Twelve months. About fifteen minutes.
No account. Nothing to download. Nothing is collected and nothing leaves your device.
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What it actually teaches
Children are very often the reason a family gets a French Bulldog, and they are almost never the ones told what one costs or how easily it goes wrong. This is written for them, without being preachy about it. Nothing is lectured — the game shows the bill and shows the behaviour, and lets the player work it out.
Insurance, and the fortnight that decides everything
The single most valuable thing on this whole site is nearly invisible when it is written down as prose: a pet insurance policy never covers anything already on the dog's record. Insure in week one, before he has ever seen a vet, and there is nothing to exclude. Wait until after the first check-up, and whatever the vet writes down that day — "mild nasal stenosis — monitor", say — sits outside the cover for the rest of his life.
In the game you can watch that sentence being typed in month one, and then watch the insurer decline the airway operation in month nine because of it. Reading about it changes nobody's behaviour. Being handed the bill does.
The socialisation window, which cannot be reopened
Between roughly three and sixteen weeks a puppy files everything he meets under "normal". After that, new things go somewhere much less forgiving. The game gives you eight things he should meet — children, traffic and noise, other dogs, the vacuum cleaner, car journeys, being handled, being left alone, the vet, socially — and deliberately does not give you enough time for all of them.
Whatever you skip comes back in month ten as a frightened ten-month-old barking at a child in a park, with the game noting plainly that this was decided in month two.
Heat, handled carefully
The July scene is the one that matters most and the one written most carefully. Above about 20°C a flat-faced dog should not be walking in the sun, because panting is a dog's air conditioning and this breed's is half-built. If the player walks him at lunchtime it escalates — heavy panting, then thick ropey drool, then a decision — and the correct answer is to cool him where he stands before travelling anywhere.
He is fine at the end of it either way. He is never shown in distress, and he is never harmed. The scene is meant to be remembered, not to upset a seven-year-old. If you would like the grown-up version of it, we have a full page on heat stroke in French Bulldogs.
Money, from the same model as the calculator
Every figure in the game is read out of the same cost model as our lifetime cost calculator, so the two physically cannot disagree. A puppy from a health-testing breeder costs £2,400; everyday running costs for the year come to £1,290 before a single thing goes wrong; treatment costs come from the same risk table the calculator uses. You can see where every figure comes from.
At the end the game puts what the player guessed at the start next to what the year actually cost, itemised, with a column for what the insurer paid and a column for what they paid. That table is the point of the whole thing.
For teachers, rescues and vet practices. Use it however you like, link to it, put it on a whiteboard. There is no sign-up wall, no advertising, no affiliate link and no tracking on this page — deliberately, because it is played by children. If it is useful, a link back is the only thing we would ask for.
How to play
- Click or tap the choices. Everything works with a keyboard too — tab to a choice and press enter.
- Two of the scenes are timed. Both have a "give me longer to react" box, which is ticked by default if your device asks for reduced motion.
- Your progress saves automatically in your own browser. Close the tab and come back later on the same device.
- It works on a phone. It was tested down to a 390-pixel screen because that is what children actually have.
Common questions
How old is this for?
Roughly seven to twelve, playing alone or next to a parent. There is reading in it, and a younger child will get more out of it with someone beside them. Older children and adults get through it fine and usually get a shock at the bill.
Does the dog ever die or get badly hurt?
No. He is alive and well at the end of every playthrough, whatever you do. Some players end the year with a more anxious and more expensive dog than others, and that is the whole mechanic — but nothing is fatal and nothing is punitive.
Do we need an account, or an email address?
No. There is no sign-up, no email capture, no advertising and no analytics on this page. Your progress is saved in your own browser and never leaves your device. Clearing your browser data clears the save.
How long does it take?
About fifteen to twenty minutes for the full twelve months. You can stop part way and pick it up later on the same device and browser.
Can we use this in a class or a rescue talk?
Yes, freely, and you do not need to ask. It works on a whiteboard and it works on a phone. A link back is appreciated but nothing is gated.
Are the costs in the game real?
They come from the same cost model as our lifetime cost calculator, so the game cannot quote a figure the rest of the site disagrees with. Purchase prices, insurance premiums and treatment costs are all read from that shared model rather than invented for the game.
A game, not veterinary advice. The costs and conditions in it are real and sourced, but a real puppy needs a real vet. If your dog is unwell, ring your practice.