Back in the Xbox 360 days, I was a big fan of Viva Piñata. It was a calm but involving game where you care for a garden and try to coax numerous piñata-animals with food punny names, like Horstachio, Profitamole and Jameleon. The aim was to collect and care for your animals, and sometimes be a dirty perv and breed them.
I initially thought Bugsnax was going to be similar, swapping out gardening for catching. But soon the cutesy facade is removed and the true horror is revealed as you feed an adorable, googly-eyed strawberry that chirps its name “Straaaabby! Straaaabby!” to a Grumpus with an endless hunger.
There’s plenty to do in Bugsnax, and I had a great time unlocking new areas and chasing down more and more ridiculously designed animals to fulfill the demands of the Grumpus inhabitants.
Aside from the main story, there are also sidequests and challenges to complete which took me the majority of my 20 hour gameplay time. It’s easy to catch a Kweeble, but you’ll find it tougher to coax a Preying Picantis in to the whirlwind of a passing Flapjackarak (I am not making these words up).
A great game by the Octodad developers that stayed fun throughout, and a good time chasing down some of the more tricky achievements.
