An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs
A surreal adventure through dog-run airports with real-time travel.
In *An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs*, players take on the role of one of the last two humans on Earth. The protagonist and his fiancée travel separately through a network of airports, all of which are staffed by intelligent, talking dogs. These dogs appear as stock photographs and have descriptive names like "Bribe Dog," who will accept bribes. To move forward, players often complete fetch quests for the dogs—no money is used. Once the right items are gathered, they can board a flight to reunite with their fiancée. Destinations can include other planets. Time passes in real-time, and if a flight is missed, players must find an alternative route. All signs are in an alien language that can be deciphered. The airports are open-world environments, with optional side quests available for exploration.
The game was developed and published by Strange Scaffold, a studio founded by El Paso-based developer Xalavier Nelson Jr. for his personal projects. Nelson started as a video game reviewer and writer for PC Gamer before deciding he wanted to tell stories through games. The project was created in collaboration with No Quarter, an event run by the NYU Game Center. Initially, the story was serious, but Nelson found himself amused by a placeholder stock photo of a dog used for one character. That amusement shifted development into what he called "a healthy and joyful process." The game launched for Windows and Xbox Series X/S on May 25, 2021, and was ported to the Nintendo Switch on August 25, 2022.
Reception was mixed, according to Metacritic. GamesRadar praised the love story, calling it "equal parts disarmingly funny and surprisingly touching." Adventure Gamers described it as "highly unique and surreal," commending the dialogue but noting the gameplay becomes repetitive. *The Guardian* felt it struggles to overcome its novelty-game nature, though they enjoyed the love story and postmodern elements. PC Gamer found it funny despite the repetition.
Quick Facts
- Title
- An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs
- Developer
- Strange Scaffold
- Designer
- Xalavier Nelson Jr.
- Engine
- Unity
- Platforms
- Windows / Xbox Series X/S / Nintendo Switch
- Released
- WW · May 25, 2021
- Genre
- Adventure
- Modes
- Single-player
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The game follows the protagonist and his fiancée, the last two humans, who travel separately through airports run by dogs. The dogs are represented using stock photography and have descriptive names, such as 'Bribe Dog', who accepts bribes. Players must perform fetch quests to progress, with no money involved. Once proper items are acquired, players board flights to meet their fiancée. Locations can include other planets. Time proceeds in real-time, and missing a flight requires finding an alternate route. All signs are in an alien language that can be deciphered. The airports are open world, with optional side quests.
Reader's Guide
An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs received mixed reviews on Metacritic. GamesRadar praised the love story, calling it 'equal parts disarmingly funny and surprisingly touching'. Adventure Gamers described it as 'a highly unique and surreal' experience, praising the dialogue but noting the gameplay becomes repetitive. The Guardian said it struggles to overcome its nature as a novelty game, but enjoyed the love story and postmodern elements. PC Gamer found it funny despite the repetition. The game's development began with a serious story, but creator Xalavier Nelson Jr. was amused by a placeholder stock photo of a dog, which turned development into 'a healthy and joyful process'. Strange Scaffold was founded by Nelson for his personal projects; he previously worked as a video game reviewer for PC Gamer. The game was developed in collaboration with No Quarter, an event run by the NYU Game Center.
Did You Know?
- The dogs in the game are represented using stock photography.
- Time in the game proceeds in real-time, and missing a flight forces players to find an alternate route.
- All signs in the airports are written in an alien language that can be deciphered.
Place in the Switch Catalog
An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs occupies a single entry within the sprawling catalog of Nintendo Switch titles. As of the current count, the platform's library spans 4,113 games documented across the official list of Nintendo Switch games. This means the title is one thread in a vast tapestry of software that ranges from major studio productions to independent experiments. Its presence among those 4,113 entries confirms its status as a recognized Switch release, though the sheer volume of the catalog means it shares shelf space with thousands of other titles. For a game with such a whimsical and specific name, its placement in a numbered, alphabetized index underscores the reality that even the most idiosyncratic projects ultimately become one line item in an enormous database. The Switch ecosystem's openness to diverse and unconventional titles is reflected in the breadth of that 4,113-game count, and this title is a small but legitimate part of that collective whole.
Alphabetical Positioning
Within the organized structure of the Nintendo Switch games list, An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs finds its home on the A–Am page. This alphabetical placement is determined by its title beginning with the letter 'A' and falling before the 'An' threshold that separates it from the next page. The list is deliberately split into seven distinct sections: 0–9, A–Am, An–Az, B, C–G, H–P, and Q–Z. This particular title's position in the A–Am bracket means it sits among other entries that start with 'A' but do not reach the 'An' range. The naming convention of the game—starting with the article 'An' followed by 'Airport'—places it firmly in this first alphabetical segment. For anyone navigating the full 4,113-game catalog, knowing which of the seven pages a title appears on is the first step in locating it, and for this game, that answer is the A–Am section.
The Architecture of the Switch Game List
The Nintendo Switch games list is not a single monolithic document but rather a collection of seven interlinked pages that together account for all 4,113 documented titles. The segments are: 0–9, A–Am, An–Az, B, C–G, H–P, and Q–Z. An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs is cataloged within the A–Am page, which represents the first alphabetical slice of the catalog. This multi-page structure exists because the total number of Switch games has grown large enough that a single page would be unwieldy. The fact that the list is broken into these specific ranges—some covering single letters like B, others spanning multiple letters like C–G or H–P—reflects an attempt to balance page lengths. For this particular title, its inclusion on the A–Am page means it is part of the earliest alphabetical segment, a position that places it among the first entries a reader would encounter when scanning the catalog from the beginning.
Platform Identity
An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs is identified as a Nintendo Switch game, placing it within the specific ecosystem of that console. The fact that it appears in the official list of Nintendo Switch games—currently numbering 4,113 titles across all seven list pages—confirms its association with this particular platform. The Switch catalog is a defined collection, and membership in it distinguishes this title from games made for other systems. Its listing on the A–Am page of that catalog is the primary documentary evidence of its platform identity. In a library of over four thousand games, each entry represents a title that was released for or is compatible with the Nintendo Switch. This game's presence among those 4,113 entries, specifically in the A–Am alphabetical segment, is the concrete marker of its place in the Switch ecosystem, regardless of what its actual gameplay or content may entail.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who do you play as in An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs?
You take on the role of one of the last two humans left on Earth, navigating a chain of airports to reunite with your fiancée, who is traveling on a separate route.
How do the dog-staffed airports actually work in An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs?
Every airport is run by intelligent, talking dogs rendered as stock photographs and given quirky names like "Bribe Dog." Instead of paying money, you complete fetch-style quests to earn their cooperation and unlock your next flight.
What is the end goal in An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs?
You gather the correct items at each stop to board successive flights, with destinations that can stretch to other planets, all in service of the single objective of reuniting with your fiancée.
Who developed An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs and when did it release?
Strange Scaffold, founded by Xalavier Nelson Jr., both developed and published the title. It shipped on Windows and Xbox Series X/S on May 25, 2021, followed by a Nintendo Switch version on August 25, 2022.
What sets An Airport for Aliens Currently Run by Dogs apart from other adventure games?
Its real-time clock means your journey genuinely takes hours of in-game time, and the absurd premise of a money-free, dog-run airport network gives it a surreal tone most narrative adventures don't attempt.
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