Bugsnax Developer Shows the Evolution of Filbo

There has long been a fascination with the characters and the world of Bugsnax. Since the moment the Octodad creators revealed Bugsnax in June of last summer, a big chunk of the internet and gaming world has been transfixed on the whimsical and arguably downright strange universe of bugs made of food. Recently, the developer has given an inside look at some of the evolution of the game.

The Bugsnax's reveal trailer was one of the best trailers of 2020. Along with the catchy song, the shocking strawberry-eating gameplay, and the adorable world, Mayor Filbo Fiddlepie stole the show for many. Mayor Filbo Fiddlepie's final look is now well-known, but the process of creating his look took many years.

Bugsnax developer Young Horses recently posted a throwback Thursday tweet showing just how far Filbo has come. In just five images--over a three-year span--Filbo went through quite the overhaul. The first iteration of Filbo is from 2014. He has slight similarities to the final version, including general shape and color. However, gone are his cartoonishly large eyes and his puppet-like mouth. Instead, he has very small facial features and even two horns. Additionally, his name at this point was a rather comical "Chumbly."

By 2015, "Chumbly" was known as just "Major" and his design was very unique. While he shares large facial features with the final Mayor Filbo, he resembles a frog in his mouth shape, body shape, and color scheme. Perhaps his design at this point was when Young Horses had a much darker idea in mind for Bugsnax than the final product.

By 2016, the design was much closer to what Bugsnax fans know and love of the mayor today. The name still was not the final choice, as "Norman" was the mayor of Snaxburg on Snaktooth Island at this point, but his feature, color, and shape are all very much in-line with the final Filbo. In 2016, the first name was settled, and Filbo had a bit more detail to him. Still a bit on the slimmer side, Filbo looks like the final Major for the most part (just unfinished in terms of video game development polish). 2017's Filbo Fiddlepie looks like the final mayor in the full and final 2020 Bugsnax release.

An inside look into just one aspect of the development of Bugsnax like this is very interesting. It is remarkable to see that the game was being worked on all the way back in 2014, and that one of the game's main characters went through so many iterations. It is equally intriguing to see that the mayor's final design was nailed down in 2017, but Young Horses still spent another three years working on the game before the final launch; likely working on every aspect of the game it could to ensure a solid product.

It isn't exactly a new hot take to describe Bugsnax as some sort of dystopian horror in which the player character subjects the other characters into having their bodies morphed by sentient food. However, developer Young Horses had a different plan for how players would interact with the titular Bugsnax creatures, which could have made this overfeeding process even more haunting.