Numinous Games has just launched That Dragon, Cancer ($4.99) for iOS. This game, which was inspired by the ordeal with cancer that Numinous’ Ryan Green’s son Joel went through, and the challenges to the parents and serve as a memorial to him. The game started development while Joel was diagnosed with terminal cancer, though he sadly passed away in March 2014 while the game was still in development, which caused the game to undertake a change in its direction. As such, it’s intended to be an interactive, autobiographical, narrative-driven experience that deals with a difficult topic few if any other games have touched on.

This is undobutedly a challenging experience – if not in gameplay than certainly emotionally. Ifyou’re interested in serious narrative games with a unique twist that will make you cry, That Dragon, Cancer should be worth checking out. If you’re playing this, it might be worth getting into the forum thread (you may need a shoulder to cry on) and worth checking out the companion documentary Thank You For Playing.