While walking around Summer Game Fest: Play Days, you’ll see so many games. You’re probably running around like a chicken with its head cut off trying to make your appointments, but in those moments of calm in the storm, some games catch your eye that you HAVE to try and see. Thankfully, I was able to snag an appointment with Bub by Paperfrog last minute.
This game is unlike anything I’ve seen and is a testament to the importance of believing in yourself, your talent, and your vision. Bub is a story about a young musician in (insert Matt Berry voice) New York City as they remember moments from their childhood. These aren’t just flashbacks, though; they are stylized experiences that allow you to live a moment of memory. Let me explain.
In the demo, we played through a few different scenes, but each one was a different type of art. There were markers on the glass showing the story of a family at the beach, as their mother is overprotective due to a child dying in the water that was close to them beforehand. Others were a hand-drawn bike scene, a world made from pieces of paper, a wildly cool rhythm game based on band class in school. Each one I saw was extremely unique, and I loved getting to feel the passion put into this game through the “gameplay.”
Why quotes? Because when I say, “gameplay,” I mean you’ll have to press one button and move with the joystick. That’s it, and I was perfectly fine with that due to the fact that it was used perfectly for the stories being told.
When I asked Paperfrog why this was the case, the designers told me how their goal was to allow someone in a friend group out and about to say, “Hey, guys, I have this new game we can finish in two hours, wanna come play?” When they get back, they can play together, handing the controller off to each other in between scenes without the hassle of learning the controls. There is also simply so much on the screen at one time that the player is bound to miss things, so the friends come in handy as they can see, “Oh man, look at that cool design!
While this game is a while from being released, it makes sense. This is a small team doing things the way they feel is best to tell their story the way they want to for a two-ish hour game. I’m very excited to see the final product from Paperfrog when it releases in 2027.
