That Dragon, Cancer is a game that takes you through the harrowing experience of being a parent whose child gets diagnosed with cancer, from the very beginning of the tale to the unfortunate end.

That Dragon, Cancer is set to release today, on Joel's birthday, as a digital memorial to him and his struggles as well as the struggles of everyone else affected. But rather than having this be an incredibly depressing moment Joel's parents, the developers, opted to instead make it a celebration of life and charity. Here's the release trailer:

Given that a birthday just wouldn't be the same without cake, or in Joel's case pancakes and waffles, the parents are hereby inviting you to join them in a world-wide pancake party:

"We’ve been working crazy hours to make sure it’s ready for release on this special date! Since it is Joel’s birthday, we wanted to do something Joel would have enjoyed to celebrate the launch. We want to have a worldwide pancake party on January 12th. (Joel loved pancakes and waffles!)

To join in on the fun, just eat pancakes or waffles for dinner with all the messiest, most delicious toppings you can find on January 12th and post some photos to social media with #ThatDragonCancer."

Finally, one more piece of good news. Razer has announced that all of their proceeds from That Dragon, Cancer sold on Razer Cortex will be donated to charity. The two charities selected are the Morgan Adams Foundation, which directly funds cancer research as well as Family House SF which provides free housing for families coming to visit their loved ones during prolonged hospital stays and treatments. Both charities were selected due to their significance to the Green family.

While I'm certain it won't be a pleasant ride I'd encourage you to give That Dragon, Cancer a try because sometimes it takes great sorrow to make one appreciate the good things in life.