Watch out, pet lovers! There are thousands of apps, where dogs, cats or other cute animals play a vital role, but “The Dog Run” by “ZuluOneZero” takes the love for animals one step further. All profits from the advertisement shown in this app will be invested to support animal rescues and hospitals. This is literally the first caritative app, that we’ll test on this blog, so this review will be the first charity show by Daikon Media to raise awareness for the health and well-being of animals. Playing for a good cause? Hopefully, the game can keep up with its noble purpose.

Take care of these damn rabbit holes!

Doodle Dog

Do you know Gunman Clive, the doodle runner, that is available for 3DS (where I’ve played it) and Steam? “The Dog Run” looks like an even more indie version of it. The graphics are sketchy, mostly consisting of black lines, and all sprites and even the background graphics are hand-drawn following this pretty unique doodle style.

But it’s not only the style, that I like, it’s also the unique sense of humor, where your dog’s enemies can be both small rabbit holes or giant cats with laser guns in their eyes. Everything is possible, which keeps you excited and entertained.

Hodgepodge

Looking at the thin lines and the minimalist appearance, it might be counter-intuitive to say this, but “The Dog Run” is quite muddled for a simple game like that. The background graphics shine through the transparent dog (the cat is even mixed up with the background and the main layer. Aaargh!), the acoustic feedback is a bit confusing (was that sound a sign of approval or a warning?) and sometimes there was so much happening on the screen, that I seriously didn’t know if there’s was a way to survive that passage at all.

I guess the best way to solve this would be to stay even closer to the straight doodle concept and get rid of all elements that could be too much. Less is more! But as the game is not officially released yet, I’m pretty sure that the developers will invest some time in balancing out all elements.

UFOs and giant cats shooting lasers. I wonder what’s worse?!

The Verdict

Honestly, I would even recommend this game to you, if it were an absolute bummer, just because I think that we should support the amazing idea of gaming for a good purpose. But as you can see, the game is even fun and original, so there is no reason not to give it a shot and download it on Google Play.

All pictures are in-game screenshots.