Indie Spotlight – Bacon in Zane delivers weirdly satisfying casual gameplay inside the human body

Philipp Stollenmayer (kamibox) has launched his new pseudo-scientific Bacon adventure title, Bacon in Zane, which is now available on Android. In this sequel to the beloved casual title, Bacon – The Game, you guide a piece of bacon through the human body while controlling things.

Game Overview

Bacon in Zane is a casual yet weirdly mouth-watering sequel that invites you to control things like bacteria, breathing, and even brain signals with just your fingertip, all while guiding a piece of bacon through the human body.

Here, you have to search for exits to unlock some questionable edible extras across each stage. Plus, if you enjoy playing with friends, you can also challenge them to a race through the body. So, with its anatomically incorrect gameplay, surprises, odd soundtrack, and more, Bacon in Zane delivers a cozy, thoughtful gaming experience for modern gamers.

Why you should play Bacon in Zane

• It offers a bizarre yet entertaining experience with its anatomically incorrect gameplay and unexpected mechanics.
• Features an odd soundtrack made from the dev’s own body noises and various surprises.
• Enjoy a creative, casual experience where you guide a piece of bacon through the human body.
• Even get a bit competitive and race your friends through the body.

From concept to creation: Developer Insights

In a conversation with GamingonPhone, Philipp Stollenmayer, also known as kamibox, shared valuable details about Bacon in Zane. He opened up about the inspiration behind the game, art style, challenges he faced during development, and more.

We first started the discussion with his introduction, as I was curious to know more about this solo creator behind such fun games. So, he revealed that he is “based in a medium-sized town in Germany,” and handles almost everything himself, only bringing in “help with music and translations.” He also shared how he mostly focuses on food-themed mobile games, with “an ironic twist,” and I believe that’s what makes them stand out.

Bacon in Zane took shape after PBJ – The Musical

So, it was nice knowing that the idea for the game came after his previous story-driven title, PBJ – The Musical. He revealed that he had “quite a few ideas for new mechanics” while designing the levels for that game, though it didn’t quite fit, he felt it “should be a game for everyone.”

“After PBJ, I started experimenting with those ideas that were a bit more skill-based,” he explained, which eventually led to the creation of Bacon in Zane.

Building gameplay around a wobbly piece of bacon

Interestingly, the core mechanics of Bacon in Zane actually evolved from one of his earlier projects. He mentioned Zip Zap, where “you control hinges of mechanical objects with one tap.” However, this was actually before him leaning to the wobbly charm.

“What‘s different in Bacon in Zane is the piece of bacon,” he said, adding that its “slimy, juicy, uncontrollable” movements became the fun element of the whole experience. And, to match the chaotic feel, he “built the theme around the gameplay,” and said that setting it inside the human body helped “contribute to the slightly disgusting feel.“

Tackling the challenges of an open-world body during development

I was curious to know what were the challenges he faced during development, and I asked him just that.

One of the biggest challenges during development, Mr. Philipp revealed, was designing the open world map. According to him, it is not limited only to how much freedom he had “in terms of level design” but also became a technical hurdle, as he wanted to create “a moment where you could zoom out and see the whole body all at once.“

Keeping the visuals simple, as gameplay comes first

Then we moved on to my favorite topic, which is art design, and he explained how “the art subordinates to the gameplay” in most of his titles. Since the gameplay can be challenging for us at times, he tries to make it “very clear what each element is.” He added that this approach also lets him “limit the color palette and not get lost in details.“

A surprising response from players, especially with the treasure hunt

“I am very happy with the response,” he noted, while admitting how he was initially unsure whether the treasure hunt might be very difficult for fans. Balancing the difficulty was hard, but the response surprised him.

“3 of the 5 numbers have already been found within the first 24 hours,” he said, adding that he’s been blown away by the emails he got, with players “really giving everything to find those numbers!” Even I wanted to take part in this, but sadly, I’m not from the target region.

Future updates and plans beyond the game’s launch

Coming to the end of our discussion, I asked him about his plans now that the game is live. To which he replied that he is already planning “to do the arms and legs as well.” He’s closely observing how players interact with the current content, noting what they “like and dislike, and try to get ideas from that for the next levels.“

He revealed that this approach worked well for the original Bacon – The Game as the “levels get better with each update.“

And as for what’s next after this one, Mr. Philipp revealed that he had already begun working on a VR project. However, he is not sure how that game will turn out just yet, joking that he’s “a lot better at starting than finishing.“

Final Verdict from the Editor

With the game now available on iOS, I’m surely going to try this game, mainly because of the weird yet creative gameplay it brings to the table. I mean, it’ll be a great replacement for my usual competitive titles, and guiding a bacon through the human body while dealing with everything is oddly satisfying if you think about it.

Overall, with its hidden exits, edible extras, surprises, minimalistic visuals, ability to race your friends through the body, and that very odd soundtrack made from the devs’ body noises, it is surely a must-try title if you want to unwind with some unusual yet very fun gameplay.

If you want to play this title, you can now download it via the App Store. Let me remind you again that while the game is free, you get ads, so you can spend a premium to remove them entirely.

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