~You gotta snax the bugs before the bugs snax you~
I think we all remember watching the State of Play in June 2020 and hearing Kero Kero Bonito sing “It’s Bugsnax”. I couldn’t get that song out of my head for 3 years, so I finally decided to play the one and only Bugsnax. It’s an extremely charming game, lots of LGBTQ+ representation, and its plot is wild (but in a good way).
Bugsnax is a first person puzzle game developed by Young Horses ( although I think the proper term is foals) who are also the developer for Octo-dad, another great indie puzzle game with a colt following. Bugsanx is a game where you play as a journalist on assignment to find out what the island of Snaktooth is about, figure out what’s the deal with bugsnaxs are as well as figure out what all these Grumpus (that’s the name of the puppet monster type characters in this universe) are doing here by interviewing them and doing their side quests.
As the journalist, you are trying to reunite the followers of Elizabert Megafig, an intrepid explorer who invited you on this island to interview her about Bugsnax, but she is nowhere to be found. Everyone from Elizabert camp is scattered throughout the island and the only way to bring them back is really feeding them bugsnax. Collecting different type of Bugsnax is extremely fun using various Snaxtraping devices given to you by the other grumpies on the island.
All the other grumps on the island are a wonderful cast of characters with their own insecurities that they (/you) are trying to solve. Each side quest taken on for a grumpus ends in a sort of bittersweet manner making me take a step back a wonder if I’m really doing the right thing. I am also quite the sucker for a silent protagonist, they do sorta have a personality in the way of dialogue options when talking to the characters, you can even customize that color of their fur in the options menu.
This game is definitely worth a play, so I don’t wanna spoil it too much so I will leave you with my grumpus tier list (and playlist) that nobody asked for and hope in my heart that if you haven’t you will give Bugsnax a shot.
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