Bugsnax is a thrilling single-player adventure game developed and published by Young Horses, the studio responsible for the 2014 adventure game Octodad. Bugsnax was first announced in June 2020, months before finally getting released in November 2020. Bugsnax is now available for download on Microsoft Windows, macOS, PlayStation 4, and PlayStation5. 

Bugsnax is a standalone video game with exciting adventures and missions on which players traverse a mysterious island. Players travel across the island in search of strange little creatures called Bugsnax. The Bugsnax are then captured and fed to local Grumpuses who then use the energy to transform their bodies. Outside of the main plot, Bugsnax also offers a whole lot more content, keeping you engaged for as long as possible. 

Despite Bugsnax having a violence rating, it is rated PEGI 7 for the fear factor that it contains. Towards the end of the game, the plot takes an unexpected twist that has a feel of horror to it. Bugsnax is suitable for players that are 6 years old and older as it perfectly matches their skills and maturity.

Gameplay 

Bugsnax allows you to control a nameless newspaper journalist who journeys to a whimsical island in search of some mystical creatures. With the aid of several clever contraptions, the journalist traverses the land capturing as many Bugsnax as he can. There are over 100 species of these magical creatures that are half bug and half snack. 

Bugsnax is a colorful, vibrant, and delightfully surprising video game that heavily plays on the saying “you are what you eat.” As you track, trick, capture, and eat the edible bugs, you start to transform into a different creature with the properties and features of the kinds of bugs you eat. To capture the bugs, you use different kinds of contraptions depending on which bugs you are targeting.

You may use bait to lure the bugs or opt for cleverly built traps that snap shut. Traps that entice the bugs with laser light to chase are also an excellent choice to capture them. 

Seeing as they are dozens of Bugsnak species to pick from, the transformations that result from eating them are fun and interesting to see! 

Discover The Secrets of the Mysterious Island!

Your story begins as your character, the nameless journalist receives a message from a long-estranged explorer named Lizbert Megafig. In her message, Lizbert reveals that she has found a new life on a strange and fantastical island called Snaktooth Island. The explorer describes the island to your character, detailing how magical and wonderful it is.

She tells him of the beautiful and strange creatures that inhabit the island, especially the little hybrid creatures called Bugsnax who are half bugs and half snacks. Thrilled by what Lizbert tells him, your character is motivated to heed her call and explore the island for himself. 

The journalist looks forward to seeing the many magical things that the explorer has shared except for one tiny unexpected detail: when he gets to the island, Lizbert is nowhere to be found. According to her assistant, Filbo Fiddlepie, the thrill-seeking globetrotter has gone missing and all their fellow adventurers, known as Grumpuses, have disappeared and scattered as well.

Already in dire need of knowing where his boss is and what happened to her, Filo requests the journalist’s help in finding the other Grumpuses and bringing them back to their home called Snaxburg. Together, they can all figure out what happened to Lizbert and possibly bring her back. 

The Social Lives of The Grumpuses

The Grumpuses are an interesting bunch. Rather than feed on regular food, they sustain themselves by eating Bugsnax. When they eat a Bugsnax, a process known as Snakification occurs, in which a part of their body changes into the food that the Bugsnak they consumed resembles. Their bodies, arms, legs, hands, and feet can all transform in this manner, and in some cases, they may even grow additional features such as horns. 

One by one, Filbo and the journalist succeed in finding and bringing back the Grumpuses. All of the Grumpuses prove to be rather difficult to work with, with two of them claiming that there is a mysterious force behind some grand conspiracy on the island. 

While one of the two, Shelda, claims that the Bugsnax are made of toxins designed to harm them all, her fellow Grumpus, Snorpy, believes that a force called the “Grumpinati” are controlling the Bugsnax. Obstacles continue to be thrown at the team, including a volcano and several attacks on Snaxburg. 

Soon, the Grumpuses and the journalist cross paths with Lizbert’s long-lost partner, Eggabell Batternugget. Conveniently, Eggabell knows just how to find her lost friend and leads the search party on the path to find her. However, who they meet is no longer their friend but a monster who was once Lizbert but is now so overly Snakified that she is known as the Queen of Bugsnax! This game is undoubtedly riveting and even though, very childish, works perfectly at keeping you engaged in a fun and light manner.

Witness An Unexpected Ending

The twist that I half-heartedly looked out for but did not expect finally came at the very end of the game. Although it took me somewhere between 10-12 hours to finish this game, I immediately perked up at the sight of the plot twist playing out in front of me. After you find all the Grumpuses and locate the now-monstrous Lizbert, the new Queen of Bugsnax has some shocking revelations.

According to her, the Bugsnax are indeed parasites (per Shelda’s initial suspicions), who permanently transform those who consume them into Bugsnax. As a way of controlling the parasites, Lizbert gave herself up by consuming so many of them to become their queen, hence having power over them. 

The explorer urges her friends to leave the island as soon as possible and they heed her warning. Upon returning back to the mainland, Filbo and the journalist go on with their new lives, unaware that the journalist’s boss has been contacted by the Grumoinati…and a Bugsnax snuck unto their ship and followed them home!