Griefling - the Grief Pet

Care for a magical creature—and yourself. Grief-Pet helps bereaved kids heal with daily self-care and shared magical stories. Small steps, big impact: feel less alone, one day at a time.

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Inspiration

Griefling – The Grief Pet began with my own experience of grief.

Even as an adult, I struggled with the complicated emotions it brought — sadness, guilt, anger, numbness — and the sense that no one could truly help me. I often felt like the only way through it was alone. That’s painful enough when you have years of life experience behind you. But I couldn’t stop thinking about what it must feel like for a young person.

I volunteer with a charity called A Part of Me, which supports children and teens in grief. Through that work, I’ve designed workshops and tools to help them express their emotions and connect with others. But I wanted to build something even more accessible — something kids could use on their own, in their own time. Something gentle.

That’s why I decided to make a pet game. It’s easier to learn how to care for yourself when you can start by caring for something else — especially something small, magical, and just as vulnerable as you. The pet becomes a safe space for practice: self-care, compassion, emotional awareness. That’s the heart of Griefling.

What it does

Griefling is a browser-based prototype that allows kids to adopt a magical grief creature and take care of it a little every day — by taking care of themselves.

Core features include:

  • Pet Naming: Players name their pet to form an emotional bond
  • Daily Needs: Each day, the pet expresses a stronger need (e.g., rest, comfort, play), mirroring how human needs fluctuate -Self-Care Actions: Players choose from grief-informed micro-actions to meet the pet’s need
  • Grief Stories: Each day, the pet shares a short magical tale from another forest creature about living with loss
  • Status Bars: The pet’s mood, strength, and bond evolve based on the player’s care choices

It’s a simple prototype now.

How it's built

I built the game on my own — it’s my first time ever making a game.

I started by experimenting with AI and no-code tools like Bolt during a development event. It was magical at first: you ask for something, and it appears. But quickly, I ran into chaos. The first version was bloated, messy, and unfixable. I restarted — again and again. It took four failed attempts before I changed my approach.

On my forth try, I built the game screen-by-screen. One step of the user journey at a time. First the welcome screen, then the story screen, then the daily care screen. This shift in mindset made the project manageable — and finally, meaningful.

Challenges I ran into

There were many. I had no game design background. No team. Just me, grief, and a broken prototype.

Some of the biggest challenges were:

  • AI Overload: I initially gave AI too much too soon — it built the wrong things and was hard to tweak
  • UX Struggles: Designing for kids on mobile meant balancing readability, simplicity, and emotional tone
  • Tech Frustration: Sometimes the tools wouldn’t do what I wanted. The best solution? Walk away, take a break, and come back with new energy

Accomplishments that I am proud of

I’m proud I didn’t give up.

I’m proud that, with no experience and no collaborators, I created something that connects three screens — three moments in a child’s healing journey — into a playable prototype.

I’m proud I focused on what matters: the emotional core. I let go of overdesigning the pet and made it simpler — so that what stands out is the feeling, not the pixels.

Most of all, I’m proud that Griefling creates a space where kids can say: “I feel this too. And I can care for something. I can care for myself.”

What I learned

  1. AI is powerful — if you give it structure and constraints
  2. Screen-by-screen, user-first design works better than building all at once
  3. Kids don’t need a flashy game — they need a safe one
  4. Simplicity is not weakness; it’s focus
  5. Building tools for grief means pacing yourself, emotionally and creatively

What's next for Griefling - the Grief Pet

Right now, Griefling is a prototype. It doesn’t yet support:

  • Account creation
  • User progress tracking
  • Full journaling or badge systems

But the vision is clear: To launch with three core features:

  1. Daily self-care actions based on emotional needs
  2. Magical grief stories from other forest creatures
  3. Daily surge needs the user needs to act upon

The pet will fully mirror real emotion shifts of people and symbolise growth.

To launch this game in partnership with A Part of Me — and help children everywhere carry their grief with gentleness and strength.

Built With

  • ai
  • bolt
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