14 species of wildlife now roam with realistic day/night behavior, NPCs respond to your barks with hilarious multi-step conversations, weekly dungeon mutators keep every run fresh, and ghost replays let you race against friends. Plus a work in progress update: wolf customization and puppy pack abilities.
A Living World
- The Environment Comes Alive - 14 species of wildlife now roam the game! Elephants graze by day and sleep under the stars. Crocodiles bask in the sun and patrol the water at dusk. Wolves howl back when you bark, and the whole pack joins in. Foxes dart playfully in the twilight. Deer freeze and bolt as a herd. Ravens circle overhead and caw from their perches. Not all animals may be in the game yet, but will be soon, along with any fixes necessary.
- Play Bow - (work in progress) press E near a calm animal to drop into a play bow. Each species responds differently: wolves get excited and circle you, cats slowly warm up, foxes play a darting game, and raccoons waddle right up to inspect you.
- Cat Trust - (work in progress) cats remember your play bows. Visit them enough times and they'll go from hissing to rolling at your feet and purring. True to life.
- The World Reacts to You - (work in progress) bark at trees and watch leaves flutter down. Sniff flowers and they bloom. Run through puddles for a satisfying splash. Startle birds from bushes and watch them scatter.
- Circle Walk Idle - your wolf now sometimes walks in a slow circle before lying down to idle. The raven lazily circles overhead to match.
- Snappier Idle Recovery - your wolf gets up much faster when you start moving after sitting or sleeping; no more awkward slow stretching while already running.
NPCs & Conversations
- NPCs Can Pet You! - approach any village NPC and press E to receive pets! They bend down and give your wolf a good scratch. Hearts float up around you.
- Bark Conversations - some NPCs now respond to your barks with multi-step conversations. Each NPC has a unique personality; some are calm, others are twitchy and jumpy.
- The Bark Translator - a scholarly NPC who speaks fluent bark. Your translations include gems like "I buried my feelings, and also several bones."
- The Password Guard - (work in progress) a guard who needs the "bark-word of passage." Every bark you try is wrong for a different reason. He gives up eventually.
- Dr. Pawsworth, Bark Therapist - a full therapy session conducted entirely through barks. "The tail represents your unresolved goals."
- The Bark Auctioneer - an auction where you're the only bidder, bidding against yourself. "SOLD to the ONLY bidder!"
- The Bark Conspiracist - a paranoid NPC convinced that barking is an ancient code. Each bark confirms wilder theories about the bone cartel and squirrel shadow government.
- NPCs on the Move - bark dialogue NPCs now walk around the world instead of standing still. They stop naturally when you approach to chat.
- Better NPC Animations - NPCs breathe, shift weight, and flinch naturally when you bark. Each personality has its own animation speed and style.
Wolf Customization & Puppies (work in progress)
- Wolf Customization - change your wolf's glow color and add running trail effects! Choose from 8 coat dyes (Ember, Frost Blue, Shadow Purple, and more) and 4 trail styles. Purchase new looks with coins; saved per profile.
- Puppy Pack Abilities - rescued puppies now have unique abilities! Trackers highlight collectibles, guard pups warn about enemies, diggers find bonus bones, healers patch you up, cheerleaders extend your combo window, and scouts reveal more of the map. Choose up to 3 for your active pack.
Weekly Dungeon Challenges
- Weekly Dungeon Mutators - every week a new modifier rotates in! Double-speed enemies in Hyper Hounds, massive foes in Big Bad Wolves, swarms of tiny enemies in Ankle Biters, near-total darkness in Lights Out, instant-kill hits in Glass Jaw, double bone value in Bone Rush, and more. Opt in for tougher challenges and compete on mutator-specific leaderboards!
- Weekly Bingo Card - a fresh 3x3 bingo card every week with dungeon goal challenges. Complete goals with bonus conditions for rewards; fill the entire card for a massive blackout bonus. Same card for all players.
- Post-Run Stats Card - after completing a dungeon, see your time, best combo, bones collected, and hits taken. Personal bests highlighted in green. Online players see their Steam rank percentile.
- Ghost Run Replays - race against transparent ghosts of your best runs and your Steam friends' runs! Ghosts follow the recorded path with matching animations and a floating name tag. Fully optional.
- Daily Challenge Board - a new challenge awaits every day! Complete it for coins, XP, and a stamp on your weekly card. Build streaks for escalating rewards.
- Dungeon Leaderboard Signs - a floating leaderboard above every dungeon entrance cycles through Fastest Clear, Best Combo, Most Bones, Flawless Runs, and Dungeon Veterans. Your name glows green when you're on the board.
Dungeon Overhaul
- Dungeon Engine Rework - dungeons now generate a single clean path from entrance to exit with no confusing branches or dead ends. Rooms connect by proper hallways with solid walls, floors, and ceilings.
- Torchbearer - a new dungeon objective! Pick up a glowing torch in the starting room and carry it through the dungeon to light all the unlit torches. The torch floats above your head as you explore.
- Arena Rooms - wave-based challenges now spawn a large dedicated arena room. Enemies attack in waves with breathing room between rounds.
- Fresh Dungeon Visuals - dungeons randomly select from multiple art styles: medieval castle, dark polygon dungeon with pillars, mysterious blue stone dungeon with glowing fire cups. Same challenge, different look every time.
- Smarter Dungeon Enemies - enemies now have different fighting styles. Some charge head-on, others circle looking for openings, and ranged attackers keep their distance.
Combat & Enemies
- 40+ Enemy Types - the island is crawling with new monsters! Dragons, sorcerers, golems, spiders, slimes, specters, werewolves, mimic chests, ghouls, goblins, ogres, orcs, trolls, zombies, and the skeleton mage who summons minions. Destroy the mage and all its minions fall.
- Unique Enemies Per Area - each area has a signature enemy with a special mechanic. Bark-vulnerable foes in the forest, bolt-reflecting creatures in the caves, burrowers in the desert, illusion-splitters in the dreamscape.
Online Features
- Scent Network - sniff to reveal ghostly paw-print trails from other wolves! Color-coded: blue for exploring, gold for treasure, red for combat, green for helping animals.
- Hardcore Grave Bones - wolf skeletons appear at death locations of other hardcore players. Sniff to learn who fell; dig to recover their lost bones; howl to honor them and heal.
- Daily Dungeon Leaderboards - same layout for all players each day. Compete on time, combo, bones, and hits taken.
- Buried Treasures for Friends - bury gifts for Steam friends! They find a glowing dig spot next time they visit. Treasures last 7 days.
Modes & Features
- Photo Mode - F6 to freeze time and control the camera. Adjust FOV, toggle HUD, pose your dog, and take screenshots with 4x supersampling.
- First-Person Camera - press L to see through your dog's eyes. Smooth transitions; remappable.
- Hardcore Mode - death is permanent; save wiped on death. Only for the bravest.
- Survival Mode - hunger and thirst drain over time. Find food and water to survive. Combine with Hardcore for the ultimate challenge.
- Objective Log - press J to see your current objective and per-area progress.
- Story Beats - Corvus shares dialogue at key moments; breadcrumbs on the trail of your missing human.
- Seasonal Event Quests - holidays have themed objectives with exclusive rewards.
Improvements
- Readable Full Map - pressing M now shows a clear, zoomed-in view centered on your position instead of a tiny overview.
- Objective Log Makeover - area preview images, colored progress bars, collectible icons, and a cleaner layout showing exactly what you've found.
- Soft Fog of War - minimap and map fog now fades smoothly at explored edges instead of blocky pixels.
- "Last Time on Bark'n'Blade" Recap - loading a save shows your last area, progress, and next objective.
- Separate Ambient Volume - ambient sounds now have their own slider.
- Camera Sensitivity Slider - adjust camera speed to your preference.
- Ethereal Dissolve Transition - teleporting melts your view into the ethereal void with glowing dissolve edges.
- Smarter Enemy Groups - enemies coordinate; only a few strike while others flank. Wounded enemies call for backup.
- Area Difficulty Scaling - enemies get tougher in later areas. Ancient Forest is your warm-up; Shadow Keep tests everything.
- Castle Performance Boost - the castle area runs much smoother with smart distance-based light and material management.
- Reduced Memory Usage - music streams from disk instead of loading into RAM; spatial effects use mono channels.
- Dodge Rebalanced - 4-second cooldown and less distance for more tactical positioning.
- Faster Sniff Trails - scent puffs travel faster and old particles fade quicker.
- Brighter Dungeons - boosted torch lights and warm ambient fill. No more squinting into pitch-black corners.
Bug Fixes
- Fire Sword Upgrade Fix - picking up the Fire Sword now properly replaces your Longsword; no more wielding both at once.
- Map Now Works Everywhere - minimap and full map display correctly in all areas including caves, beach, and dreamscape. Large areas center on you with crisp detail.
- Enemy Animations Fixed - all humanoid enemies now animate properly instead of standing frozen in T-pose.
- Skeleton Archer Fix - skeleton archers now animate and move properly.
- Castle Walls Now Solid - castle walls, floors, and platforms can no longer be walked through.
- All Dungeon Goals Completable - fixed 6 objectives that were impossible to finish.
- Good Boy Fetch Chase - the fetch ball now bounces away when you get close! Chase it through rooms.
- Fixed White Enemies - enemies that appeared as featureless white shapes now have proper textures.
- Fixed Game Freeze from Raven Notifications - no more permanent freeze when notifications are interrupted.
- Fixed Abilities Locking Up After Area Transitions - dodge, dash, jump, and ranged attack no longer become unusable.
- Fixed Mouse/RMB Not Working After Area Transitions - screen fade and weapon draw no longer silently block input.
- Fixed Scent Memory Freeze - camera zoom no longer freezes during scent memories.
- Fixed Rare Freeze on Critical Hits - hit-stop no longer freezes the game.
- Dungeon Enemies Now Fight Back - enemies no longer stand idle when attacked.
- No More Flickering Dungeon Floors - fixed visual glitch at tile seams.
- Every Dungeon Room Reachable - connectivity check guarantees no isolated sections.
- Solid Dungeon Walls - no more phasing through walls or corner gaps.
- Inventory Tooltips Fixed - hovering icons now correctly shows stats.
- Portal Effects Visible in Builds - portal VFX no longer disappear in the Steam build.
- Enemy Spawn Stability - fixed a crash when enemies spawned with certain stat configs.
Coming soon: build and customize your very own kennel! Currently in testing.