It isn't exactly a new hot take to describe Bugsnax as some sort of dystopian horror in which the player character subjects the other characters into having their bodies morphed by sentient food. However, developer Young Horses had a different plan for how players would interact with the titular Bugsnax creatures, which could have made this overfeeding process even more haunting.
The adorable, googly-eyed creatures in Bugsnax are easily the strongest feature that the game has going for it, with learning how to best interact with and capture each one being the center of the gameplay. So, it may have been a good choice not to make players disassemble these little bugs before feeding them to the other citizens of Snaxburg.
According to a recent Throwback Thursday tweet from developer Young Horses, there was an early idea to have players peel and dismantle the Bugsnax before being able to feed them to their friends. The developer even showed a sample of this early build, with the player ripping a Pinkle and Green Lollive apart before serving the delicious little creatures on a plate. So, for anyone thinking that Bugsnax is already a bit dark, some of the older ideas really push the limits of what most players would have considered to be a family friendly game.
The whole process is strangely involved as well, requiring the player to not just click a few buttons through a menu, but to actively have to rip the wings off of the Green Lollive and yank its tongue out. Many players have already pointed out that it's horrific enough how the characters delightedly eat the creatures alive as it is, but clearly having to tear each one apart piece by piece would have been much worse. This would mean that even after successfully catching Bugsnax's most complicated creatures, there would still be another tedious minigame before the player can move on to the next thing.
It isn't entirely clear why this feature was removed from the game, especially since Young Horses wasn't afraid to take Bugsnax to dark places in even the final release. The decision could have been more about cutting down on some of the monotony than trying not to be too scarring or presenting difficult themes in an otherwise family friendly title. Regardless of what the final reason was, it may have been for the best on both ends to leave out the requirement to dismantle each and every creature in the shipped version.
Bugsnax is available now for PC, PS4, and PS5.