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Bugsnax, Octodad dev releases four free games, play as a giant human finger in a top hat

Chapeau-rone.

Indie game developer Young Horses has released four of its games for free, each of which is available on Steam right now.

Young horses is perhaps best known for Bugsnax, a game that tasks players with finding and capturing the eponymous half-bug-half-snack creatures on a mysterious island, and Octodad, which sees players taking on the role of an octopus posing as a human man with a normal, human family (something that is easier said than done!).

You can expect more of the teams' eclectic flair in this latest offering of new and older games. Young Horses has released IndependANT, Antbassador, Snakedate and Octodad: Student Edition under its "Free Range initiative". While the developer calls these releases "smaller side projects", each of them looks like a lot of fun to while away some time.

Cover image for YouTube videoLet's Play Bugsnax DLC - Bugsnax: Isle of Bigsnax DLC Gameplay & Reaction
Ian plays Bugsnax: Isle of Bigsnax DLC.

I will start with Antbassador, seeing as this game drew my eye so much I included it in the headline. In Antbassador, players are the one and only Antbassador. That is to say, they are a human finger with a top hat, and one that has to help the citizens of Antopia (a colony of ants) without causing an international incident.

I had a little play around with Antbassador and, I won't lie, I wasn't very good. Much like when I played Octodad, there was a lot of mismanaged flailing around, as I tried to do my utmost to free food from crates and open gates for the Antopia residents. However, it was a very amusing way to spend my time and I will be hopping back in again after work.

Drop whatever you’re doing! This is super import-ant.

Before I get into the next game, let me ask you - is one of your asp-irations to charm people as a snake? If you answered yes to that question, then Snakedate could be just the game for you.

Here, players are tasked with finding dates in a club, and, yes, you play as a snake. In the words of Young Horses, "Cruise around the club and wrap around your dates to show your affection!" There is also a dating app, known as Charmr (of course).

Snake, rattle, and roll.

Back to the world of ants now. In IndependANT, players will need to explore a living room as an ant in what the developers describe as a "cute and casual collectathon". As you may have surmised, you will collect food from around the room, to help feed you colony. You can also talk to other ants, and see what they have to say for themselves.

IndependANT actually started as a tech demo for Young Horses. It was made to help the studio move from their proprietary engine to Unreal 5.

Have your cake and eat it.

Last, but by no means least, we have Octodad: Student Edition. This is the original version of Octodad, "the one that started it all", which the team at Young Horses made as students.

"You are Octodad, a dapper octopus masquerading as a human, as he goes about a day of his life. His existence is a constant struggle, as he must master mundane tasks with his unwieldy boneless tentacles while simultaneously keeping his cephalopodan nature a secret from his human family!"

It is honestly as bananas as it sounds, and if you are yet to try it out for yourself, I would absolutely recommend it. As with my attempts with Antbassador earlier, I am utterly useless at this game, but that is all part of its charm.

Small factoid for you here, did you know Octodad was actually in part inspired by Jurassic Park Trespasser?

This house is octopi'd.

All of the above games are available for free now on Steam. I have linked back to each of their store pages in the text above.