Planned Release Date: 2026

About This Game

Your person never came home. Now it's time to find them.

Time to be a very good boy.

Bark & Blade is a third-person adventure where you play as a loyal dog on a journey to find their missing owner. Explore ancient forests, crystal caves, scorching deserts, and volcanic depths. Something is wrong with the world, and only you can sniff out the truth.

They would never leave you. You will never stop looking.

BE THE DOG

Bark to alert allies, startle creatures, activate portals, and more.

Dig to uncover buried treasures and hidden paths.

Sniff to reveal color-coded scent trails: weapons, gear, allies, enemies, and secrets each carry their own scent.

Zoomies to dash at wild, unstoppable speed without costing Stamina. Discover more charges as you explore.

Swim through rivers, lakes, and the desert oasis.

Sneak past enemies or get the drop on them.

Double jump to reach higher ledges and hidden paths.

Fight with melee combos, ranged magic, and new abilities you gain along the way.

Idle for a few moments and your dog will lie down to rest, which regenerates Stamina faster. Stay longer and they'll fall asleep. Eat food to recover health. Every animation is a little reward for just... being a dog.

EXPLORE YOUR WAY

Each area is handcrafted and packed with things to find. Track your progress across bones collected, secrets discovered, dig spots uncovered, and animals helped.

Progress to the next region by collecting all bones, finding all secrets, or completing other goals. There's more than one way forward.

Rest at wells to save. Watch for environmental hazards! You'll get a warning when danger is close, and some areas require the right gear to survive. Face enemies that guard each region and or sneak past them.

Play to the final area to find out what happens to the best boy and his human.

DOG VISION

A whimsical take on how the world might look through canine eyes. Colors shift toward a blue-yellow spectrum. Nights come alive with enhanced bloom and brightness to reflect a dog's superior low-light vision. A soft vignette frames your view, shifting from warm daylight tones to cool blues after dark.

Fun first, grounded second. Adjust bloom, vignette, and other visual effects to your preference.

DOG NOSE

A dog's nose is its superpower (or one of them). Activate Scent Vision and the world fills with drifting puffs of color, each one representing a different category of scent. Weapons, helms, upgrades, allies, enemies, and hidden secrets all carry their own hue. It's a playful way to imagine what a dog might actually experience ... hundreds of invisible layers of information, translated into something you can see and follow.

FEATURES

• Third-person action-adventure built entirely around being a dog

• Bark, dig, sniff, swim, sneak, dash, double jump, and fight

• Dog Vision: adjustable visual effects inspired by real canine biology

• Scent Vision: color-coded trails that visualize what your nose already knows

• Melee and ranged combat with unlock-able abilities and equitable gear

• Encounter various enemies guarding each region 

• Environmental hazards with proximity warnings and damage-over-time zones

• Stamina system: run, jump, rest, and sleep to manage your energy

• Health and mana bars with on-screen indicators

• Up to 4 save profiles with detailed per-area progress tracking

• Multiple progression paths: bones, secrets, or other goals unlock new portals

• A complete in-game guide with hints and detailed info

FROM THE DEVELOPER

Hi, I'm a solo developer with a background in computer engineering. By day I work in software development and embedded systems. The rest of the time, I build games.

Bark & Blade started in 2022 because I wanted to make a laid-back adventure game where you play as a goofy dog who goes looking for their human. Light challenges, lots of exploring, and plenty of barking along the way.

This game is a labor of love, and I'm committed to improving and expanding it based on player feedback. Every report, suggestion, and review matters. I read all of it. Release day isn't the finish line: patches, updates, and new content will keep coming for as long as players are along for the ride.

Thanks!

- Matt

GIVING BACK

Dogs inspired this game; real dogs and animals should benefit from it, too!

Semi-annually a portion of Bark & Blade's net sales revenue (after US taxes and Steam's platform fees) will be donated to Best Friends Animal Society, a leading organization working to end the killing of dogs and cats in America's shelters. If Best Friends is unavailable, funds will go to a comparable animal welfare organization.

Donation receipts will be made public. When you support Bark & Blade, you're not just playing a game about a very good dog - you're helping real ones!