Here’s how Bugsnax characters evolved over three years

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Filbo started out life looking very different indeed

Bugsnax
(Image credit: Young Horses)

Bugsnax developer Young Horses has given a look at the evolution of Filbo from 2014 until the game's release in 2020.

Below, you can see a tweet from the dev team on the iterations of Filbo, one of Bugsnax's most loveable creatures. In the image, you can see that Filbo evolved from a weird blue blob with tiny eyes in 2014, all the way to his final, fully-formed self in 2017, three years before Bugsnax would ultimately release in 2020.

But that's not all that the developer is showing off. In the tweet below, you can see that the Grumpus, the species of character which inhabits the world in which Bugsnax takes place, had a very long road to their final form. The designs below look somewhat amphibian, almost frog-like, but the final form of Grumpus ended up looking very different, similar to Filbo's final design just above.

Overall, it's a really great look at how characters can evolve over the years of a game's development. Behind the scenes, characters and creatures can change a huge amount while a game is being developed, and the creations from Young Horses here at the perfect examples of that phenomenon.

Of course, this doesn't even consider how the Grumpus can be evolved and changed depending on what you feed them in-game. It'd be great to see the drafts of how developer Young Horses experimented with the Grumpus changing form depending on what they're eating - there are probably some true nightmare creations hidden away somewhere.

It seems that Bugsnax has been a hit for the developer. Young Horses recently revealed that Bugsnax has outsold Octodad, the developers' previous comedy adventure game, in just a few months. That might have something to do with the fact that Bugsnax was available through PS Plus on day one for both PS4 and PS5, but it's a success story nonetheless.

If you're still playing through the weird adventure game from Young Horses, you can head over to our guide on completing the Bugsnax Bugapedia for how to track down every species of snack.

Hirun Cryer
Hirun Cryer
Freelance Writer

Hirun Cryer is a freelance reporter and writer with Gamesradar+ based out of U.K. After earning a degree in American History specializing in journalism, cinema, literature, and history, he stepped into the games writing world, with a focus on shooters, indie games, and RPGs, and has since been the recipient of the MCV 30 Under 30 award for 2021. In his spare time he freelances with other outlets around the industry, practices Japanese, and enjoys contemporary manga and anime.