If you are having a nice day and feel the need for some reason to ruin that and stress yourself out there’s nothing better than a few rounds of Surgeon Simulator. It’s funny, ridiculous and frustrating all at the same time. Taking the ludicrous nature of Surgeon Simulator to whole new levels Bossa Studios brings you I am Bread. If you hadn’t already guessed you play as a slice of sentient bread trying to become what all bread dreams of – toast.
I have to admit I often haven’t tried to get into the motives of bread so who am I to argue? The controls are definitely more forgiving than Surgeon Simulator is on PC and consoles. For some reason your slice of bread can grip to surfaces like a pro and flip around, twirl and quite often fling itself unexpectedly across rooms. There is still that wonderful chaos that you would expect from never quite being able to get your slice to go where you want. There still needs to be that irritating handling that often screws you over otherwise this would just be any other game about a slice of bread with consciousness.
You certainly have more control than in Bossa’s other titles which goes a long way at staving off the irritation that often plagues these games. The pad crushing irritation in I am Bread is much easier going helped by slightly responsive controls and the fact that you have to laugh at the ludicrous sight before you. At least for a while.
There are darker motives at work motivating the bread too as they send the home owner mad. A few notes and letters here and there explain his decent into madness as he futilely tries to explain to people that his bread is alive. I suppose you could look at this game as a sort of public warning then really. If someone approaches you expressing problems they are having with living bread maybe you will pay a bit more attention. I’d probably just start moving their bread around the kitchen to be honest.
As a game I am Bread has very little to offer. OK so it’s pretty funny at least in concept. But that amusement quickly wears off and is forgotten. You’re main objective on your way to whatever appliance you’re using to become toast is to avoid the floor or other dirty surfaces. Spending time in them will reduce your ‘Edibility’ meter and too much will make you inedible and fail the mission. In another mode you play as a baguette which is immune to dirt and is tasked instead with destroying objects to reach a score rather than becoming toast. There is nothing outside of that concept and nothing any deeper mechanically or conceptually.
It’s a pretty shallow premise and honestly the magic is gone very quickly. Sure it’s a funny concept but it’s nowhere even close to funny enough to make an entire game. The quirky control games have pretty much lived out their potential now between Octodad and Surgeon Simulator. It’s very easy to become bored playing I am Bread although it does provide a little fun and distraction between playing full games. There’s little potential for I am Bread to become anything more so don’t expect anything ground breaking or new but it’s a good laugh for a short break. It strikes me as a bit of a cash maker with very little effort or creativity at work. My advice would be to watch your favourite YouTuber get annoyed with I am Bread instead – it’s more fun and it’s free.
