The developers of That Dragon, Cancer launched a kickstarter yesterday to raise 85,000 to finish the last 3 scenes of the game and fund the finishing touches phase of development. They also announced that in addition to the kickstarter money they plan to take out a private loan and a loan from the Indie Fund to pay for the final costs of development. Kickstarter will only cover about half of the costs of finishing the game if it meets the initial goal. The kickstarter seems to be well on its way to raising the 85,000 dollars necessary, but anyone interested in the game might want to check out the kickstarter. Some of the backer rewards are really touching if you or anyone you love has been effected by cancer or any life threatening illness.

They also announced that the game is coming to PC and Mac in addition to Ouya, so a lot more people will get a chance to play the finished product.

I had a chance to play some of this at Denver Comic Con. It was really interesting. Pulls at your heartstrings.

@brandondryrock: I'm hoping to play it at PAX east. Everything I see of that game makes me excited to play it. I know I'm going to cry and I know that it is going for something really few games try to achieve. I hope it all comes together.

I still think that's a poor title. I get that you can't call it a demon, since that's often a euphemism for vice, but I dunno, calling it a dragon seems really goofy.

@bisonhero: I found an explanation of the game's name in a Huffington Post article on the game

And so, Ryan and Amy were tasked early on with explaining concepts like death and heaven to their other sons, Caleb, Isaac and Elijah, now ages 7, 5, and 2, respectively. The idea of Joel fighting a dragon called "cancer" stuck, so the name of the video game was the easiest part of its creation, Ryan said in an interview with The Huffington Post.

It sounds like the name came organically from their experience, like much of the game.

@thatpinguino: Fair enough, but to the casual observer who hasn't read up on the game and the origin of the name, I think it sounds like it romanticizes fighting cancer into this epic struggle. When my experience is that, no, it's not as rad as fighting a dragon, it's a super sad thing full of hospital visits and grief and not knowing how much time people have left.

@bisonhero: From everything I've seen of the game it seems to match the tone of hospital visits and unease that I remember from my familial bouts with cancer. The name might sound a little corny, but the game seems anything but romanticized. There seems to be hope, but not artificially so.

From what I played of the game, it definitely captures that feeling of being in a hospital, knowing something bad is going on. I was a little depressed after I finished the demo I was playing.