs can die of old age and starvation: they will explode when this happens, leaving behind Wobbledog parts that can be used as food or discarded" would be useful? I don't think "Content warning: death and cannibalism" would really be appropriate given how cartoonish and light-humoured the entire aspect of the game is.

Curious to see what other people think of this aspect of the game. Saw someone comment that the game is gross in the way that picking up bugs is gross (playful and harmless), which sums up my feelings pretty nicely.

[Avis]

Yeah I agree, that's the kind of warning I'd put. Cannibalism and death are pretty heavy words, but I wasn't really able to think of anything else to call it, lol
Before the dogs ate it my thought was "oh no i can't delete it, that's too sad." might have been the better option lol

[Retro]

Ok that just sold me on the game LOL i love when random things like that happen

[Avis]

I won't spoil it for you but there's a really funny animation when you breed the dogs together! There's probably a few other surprises I haven't found yet.

[tom]

I appreciate this discussion. It's a balancing act for me between wanting that moment to be a surprise and not wanting people to get legitimately squicked out. I'm open to a light warning somewhere if people think it would be necessary.

[adorabee]

Originally posted by tom:

I appreciate this discussion. It's a balancing act for me between wanting that moment to be a surprise and not wanting people to get legitimately squicked out. I'm open to a light warning somewhere if people think it would be necessary.

Hi Tom,

Thanks for the great game.

Maybe an option to turn off the death animation/cannibalism? I love the game, but I found it highly upsetting to the point where I had to take a break. I'm a highly sensitive person and I get easily attached to these little dudes. I would prefer if they just went POOF instead of the howling and the popping.

[Retro]

I originally thought it was a trait the dog might have sort of like rimworld you'd have someone with the trait "cannibal" I didn't think it was every dog, it definitely is different but I don't mind your original intended vision it makes me more curious what else you'll do in the future. I don't detest an option for people who don't want that though. (I don't mind it i think it's a whoa moment those things stick out to me)