Bug and Seek is a cozy pixel art game from So Peculiar Games! With delightful 8-bit graphics, this bug-catching simulator lets players have their own “insectarium” where they can keep insects in transparent tanks. There are more than 150 insects to collect and lots of areas to explore. You will also meet several new characters, interact with them, take up quests and solve mysteries. Bug and Seek is available on Steam and soon will be ported to Switch.
As a rookie entomologist, your goal is to collect a variety of insects and create your own “Bug Museum”. Keep collecting common bugs to improve your mastery level and you will be able to find rare insects in no time. Our beginner-level Bug and Seek guide and tips will help you get started in your insect-collecting adventure.
Table of Contents
Movement and customizing your character
Start by customizing your character. You can change the hairstyle, hair color, clothing, and shoes. Character customization is pretty basic and does not affect the game or the character. Once you are ready, click “Begin Game”.
Move your character using the WASD keys. You can control your character from a top-down perspective, so pressing the W key will move the character forward, A – left, S – Down, and D – Right.
You will begin your bug-catching adventure from your own “insectarium” in the Meadows, the first location on your map. The insectarium is the place where you can keep all common, unique, and rare bugs on display for your visitors.
Press the “I” key to open inventory, in the tutorial, you will have access to an empty tank, a bug habitat” where you can keep up to six bugs on display. As you progress, you can buy additional tanks to keep various species of bugs using coins earned from jobs, quests, and exhibitions.
Press the I key and then select the bug tank. Click the “Place Decor” button to place the tank in your insectarium. Move the mouse pointer to the desired place and click to set up your first bug tank. When placing decor, you are in “Build” mode. Press “B” to exit build mode.
How to catch bugs
Go outside your insectarium to catch bugs. Here’s how to catch them:
– Bugs can be found under rocks, in the garden (bushes), potted plants, tall grass, flowers, and trees.
– Move closer to a bush, potted plant, tree, or rock. Press the spacebar to search for bugs. The bush, tree, and potted plant will move when you approach them and press the spacebar. If you are lucky you might see a bug or two crawl out of them. When you press the spacebar near a rock, the rock will be lifted and a bug might appear under it. The chances of the appearance of certain bugs depend on the season and the biome. You can find additional info about all bugs by pressing the “I” key.
– You can move through tall grass and flowers to search for bugs—no need to press the spacebar.
– Certain bugs can also be found in manmade structures, such as benches, statues, beach chairs, etc. Make sure you press space to interact with a manmade structure and you might find a bug if you are lucky.
– When you spot a bug, move near it. Right-click to use your net and catch it. When you catch a new bug, a stat screen will be displayed. You will have to catch an insect fast. A slight delay and they may scuttle away out of your reach and disappear.
– The bug info screen will appear only when you have discovered a new species. It will display that bug’s name, rarity, and stage name. Press the “OK” button. The info screen will not appear for duplicate bugs.
Seek the help of the Codex to know more about the season and habitat of all bugs, including the ones you haven’t discovered yet. Undiscovered bugs will have a “???” beside their name, but you will still get some hints to find them on the info screen. Check out the Codex section in this guide to learn more about seasons and habitats and how you can make the most of the Codex.
Adding insects to the bug tank
Once you have caught some bugs outside, head straight to the insectarium, approach the tank, and press the spacebar. Press the “Add/Remove Bugs” button. Under the “My Bugs” section, select the bug that you want to store in the tank and then press the “Add Bugs” button on the bottom of the screen. To empty the tank, select bugs under the “Tank Bugs” section on the right and then press the “Remove Bugs” button.
After adding a bug, you get the option to rename it. You can leave it blank and press OK to skip.
Trading bugs and buying new tanks
When you complete the tutorial/first quest, you will receive 100 coins. Use the 100 coins to buy another bug tank or save them for the future.
To trade bugs or purchase new tanks/decor, go to the trading post. It’s on the right side of the insectarium as shown in the map below. You will find it in the first location – the Buggberg Meadows.
Move closer to the trading post door, and press the spacebar to enter the building. Move near the merchant and press the spacebar. The merchant named “Antoinette” provides buying/selling and job options. Press “I’D Like to Buy or Sell”.
In the sell section, you can trade common/duplicate bugs for coins. Just select an unwanted bug and press the sell button in the lower-right corner. When you select a bug for sale, you can view its details and the coins it will fetch upon selling on the right side of the screen. Common bugs will sell for less, but the higher the rarity, the more the value of a bug.
In the Buy section, you can purchase the following:
- Storage Chest: You will need 800 coins to purchase it. Store decor items in the storage chest in case there isn’t any space left in the insectarium. You can upgrade the chest later but you will need more coins.
- Bug Tanks: You can buy additional bug tanks once your first tank is full. Check the storage space before purchasing. A basic 2-bug tank only holds two bugs and costs 375 coins, but a one-bug tank costs only 200 coins. There’s also a special bamboo edition where the tank is made entirely of bamboo.
- Decor: Decor items can be placed in the insectarium, though they won’t have any status effects in any way possible. They just enhance the beauty of the insectarium. I wouldn’t recommend purchasing decor right in the beginning. Invest your hard-earned coins in tanks and purchase all tanks from Antoinette as soon as you earn 1000-1500 Coins.
- Inventory Upgrade: Purchase it for 400 coins to add five slots to your inventory. You will be able to hold a limited number of bugs in your inventory so you may have to upgrade to add more bug slots. Make sure you purchase this upgrade to increase space.
The menu
It contains everything that you need in your bug-collecting adventure, including inventory, quest, jobs, skill mastery, codex, and map. You will have to press the hotkey to open the menu and see its contents:
Inventory: Press “I” to open the inventory. Your inventory displays all the bugs you have caught so far. Click on a bug to learn more about it. The info part will be displayed on the right side of the inventory screen. Under “Notes” you see the bug’s name, its rarity, and market value. You can sell a bug at the trading post.
Quests: Press “Q” to access the Quest screen in the menu. A quest becomes available when an NPC offers one. Move to a non-playable character and press the spacebar to interact. If they have a quest, they will mention it and it will show up in the quest menu. Complete a quest and press the Q key again to finish it.
Jobs: Press “J” to open the jobs section. A list of all jobs will be displayed on this screen. You can get jobs from the trading post. Talk to the merchant named “Antoinette” to get a list of incomplete jobs.
Skill Mastery: Press “S” and the skill mastery section will pop up on the screen. For each bug species, you will be designated a “Rookie” mastery level in the beginning – you will only be able to discover and collect common bugs of that species.
The more bugs you collect, the higher will be your mastery level. So if you collect 15 common ants you will increase your mastery level from rookie to a higher level and will be able to discover uncommon ants.
Get help from the Codex
In Bug and Seek, the Codex contains key information about every discovered and undiscovered insect in the game. Click the menu on the lower-right corner of the screen. You will need the help of the codex now and then to learn more about the season, biome, whether it can be found during the day or at night, and the habitat.
When I discovered the Ash Cicada while searching for a bug on a random tree, I opened the codex to know in which season it appears and its habitat. The codex did not disappoint me and I learned that the Ash Cicada can be found in summer, only during the day, in bushes and trees. I also stumbled upon another fact that I can find in the winter season on trees and bushes.
Tip: Seasons change every 15 in-game days in Buggburg. While playing, pay attention to the season mentioned in the top-right corner of the screen. Once it changes, you can view the codex and check the seasons and habitats of all the insects you have discovered so far to know more about the ideal location to find them.
Insects that have not been discovered will be displayed as “???” on the codex. You must catch a bug to reveal its identity and gather more data. However, you will still get some hints on the info section of the codex when you click on the “???”, the hints include the season/habitat, day/night, and the biome.
Press “M” to view the map to know the current biome. Explore BuggBurg to discover new biomes, such as meadows, the desert, and the beach.
Use the Map to Explore
Press “M” to access the in-game map. It not only shows your character’s current location but also provides other info, such as the biome, trees, manmade structures, plants, and important buildings. The first area shown on the map is “Buggburg Meadows”. This is where your adventure starts. Move south and you will enter the Town Square where you will find a better store to buy and sell items and insects. Move further southwards and you will get access to the beach. Check out the Bug and Seek World Map displayed on the developer’s Kickstarter Page:
Take up Jobs to Earn Coins
Move to the Trading Post in the BuggBurg Meadows or Bob’s Bigger Store in the town and talk to the merchant to find jobs. A job lets you earn additional coins besides earning them from exhibitions at the insectarium.
In the “Jobs” section, you can take up simple tasks to earn a lot of coins. A typical job will ask players to find and collect a certain number of bugs but the conditions will vary from one job to another. For example, one job will ask you to find and collect five bugs under the rock, but only at night. Another task will be finding 4 unique bugs found only in the garden and potted plants during the day. Here the condition is that you will have to find four different bugs found in the gardens and potted plants during the day.
Every job has a time limit. Some will ask you to collect bugs within 5 in-game days. Find all before the time limit to complete a job. Always check the calendar on the top-right corner of the screen to know the in-game date, time, and season.
The job completion icon can be seen on the lower-right corner of the screen. When you are a step closer to completing a job, the completion icon fills a bit. When you have finished collecting the required number of insects, pay attention to the completion icon and click on it to access the jobs page. Click on the same job and click to select the insects that have a jigsaw piece icon on the bottom. They will populate the job section on the right. Check the button and if it says “Ready to Ship” click to complete your job. Coins will be credited to your in-game account immediately. You can use coins to purchase bigger tanks, upgrades, and decor.
How to repair the bridge
In Bug and Seek, you will find a broken bridge on the eastern side of the Town Square. From the Meadows, i.e., the first location on your map, move south to reach the town square and then move east until you find a broken bridge at the edge of the river. Press the spacebar to interact and read the message. You will have to talk to “Grayson” at the city hall about construction projects and you may find a solution to repair the broken bridge.
In the Town Square, search for the building named “City Hall.” Enter the city hall and talk to the mayor. Press the spacebar to interact and then click on “I need some information”. Next, click on “Where can I go to expand the insectarium”. Follow the mayor’s instruction and move left to meet Grayson. Talk to Grayson by pressing the spacebar, and selecting “I want to talk about town construction projects”. From there select “I need your help with something around Buggburg.” Now choose “Can you repair the bridge to the east?” and Grayson will ask 3500 coins. If you have so many coins, you can proceed to repair the bridge, else select “I don’t have that kind of money”.
Grayson will also allow you to upgrade your insectarium. An upgraded insectarium adds extra space to keep more insect tanks and decor.
Bonus Tips
1. You can speed up time by resting until dawn and night. There are times when you just want to quickly catch a few bugs early in the morning but it’s nighttime in Buggburg. Look out for fountains and ground firepits, move closer to them, press the spacebar, and take some rest to speed up time.
2. Want a bigger insect tank? Move to BuggBurg Town Square and go to Bob’s Bigger Store to purchase tanks that can store up to 3 insects. You will also find themed decor. The current theme is gothic. Check back often if you want to see more variety of decor and tanks as the items in the store change at regular intervals.
3. Always interact with NPCs in Bug and Seek! You never know what rewards you might get from them after completing their quest. Most of them will offer rare decor instead of coins, so keep an eye on such NPCs.
4. You must invite NPCs to your insectarium if you want a steady flow of visitors. Go to the beach south of the town square and talk to a few people. You might find someone keen to visit your insectarium on certain days. Note the day and make sure your insectarium has enough bug tanks on exhibition to earn coins. Make sure you talk to every NPC and you might be able to invite them to visit your insect exhibition.
