Devlog: Why a Dog?
One of the first questions people ask us about Barkour is pretty straightforward:
“Okay, but… why a dog?”
Fair question. The short answer? Because we like doing things from a different angle.
The longer answer is a bit more interesting.
[h3]We’ve Always Liked Weird Perspectives[/h3]
We’ve never really been into making games where you’re just another guy with a gun.
Our first game, Bee Simulator, already leaned into the idea of seeing the world from a totally different perspective. So when we started thinking about our next project, we naturally drifted toward another non-standard protagonist.
At some point, we started messing around with a dog.
Nothing fancy at first - just rough prototypes. Basic movement, simple levels, checking how it feels to run around the world on four legs. But very quickly, we realized something important: the dog wasn’t just fun to play - it was changing how we designed everything else.
That’s usually a good sign.
[h3]Once You Pick a Dog, the Game Changes[/h3]
Choosing a dog immediately forced us to rethink a lot of things. A dog isn’t just a smaller human - it moves differently, fits into different spaces, and interacts with the world in its own way.
Suddenly, level design started looking different. Tight spaces made sense. Ventilation shafts became natural paths. Sneaking around guards felt more believable. Movement became faster, closer to the ground, more fluid.
That’s where Barkour really came from. Not as a buzzword, but as a direct result of asking: “What would movement feel like if you were actually playing as a dog?”
It became clear pretty fast that Barkour wasn’t going to be a side feature.
It was going to be the core of the game.
[h3]A Spy Comedy… With a Dog[/h3]
From the start, Barkour was meant to be a spy comedy. Light tone, some absurdity, but still enough tension to make sneaking around and getting spotted feel meaningful.
Putting a dog into that world just worked. It let us lean into humor without turning the game into a pure joke, and at the same time it didn’t stop us from having more serious moments when we needed them. The semi-stylized art style helped a lot here - it gave us room to shift moods without things feeling out of place.
[h3]Play How You Want[/h3]
Another thing that mattered a lot to us was not forcing players into a single “correct” playstyle. We wanted Barkour to support different approaches - sneaky, fast, messy, or somewhere in between.
The dog as a character naturally supports that. Its speed, size, and movement options encourage experimentation. Instead of asking “what does the game want me to do here?”, we want players to think “what do I feel like doing?”
If it works and it’s fun, that’s good enough for us.
So Yeah. That’s Why a Dog.
At the end of the day, choosing a dog wasn’t just about looks or jokes. It affected:
- how the game moves,
- how levels are built,
- how stealth feels,
- and the overall tone of Barkour.
The dog isn’t a skin, and it’s definitely not a gimmick.
It’s the reason Barkour exists in the form it does.
And honestly? We wouldn’t have it any other way.
https://store.steampowered.com/app/1920290/Barkour/
Please note that all visuals shown here come from early development or concept stages. Barkour is still evolving, and the current build may look different.
Thanks for reading and hanging out with us. We’re really glad you’re here.
If you like what you see and haven’t done it yet — don’t forget to add Barkour to your wishlist and hit follow so you don’t miss the next updates.
See you in the next devlog, Agents
