Perhaps you’ve met the “This is fine” dog before. Perhaps you have a plush version of the fellow sitting on your desk, silently sipping his coffee and keeping his cool under all circumstances. But you’ve likely never really believed him when he says everything is fine, and a new game is about to change that.
Inspired by the original comic by KC Green, developer Nick Kaman has released a free pixel-art game that shows a new side to our furry friend’s dilemma.
The whole thing will take five minutes or so to play through. Go ahead; I’ll wait. You need this.
Fine, if you want to just watch it, you can do that too:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpjR8pMjULs
Don’t you feel better now? It’s heartwarming to know the little dog has friends—and a heart-spewing fire extinguisher at his disposal. The game is elegant in its simplicity and spot-on in its message.
“This game is an attempt to capture how I felt and how those around me felt after the results of the 2016 election,” Kaman explains. And while it’s true that not every metaphorical fire can be easily extinguished, we can define ourselves by how we choose to cope with those ever-smoldering dumpster fires. Maybe, like the enlightened frog friend, it’s through substances of choice. Maybe it’s using the fire’s seemingly bad qualities for our own productive purposes, like roasting marshmallows.
Whatever you do, just remember the mantra: This is fine.
H/T AV Club