

Grief like a stray dog
Rayonist · 2025 · Adventure, Visual Novel, Story Rich, Point & Click, Atmospheric
PC
Very Positive99% · 85
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About Grief like a stray dog
«Grief like a stray dog» is a short interactive play about a young postwoman in a tight-knit rural community. In the outside world, WW2 rages at its apex. Nadia is thirteen. She delivers papers, letters. And death notifications to families of those killed in action.Nadia’s character is based on the author’s grandmother. Inspired by tales of a childhood spent in a village near Rzhev, not far from one of the most brutal battlefields of the Eastern Front, most of the character arcs and plot points are based on war stories told by older relatives and locals; many letters are real.
The main visual inspirations for the game were kid’s drawings, neo-expressionism, Russian lubok art and Soviet book illustration«Grief like a stray dog» is a meditation on war, community and human fate — part documentary, part Russian folk tale.
The main visual inspirations for the game were kid’s drawings, neo-expressionism, Russian lubok art and Soviet book illustration«Grief like a stray dog» is a meditation on war, community and human fate — part documentary, part Russian folk tale.
You are expected:
- A visual novel with elements of an adventure game.
- A rich and touching story based on memories and Russian folk tales.
- Author's 2D graphics.
- Disturbing and unusual soundtrack.
- Capacious and authentic dialogues.
- Duration: 60-80 minutes.
- A village populated by picturesque characters.
What Steam players say
Recent verbatim reviews from Steam — separate from playze.io community reviews below.
This was suggest a beautiful game, which had me sobbing at the end. I highly suggest playing it, as it reminds you of the grief and horrors of war brought on people who did not choose war but are forced to deal with it anyways. My heart is broken and my throat is stiff from trying not to cry so much.2 found this helpful
[h3] ---{ Graphics }--- [/h3] ☐ You forget what reality is ☐ Beautiful ☑ Good ☐ Decent ☐ Bad ☐ Don‘t look too long at it ☐ MS-DOS [h3] ---{ Gameplay }--- [/h3] ☑ Very good ☐ Good ☐ It's just gameplay ☐ Mehh ☐ Watch paint dry instead ☐ Just don't [h3] ---{ Audio }--- [/h3] ☐ Eargasm ☐ Very good ☑ Good ☐ Not too bad ☐ Bad ☐ I'm now deaf [h3] ---{ Audience }--- [/h3] ☐ Kids ☐ Teens ☑ Adults ☑ Grandma [h3] ---{ PC Requirements }--- [/h3] ☐ Check if you can run paint ☑ Potato ☐ Decent ☐ Fast ☐ Rich boi ☐ Ask NASA if they have a spare computer [h3] ---{ Game Size }--- [/h3] ☐ Floppy Disk ☑ Old Fashioned ☐ Workable ☐ Big ☐ Will eat 10% of your 1TB hard drive ☐ You will want an entire hard drive to hold it ☐ You will need to invest in a black hole to hold all the data [h3] ---{ Difficulty }--- [/h3] ☑ Just press 'W' ☐ Easy ☐ Easy to learn / Hard to master ☐ Significant brain usage ☐ Difficult ☐ Dark Souls [h3] ---{ Grind }--- [/h3] ☑ Nothing to grind ☐ Only if u care about leaderboards/ranks ☐ Isn't necessary to progress ☐ Average grind level ☐ Too much grind ☐ You'll need a second life for grinding [h3] ---{ Story }--- [/h3] ☐ No Story ☐ Some lore ☐ Average ☐ Good ☐ Lovely ☑ It'll…1 found this helpful
Absolutely beautiful, emotional storytelling. I streamed this game, and several of my viewers let me know that they ended up crying after we finished the game together.1 found this helpful
The year is 1944. You are Nadia, a 13 year old girl whose mother is sick. Your mother is a postwoman in a small rural community not far from the fighting in WWII. You end up having to take her place, having to know the terror and grief of being the messenger who often has to deliver the worst possible news. The toll it takes on her to do this work, and to keep her own family from falling to despair, is almost too excessive to bear. The thing is, very little of this game is a work of fiction - Nadia's character is based on the developers' grandmother's own experiences as a young postwoman on the outskirts of Rzhev, and the characters in the story are direct experiences from people who were around during that period, all who had their own brush with a funeral notice. The artwork is sparse but beautifully done, every marking made deliberately with a skilled hand. The credits end with the developer's grandmother tearfully recollecting her own experience with the war, how only one of the teens deployed returned home without a leg. I went into this game blind, expecting something else, and the gravity of the discussion being held slapped the taste out of my mouth. How lucky I am, to have…
A short and sweet game. The art is beautiful and the story is compelling. Finishing the game brought the revelation that the story is based on a real person's memories and listening to her speak brought tears. AMAZING GAME! I encourage everyone to play it.
Depression like a Stray Dog. What a interesting art style and way of depicting grief. The characters are gripping, the atmosphere is immersive, and the gameplay is intriguing. I highly recommend shutting yourself in the dark and experiencing this rich game to it's fullest.
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