Bacon Man: An Adventure Pax East 2016 Impressions

At PAX East 2016 I was able to catch up with the guys from Skymap Games to talk about their upcoming game Bacon Man. First, let me say that it was a real pleasure to interview this group of college friends turned game developers. When visiting their booth it was more like going to a friend’s house to check out the new game that they just got rather than a demo at a convention. Bacon Man is a side scrolling platformer that features local co-op and fast paced platforming. There are puzzle solving and RPG elements featured in the game as well. Right off the bat Bacon Man features many different character to play along with numerous color schemes to customize the hero’s appearance. While running through the demo I encountered an example of the puzzle solving, nothing too taxing, just making a few platforms to cross a gap, further on there are more complicated puzzles leading to secret areas with rewards that can be used to beef up the hero. Which leads to the RPG side of Bacon Man. All the characters have a number of slots to plug in power ups that can be swapped out at any time. I liked how the game offer this type of customization without having to slog through a bunch of menus.





While chewing the fat with Game Designer Angelos Dardagiannopoulos I learned more about Bacon Man’s backstory and some of the more unique aspects of gameplay. Like many other developers that I met at PAX, they are interested in making a more retro style game while putting their own signature on it. The gist of the story is that Bacon Man’s grandfather, king of the Meat Kingdom, has died under mysterious circumstances. Bacon Man having recently been thawed from a deep freeze must reclaim the Meat Throne. While it seems like a standard story of revenge, I noticed plenty of tongue in cheek humor and innuendo injected into the plot. The weapons are also humorous in the way that they are used. While obviously used against enemies, the weapons have a utility function to them also. For example, the Toaster Gun, while good for shooting toast at foes also gave an extra bump of airtime when fired downwards while jumping. This utility aspect combined with the RPG element, had me trying different loadouts for a given situation. Bacon Man level designs look great and the Meat Kingdom has a diverse landscape. The characters all have their own identities with animations all their own. Combat boasts both ground and air combos. When I asked for a tease of any upcoming title, I was told their next game would be a 3D Coop experience. I’m looking forward to the release of Bacon Man tentatively by the end of 2016 on Steam, with Xbox One to follow with no confirmation for a Playstation release as of yet.

Bacon Man: An Adventure won best Digital game at Pax East 2016 from Gamerheadquarters, check out all the awards here!