"I just want to believe that Bigfoot is out there just living his best life," says the developer of Bigfoot Life.
I was startled awake this morning when the first email I opened confronted me with the image above: a smooth-faced, blue-eyed Bigfoot gazing contemplatively, or maybe pensively, at the press release that followed, the announcement of upcoming sasquatch sim Bigfoot Life.
Something about that rubber-mask face stupefied me—I also like Bigfoot's marching gait, seen in the trailer embedded below—but after seeing criticism of his Bigfoot's appearance online, the game's creator is considering reworking the cryptid's face.
Bigfoot Life is a solo project by developer Wesley Abrams, who's previously made games about hunting mushrooms, as well as an action adventure game called Spider Fox that he built for his son. He announced Bigfoot Life today and posted about it on the Bigfoot subreddit, where he's received some interesting replies.
One person, for instance, insisted that Abrams consult with Bigfoot scientists, because "it would be very important for you to have some accuracy in this or it will likely fail." Abrams politely declined. He tells PC Gamer that he's researched Bigfoot encounters and watched many documentaries—on the day his son was born, he'd been sick with the flu and was "binge watching the Survivorman Bigfoot season"—but says that Bigfoot Life is "not an educational game about Bigfoot."
Based on the trailer, it's about foraging for food, building shelter, stealing from campsites, avoiding being photographed by humans, and finding a Bigfoot mate—exactly what a Bigfoot scientist would tell you Bigfoot does, I bet.
The feedback Abrams is considering acting on are the comments about Bigfoot's appearance. "That might be the worst looking Bigfoot I have ever seen!" one commenter on Reddit said.
"I have gotten some feedback from Bigfoot fans that the face of Bigfoot doesn't look quite right and is maybe too human looking," Abrams told me. "I always take feedback seriously, good or bad, so at the moment I am working on updating Bigfoot's face to make it look better."
I mentioned in response that I kind of like Bigfoot's uncanny face, which led Abrams to reassess the volume of criticism—it's really just a few comments here and there.
"Nothing is set in stone," he said. "I could always leave it as is … Now you have me thinking maybe I should leave poor Bigfoot alone and not mess with his face."
Uh oh. I'm supposed to report the Bigfoot news, not alter it. What if Abrams should give Bigfoot a new face and I've just convinced him otherwise? The least I can do now is help him get more feedback, so if you have an opinion on Bigfoot's appearance, say so in the comments.
The last thing I wanted to know: Is Abrams himself a Bigfoot believer?
"I've never had an actual Bigfoot encounter myself, but I would love for Bigfoot to be real," he said. "The people I know that have had encounters are trustworthy and are very convincing. I do believe there are too many sightings and encounters for them all to be hoaxes, bears, or other animals. I just want to believe that Bigfoot is out there just living his best life like the 'Bigfoot Life' game says. I think 'live your best Bigfoot life' is a good hook for the game and that is why I added it to the short description of the game."
Abrams plans to release Bigfoot Life on Steam next year.
