I’ve had the theme song from Bugsnax stuck in my head since last Thursday’s PlayStation 5 reveal. Its name is never far from my lips and is often the answer I give to completely unrelated questions. My brain’s default resting state has been set to Bugsnax. Is that bad? It doesn’t feel bad.
A percentage of my obsession comes from my natural affinity for the subject matter of Young Horses’ adventure game, due out this holiday season on PlayStations 4, 5, and PC. As Kotaku’s resident snackologist, I can dig a game about snacking, even if what’s being snacked on is bugs. Is a bug that looks (and tastes) like a donut with sprinkles for feet a bug, a snack, or both? That’s a distinction best left to whatever twisted deity created the island of Bugsnax.
If I really had to assign blame for why I keep calling my children Bugsnax, I’d assign it to British indie pop band Kero Kero Bonito. In an incredibly well-timed interview with USGamer that appeared while I was writing this post, Young Horses’ Philip Tibitoski says they were looking through a bunch of music options when they came across Kero Kero Bonito’s “Picture This”.
Give it a moment, and that unmistakable beat kicks in. It’s punchy, it’s poppy, it’s Bugsnax. Now I am going to have to dig through this band’s entire catalog. Well, when I’m not actively listening to the actual Bugsnax song in the trailer below.
This is my new “Toss A Coin To Your Witcher”, though I eagerly await the inevitable mashup. Someone get on that. Also, someone get on adding flats to the Animal Crossing: New Horizons island theme machine so my version of the Bugsnax anthem can be more accurate.
If the actual game, which involves trapping and eating snack bugs, is a quarter as enjoyable as the music, Bugsnax could be something special. If not, we’ll always have “oooOOOooooo Bugsnax”.