Bugaboo Pocket

Pros: Great art, animation, and designs. this is a very beautiful and clean game. exciting to see new bug and each stage of it's life Great music Nice story with nice art for the cut scenes I like pinning the bugs Cons: The gameplay is repetitive you get bored waiting around for things to happen small in scope, yet high price Some bugs(ha!)? (I kept having audio of a bug growing up playing when it wasn't happening.) the loading screens! they drive me crazy. every transition is a 2-3 second loading screen, making checking up on different bugs or going to the store a little bit more tedious then it has to be This is a lovely game, but it's too limited in scope to justify the price. In addition, although I appreciate this game is going for a slower pace, there were moments where I wasn't able to progress without just... waiting around, or replaying the minigames repeatedly, which I did not find very engaging. It almost feels like there's a missing mechanic or something, a hole in the core gameplay loop. The only thing that kept me playing was wanting to see the next/new species of bug, but it was a slog to get to see it! I know it's meant to be semi-idle, but with a bug's limited lifespan, it discourages you from stepping away from the game for too long. You also need to be there to actively engage with the bug to complete the objectives - nothing happens while you're idle except the bug growing up. I like a lot about this game, but in it's current state and current price I feel like I can't in good faith recomend people buy it. I feel sad because I want to like this game so bad :(

Bugaboo Pocket is a really beautiful looking game that focuses on being a Pet game with life and death as a main mechanic, which is fairly unique and interesting. Beyond that the game is kind of bad, especially due to the high asking price for a game like this. The minigames are mostly fine, but a lot of them are reused between bugs. Grinding for currency to get new items is absolutely terrible due to the low amounts you get compared to the high asking price. Doing the quests to unlock new bugs is... ok? It's mostly just kind of boring but its fine. My main major gripe with this game is the CONSTANT loading screens, for a game that looks so visually simple you constantly have to wait to get to minigames which makes me not want to play them, especially because they're usually only a minute long AT MOST. To be honest, I think I've had more fun with actual Tamagotchi's than this game, it just feels like a slog to get through. It's a shame because all of the designs and artwork is fantastic, its the only reason I kept playing. I haven't finished the game but I got to one of the last bugs for the story and I just... don't really have the urge to finish it, it just feels like padding, most of the game kind of has felt like padding. Go spend your money elsewhere, Unless this game becomes like, 8 dollars or under, don't bother.

I should start by saying I am the target audience for this game. I'm an entomology student with a passion for outreach, so any game that gets people thinking about and appreciating bugs is an automatic win in my book. The game is short, sweet, and relaxing. The story and all the little bits of flavor text are touching and carry with them all this intimate context of the player character's life before the game. I came to really resonate with the story (though, again, target audience). The thought and care put into the little details are really what makes this game special. Also the art is stunning My critiques are overall fairly minor. The pacing can get slow at times, with lots of waiting, but I found myself leaning in to it. I also found the controls for the minigames a little finicky at points, though part of that is just an issue of gaming on a laptop. Some of them worked really well with my laptop's touchscreen however. I also wish resources were linked to follow up on some of the bug facts to learn more, but getting access to sources, especially scholarly ones, is a pain, so I'm not sure how feasible this would be. Also I wish I could place the pin myself when pinning the bugs. I've spent far too long pinning bugs for a grade to not get irked by the improper pin placement for some of the species.

Oh, this game is truly wonderful. I never had those tamagotchi games growing up, so this was a new thing for me. The most I had to compare to was taking care of puffles in Club Penguin. There's a bit of DNA there, since you feed your pet, but also furnish their room and play minigames with them? But maybe all of these are just normal tamagotchi things! What I found in Bugaboo Pocket is a gentle, touching experience that lets you choose what kinds of relationships you want to forge with the bugs. But I felt encouraged to take care of each one - when I did fail to take care of one of their needs I wanted to learn from my mistakes. That's a game in and of itself, just getting to know each bug's preferences and what you have to do to best care for them, but it's very chill about it. I really like the story being told through Silvia and EZ's letters and the cutscenes that show up after you make substantial progress. But it's also nice that I don't feel too pushed to go after every goal. They're just there. I'm having a lot of fun messing around in the minigames and petting my bugs for doing a good job. You're spoiled for variety with the minigames, but the gameplay loop is smart and ensures it's not all about them. The game's also got a good sense of humor in the moments where it counts, and that adds a lot to its personality.

i really really like bugs and i was really excited for this game to come out, but i honestly just cant get myself to play it anymore. theres a lot of waiting around, and the game loop isnt really that fun. that being said, the art is really amazing, and the games are fun .. just not for me i think

Got this on sale for about 13 euros, have been loving the game so far BUT THE ONLY BIG PET PEEVE I have with this game is that it keeps crashing and corrupting my save file, so each time i have to start a new game which gets really annoying. SO if you do still want to buy this game, remember to save often-

it's okay. definitely needs some work. extremely time consuming with almost no incentive. trying to get items is difficult, the mechanics and systems aren't really explained and i had to google pretty much everything and there were basically no answers bc no one can figure it out or at least no one is posting about it in the discussions. so much potential but a mostly good game if gotten on sale.

I really like this game! It's adorable and fun, and the pixel art is pretty, and the story is actually quite interesting! It's even given me, someone who already liked bugs, a bit of a different perspective on them and a new fondness for bugs I previously overlooked. Though there are a few bugs (haha) like hanging on the loading screen, bugs not following food, and the main menu has a 50% chance to send you to heaven. Nothing has really destroyed my experience, but it is inconvenient, so I'd like to see them fixed. If you like bugs, or you want to like them, I'd recommend this game!

Buge

means everything to me. worth the price if you value dev's time and effort put into the art and bug love.