Games You Might Have Missed: The Tragic Tale of Bark Scruffalo

The Tragic Tale of Bark Scruffalo is a retro action defense game by Polynaut. You play as a boy trying to defend his dog, Bark Scruffalo, from spooky zombie-esque monsters that are emerging from strange black blocks coming out of the ground. As you progress, more and more blocks will start to appear.

You have two main weapons at your disposal: a bat, and mines. The sword is useful for getting up close and personal with the monsters, and for destroying the blocks. The monsters drop gems when you kill them, which allow you to place mines that can blow them up, or back as a crowd control mechanism. You can also get gems when you destroy a block. It’s important to make sure you gather gems when they drop, or you won’t be able to deploy mines as you need 3 gems per mine.

Learning to manage the gems, blocks, zombies, your health and the integrity of Bark Scruffalo’s dog house is challenging and fun. Each time I died, I was rearing to start again, knowing I could do better if I placed my bombs differently, or re-prioritized how I was attacking.

The retro GameBoy style green pixels really lean into the creepy vibe and add a layer of nostalgia that’s not unwelcome. The music is really great , evoking the same GameBoy era feelings, and adding to the stress of trying to ward off the monsters. Combined, the art and music add the final touches to create an incredibly charming and tactical experience.

If you’re looking for a well-crafted slice of retro action fun, The Tragic Tale of Bark Scruffalo is worth checking out. It’s available on itch.io, completely free!

All images courtesy of the Bark Scruffalo itch.io page