Thomas K. Young may not be a developer you’re overly familiar with, but he’s quickly become one of my absolute favorites of all time. He’s the creator of a handful of interesting small indie titles. There’s Molecano, which is a cross between a word search and a strategy game. There’s Super Fowlst, which plays like a classic arcade game about a murderous chicken. But what I can only assume is his biggest success, and how I came to know his work, is Dadish. 

Dadish is about a radish who’s looking for his kids. It’s a pretty basic platformer with charming visuals and hilarious writing. It’s the epitome of video game comfort food for me, and I mean that as the highest compliment possible. 

There have been 3 regular Dadish games, plus Daily Dadish, a game where you can only play one level per day, but there are new levels for every day of the year, and Dadish 3D, his first attempt at a proper 3D platformer. 

He’s never made a game I didn’t like. So when 2025 kicked off with a brand new one, I was thrilled. That game was Be Brave, Barb, the subject of today’s review, but there’s a tad more context I’d like to bring forward before we get to it. 

When it was released back in March, I reviewed it for Nintendo Force Magazine. But what’s happened since then I sort of feel makes Barb all the more impressive. Young has released not one, but TWO more games this year. Well, he will. He released Dunkadillo in September, and Dadish 4 will be out next week. 

Now, I’ve always been a quality over quantity kind of guy. It’s why I like Mario games so much more than Sonic. Sonic games come out all the time, and they’re rarely up to the same quality of a Mario platformer. (Sonic Mania notwithstanding. That game rules). 

But the thing with Young’s games is, they’ve all been varying degrees of great, including this year’s trio (presumably. I can’t imagine Dadish 4 will be a letdown). So with that in mind, I wanted to properly review his 2025 trilogy here, starting with a fresh look at Be Brave, Barb. 

Be Brave, Barb isn’t entirely dissimilar to Dadish. In fact, it appears to have been built on the framework of Dadish 3D, except the gameplay is 2D. It’s still a platformer where levels contain a secret item and a finish. You’ll press similar buttons, encounter similar obstacles, and even hear a lot of the same sound effects. This is likely how Young was able to make 3 good games in the same year, recycled assets. 

That said, it all works, and absolutely has its own personality. And personality is, at least to my mind, Barb’s greatest strength. 

Be Brave, Barb is about a cactus named Barb. She’s been going through a tough time, and is in therapy. She’s got a book of positive affirmations, and is proud of being a work in progress. But one day, a weird cat cloud thing showed up and zapped her book. So she sets out to find all her missing pages, and get her confidence back. 

It’s all written with Young’s signature wit, but it’s impossible not to root for Barb. She’s a very cute, weird little thing, and I found myself instantly attached to her. (I also think cactuses are neat, so that probably didn’t hurt.)

What makes Barb different is that it’s an auto-runner. The only direct control you can take is jumping. Where this gets extra complicated is that gravity makes very little sense in this world. The best way I can explain it is that it’s a cross between Super Mario Galaxy and VVVVVV. Let’s say Bartb is walking forward, but ahead of her is a 90 degree angle downward. If you keep moving forward and do nothing, she’ll adjust her gravity once she hits that angle. However, the game’s gravity is tied to Barb, and not the surface. So, if she approaches that same angle, but jumps, she won’t wrap around in midair like Mario, but instead her gravitational pull will remain unchanged until she lands. And she can land on any surface she comes in contact with. So if you jump and hit your head on a ceiling, Barb will automatically turn over and start walking on said ceiling. I hope that makes sense. 

It’s a lot to wrap your head around, but it really works once you do. It’s not perfect, but it makes for some very clever puzzle platforming. 

Bosses are a bit of a pushover thanks to the limits of Barb’s maneuverability, but considering the way the game works, it’s kind of impressive that Young was able to think up boss battles to begin with. 

The visuals, on the other hand, are a bit of an issue. Not in terms of art direction. The game is wonderfully weird looking. The problem with the visuals comes from the fixed camera angle. Since this game runs on the Dadish 3D engine (presumably) it made it possible to present it from a more dynamic camera angle than the 2D Dadish games. The trouble is, the tilted angle the camera is fixed at makes certain jumps way more difficult than they need to be. If the camera had the ability to adjust depending on your positioning, that would be a horse of a different color, but it doesn’t. So trying to determine where it’s safe to jump can become a real chore. 

The music, on the other OTHER hand, is an absolute treasure. It fits the bizarre nature of the worlds Barb has to travel perfectly, and there’s something about the music in the Bubu Burg stages in particular that’s really something. I can’t put my finger on it, but that song, just wow. What a work of brilliance. 

Be Brave, Barb is a wonderful diversion for folks who enjoy a good challenging platformer. It isn’t quite Dadish, but it’s a really interesting experiment that I sincerely hope he follows up on. There’s a lot of potential here, and Barb herself is such a joy to watch. I highly recommend giving it a go. 

Be Brave, Barb is available now on Nintendo Switch and Steam