Not waiting for the new year to start my resolution on finally making and releasing Ellie Beagle: Therapy Dog. This game is something I dreamed up and drafted out as part of my Masters in Game Design program thesis back in 2017. I have always wanted to make it a reality, but as so often is the case life happens. Now, 2 kids, 4 moves, and 5 years later, I'm starting this dev blog to document to re-development of the game and *hopefully* as a tool to help me stay accountable.
The Basics
Ellie Beagle: Therapy Dog is a graphic novel point-and-click adventure game a la Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney. But instead of being a lawyer, our hero is a therapist. And instead of being populated with humans, the world is filled with anthropomorphic dogs. Dr. Ellie Beagle is a therapy dog who helps her canine clients with their doggy dilemmas by sniffing through memories, pointing at contradictions, and digging up insight.
The game was inspired by Ellie, a rescue beagle who adopted me back in 2013. She was a real working therapy dog and we often visited psychiatric hospitals and assisted living facilities.
Ellie crossed the rainbow bridge back in 2021 and I miss her everyday. I honestly wasn't sure I'd ever be able to come back to Ellie Beagle: Therapy Dog after losing her, but I'm finally in a place where I can pick up the game again and continue to bring joy and tail-wags to others the way Ellie loved to do.