Octodad made a name for Young Horse with hilariously awkward controls and an adorably twisted setting. Now Young Horse is releasing an even more bizarre game and calling it Bugsnax.
Its first and, so far only, game was released in 2014, so Young Horses is definitely due for a new release. Octodad was known for its slapstick comedy, with a cephalopod masquerading as a dad while only barely having control over his own limbs. This new game, announced just today, comes as a pleasant surprise.
Young Horses is clearly very proud of its latest creation. "Since our new game features neither cephalopods nor fathers," President and co-founder Phil Tibitoski wrote on the PlayStation Blog, "this is a bold new step for us!" And proud Young Horses should be: after six years without a new release, players were on the verge of simply forgetting about the studio in favor of more active developers, such as Insomniac Games, known for Ratchet & Clank.
There is little to be found on about the game other than the trailer. Young Horses says it is a first-person game set on the island of Snaktooth, where half-bug, half-snack creatures roam the landscape, and the mayor clearly needs help. Of course, no one can resist having a taste of the edible critters. There does, however, seem to be a side-effect for players who inevitably give in to the temptation to sate their appetite with the adorable creatures.
In the trailer, purple walrus and daring wildlife expert Elizabert Megafig presents a strawberry bug to the viewer, then promptly swallows it, declaring it tasty. She seems completely unfazed when her right arm spontaneously transforms into a stack of strawberries. Nor does she mind when eating a hamburger bug gives her a curly-fry arm.
The trailer is cute, with cartoonish graphics that reflect the style flaunted in Octodad: Dadliest Catch. The transformation mechanic will clearly be front and center, and undoubtedly different snacks will give players different abilities. While other games have utilized differing body parts with different abilities, this may be the first based exclusively on food. There also appears to be a mechanic for players to trap prey that may be too fast or wily to catch on foot.
There is a great variety of edible wildlife visible in the trailer. They clearly have interesting fight mechanics to go with, such as a watermelon crab that performs a devastating ground slam attack, flinging round creatures which could be berries or bon-bons in all directions. Finally, there is some sort of twisted creature composed of the remnants of fallen bug snacks.
For players looking for something to play in the meantime, there's always Snack World: The Dungeon Crawl Gold or even Garfield GO, which has a heavy snacking theme.
Bugsnax will be launching this holiday for PC via the Epic Games Store, PS4, and PS5.
Source: PlayStation Blog