Officially, Bugsnax is a “whimsical adventure game” being developed by Young Horses, the team which made the also-very-delightful game Octodad: Dadliest Catch. However, quite a few people on Twitter seem to think that the game could be one of the biggest horror games of the year. Game developer StealthyMoose wrote that “Bugsnax is a horror game and you will not be able to convince me otherwise” while Twitch streamer PeachSaliva, who has “no issues” with body horror, said that Bugsnax “legitimately terrified” her.
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Several Twitter users have also joked that the Bugsnax trailer, which sees one character eat an anthropomorphic strawberry, was the scariest thing about the PS5 reveal event. In an event that featured a fairly scary trailer for Resident Evil Village and a new trailer for Ghostwire: Tokyo, that’s some very high praise. Some Twitter users seem confused as to why some of the game’s characters are happy to eat other characters with faces, though these characters are shaped like food.
Twitter user nicoletters had one idea of what the Bugsnax twist could be. “I hope the snacks rot and it’s scary as s–t and they eat YOU,” she wrote. The end of the trailer, which saw several bugs morph into one, did seem to tease that something like that could happen. It’s unclear if Young Horses will confirm that before the game is released as, like any quality video game twist, the fun is in how surprising it is.
If Bugsnax does end up being an adorable adventured turned into a body horror scarefest, it wouldn’t be the first time that a game developer had pulled a clever twist like this. One other terrifying game that tricks players by looking cute is Doki Doki Literature Club!, which seems like an innocent dating sim for those who haven’t played it. Without spoiling much about it, Doki Doki Literature Club! most definitely isn’t that sweet and turns out to be something wholly more disturbing.
It also lends more support to the suggestion that the PS5 is helping to redefine the horror genre. A horror game about creatures that look like food isn’t what many have expected but it shows that with next-generation consoles, developers aren’t afraid to do something new.
Bugsnax will be launching this holiday for PC via the Epic Games Store, PS4, and PS5.
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