Rain World Pup Trailer Is DEVASTATINGLY Adorable

I've been a bit under the weather lately (which is good, because I was expecting to return from Las Vegas dead), so I'm only just now getting around to posting about this videogame trailer from two whole days ago. Oh, the shame. This is the Internet, where time moves at a blinding (and arguably blind) pace, and the phrase "out with the old, in with the new" is already out because we found something new to replace it. While I haven't checked, I imagine I entirely missed Rain World's hype period, Early Access beta, launch, avalanche of glowing reviews, and jumble of "overrated" grumbles in the following e-weeks. Now we're probably on Rain World VII or perhaps even the massively multiplayer MOBA Surgeon Sim spin-off. But here I am with this ancient video of the original Rain World's pups and NEVER MIND ALL THAT OTHER STUFF I JUST SAID OH GOODNESS SO CUTE.

Slugcat pups. This isn't even fair. My heartstrings feel like someone just played "Devil Went Down To Georgia" on them while showing me pictures of kittens in maddeningly precarious positions, just milliseconds away from certain doom. These pups are not, however, entirely helpless. Just, um, mostly.

"The introduction of the pups makes an already difficult game even more challenging. Not only do you have to worry about your own hide, but now you must feed, shelter and protect one or more mischievous little young slugcats. And as you have no doubt seen, Rain World is not a forgiving environment!"

"But they can be an asset to you as well. While not as smart or fast as adult Slugcats, pups can hunt for themselves in a limited fashion, they can hold objects such as rocks or spears and they have even been known to defend themselves against predators. However, you must first win their trust. Pups will watch your actions, and if they feel threatened by you, they will abandon you... or worse!"

So, at least on paper, it sounds like a nice balance between self-sufficient friendly NPCs and parenting - not so much the perpetual escort mission I feared when I first watched the video. That said, if they flee forever because I, say, accidentally bop them in the heat of a combat scenario, that could get pretty infuriating. We'll see.

Rain World's Kickstarter drive is just hours away from completion. Has it squeezed every last drop from your wallet, or are you cautiously waiting to see if all these enticingly ambitious concepts can snuggle up together without slug-slapping each others' eyes out?