Bardbarian

Released Apr 2014

You play as Brad the barbarian, who is awoken to the sounds of his town under siege. Today is different though; Brad has grown tired of fighting all the time. The usual grind for XP has grown dull, and he has decided to pursue his dreams of making music instead of shedding blood.

88% positive · 1,511 reviews

Done

All announced content has been released

High confidence

Done

All announced content has been released

High confidence

Where to buy

Steam Updated 12 Oct 2026 $7.99

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Evaluation

Bardbarian launched on April 1, 2014 as a complete game. It received one post-launch content update — a Halloween update on October 29, 2015 that added a new character and seasonal content. That appears to be the last content the game ever received. On February 13, 2015, the developer (TreeFortress Games) posted a message thanking players and announcing their shift to a new project, JumpJet Rex. In that post, they noted they "will definitely be revisiting the bard universe at some point," but this was a vague, non-committal remark — not a concrete content announcement. No specific future content for Bardbarian was ever named or released after that point, and no further developer communications about the game appear in the record beyond the Halloween update later that year. The store description presents Bardbarian as a feature-complete product with a fixed set of content (12 units, 4 boss battles, specific modes). There are no unreleased DLC listings, no season pass, and no roadmap. The developer has clearly moved on to other projects. Bardbarian is a finished game that shipped as a complete experience and received one bonus content update in its first year and a half of life.

Evidence

Halloween content update released, adding a new character and seasonal enemy variants. This is the last known content update for the game.

news post · Oct 29, 2015 source content shipped

high

Developer thanked players and announced they had moved on to a new game (JumpJet Rex). Mentioned possibly revisiting the 'bard universe' someday but made no specific content commitments for Bardbarian.

news post · Feb 13, 2015 source development ending

high

Media

Details

Developer

TreeFortress Games

Publisher

TreeFortress Games

Achievements

Platform

Windows, macOS

Controller

full support

Steam Deck

Verified

Players

Single-player

Indie Tower Defense Strategy Casual RPG Action Adventure Action Roguelike 2D Roguelite Comedy Fantasy Bullet Hell Touch-Friendly Roguelike

About this game

Thanks to Young Horses, Slick Ent Inc, and Team Meat for allowing us to do these amazing crossover exclusives for our Steam launch.

What is Bardbarian?
Bardbarian is a game! A game we've been lovingly working on for far too long and are ready to unleash on Steam with (hopefully) some love from the Greenlight Community.

What genre is the game?
It is a mixture of Tower Defense, RPG & RTS with some 'Shmup and Snake elements.

What's the Story?
You play as Brad the barbarian, who is awoken to the sounds of his town under siege. Today is different though; Brad has grown tired of fighting all the time. The usual grind for XP has grown dull, and he has decided to pursue his dreams of making music instead of shedding blood. Fashioning a lute out of an old axe, he steps out to save his town in the most bizarre of ways.

What's Gameplay like?
Move Brad around the battlefield and dodge incoming enemy attacks and projectiles. Brad is constantly playing his axe-lute and generating notes, standing still will cause him to "jam" and generate notes even faster. These notes act as your in-game resource; you can spend them to perform solos to summon units to follow and fight for you, as well as solos to boost their performance.

Navigate your party through the hordes of enemies, dodging and attacking, preventing them from destroying your town's prized decorative crystal. Survive waves to progress, collect loot, and unlock new units. Upon death you are able to visit the town shop in order to upgrade Brad, the town and your followers, in hopes to make it further next time.

Features!

Beautiful, hand-drawn artwork from start to finish
An awesome Rock/Metal original soundtrack by Maximum Satan
Bizarre genre-bending hybrid gameplay
12 unique units to unlock
Customize your party loadout; Over 200 possible combinations
Collect loot from your fallen enemies and upgrade Brad, the town, and your units
A difficulty curve that will punish you for making mistakes, and you will
Over 8 enemy types to make you regret everything
4 Epic boss battles to crush your spirits
Endless and Survival modes with leaderboards for when you're feeling competitive
Easter eggs and references galore, can you spot them all?
There's a dinosaur boss
There's also a Ratcoon, look at those sad little eyes