Bugsnax

Goofy, sweet, and fun.

Most of the game is about collecting adorable and hilarious—and weird—critters. They start easy, but as the game progresses you'll have to use your tools, and wits, and patience creatively. It's not very hard but it's not a casual game either. I was challenged.

There's actually a story and characters and they're fairly fleshed out and elaborated, at least within the ridiculous logic of Bugsnax's ridiculous world. Do you gay? Yes. There is gay. The kind of gay that is just taken for granted: portrayals of same-sex love and non-gender conforming folk. And those are just inconsequential details in the story, as they should be in real life. Do you therapy? It normalizes that, too.

Most surprising is how many hours of fun you will have. Or will you? Beyond the main quest there are a few optional quests and also a great many optional challenges. My one criticism of the game is that there are just too many of them. More than 100! Optional does mean optional, but the game unfortunately doesn't warn you or tell you how many you have left. Once you start going down that road you might stubbornly decide to see it through, and ... well, there are really too many. As much as I enjoyed the game, it felt very repetitive and tedious getting to that "100% achievements" finish line. I don't regret it, but, yeah, 50 instead of 100 would also have been great.

But don't you worry your fruity, chocolatey, crispy little head over a minor flaw. Bugsnax is not just a surprisingly good game, it's a good game, period. I had fun, laughed, and learned a valuable lesson about getting along with people with difficult personalities. Oh, and to avoid eating foods that turn you into themselves.

Bugsnax!