The Barkless Doctrine

What it is

The Barkless Doctrine is "an interactive comedy novel; a book in which you navigate the complex geopolitical tomfoolery that gets thrown at you". After a mysterious phone call from "her most important relative", Val travels through the busy streets of New York, "the seedy political underbelly of Washington D.C., and the dark suburbia on the periphery of the American dream". The question is whether "the two twin-aunts" can stop General Wagmore Barkless in time. Your choices are things like: "Will you be rude to people, or only kind of rude? Green or red salsa?" The store compares it to a spy-thriller paperback. It uses only the D-pad and buttons for menu choices ("It's real simple!").

It's by Neven Mrgan (Hidey Spot), with an original soundtrack album by David Wester. It came to the Catalog in June 2023 for $6 as part of "Catalog Drop 5", and Panic lists it in "Great Stories". The content note says "smaller kids might think adults are weird and boring".

Who made it

What others are saying

Coverage is thin: we found no independent review. Panic's own Catalog-drop news post is the main write-up.

• Playdate News, "Catalog Drop 5" (Panic): "an interactive comedy novel where YOU choose how to avoid dealing with the apocalypse." https://news.play.date/news/catalog-drop-5/

Callout (?): No review yet. We haven't reviewed The Barkless Doctrine yet. This page is an overview built from official and press sources.