Bugsnax Best Bugs Ranked

I’m not exaggerating when I say that Bugsnax is one of my favorite indie games ever. I utterly adore everything about it, and I’ve poured far more hours into it than necessary. I played the game on PS4 when it was first released, as I was lucky enough to be gifted a review copy by the publishers.

Then, in April 2022, it was added to Xbox Game Pass and I was excited to play the game again on a new console. But better yet, it had had a major update. There was an entire new island to explore and the game had added a customizable hut, mail requests, and quality-of-life updates such as fast travel.

It’s safe to say that I’m a connoisseur of bugsnax, having caught all the available types on Snaktooth Island and Broken Tooth Island. Given my vast experience, I feel perfectly qualified to have the Bugsnax best bugs ranked. So, muscle up. Here’s the definitive ranking of all the bugsnax in Bugsnax!

The Best Bugsnax

Rating them by how enjoyable they’d be to eat, the best bugsnax are:

• BBQ Bunger
• Baby Cakelegs
• Flapjackarak
• Instabug
• Mothza Supreme
• Rainbow Sweetiefly
• Scoopy Banoopy
• Snaquiri

What are Bugsnax?

There’s the spoiler answer and the non-spoiler answer, but for this article, I’ll go with the non-spoiler answer. I don’t want to ruin the game for anyone who’s just here out of curiosity. But seriously, if you haven’t played it yet, get to it!

As Kero Kero Bonito said in their viral song about Bugsnax, they’re “kinda bug and kinda snack”. They’re the endemic life that populates Snaktooth Island. You play the game as a journalist investigating the mysteries of the island. You’re primarily focused on learning more about the explorer Lizbert Megafig, but a big part of the investigation involves learning more about bugsnax.

There are over 100 different kinds, and while on the island, you need to catch the various species and log them in your journal. The residents of Snaxburg are a race called Grumpuses who need to eat bugsnax to survive. Unfortunately, they’re pretty useless at catching them so they rely on you to feed them. When they’re fed bugsnax, the grumpuses will transform to resemble what they ate!

The bugsnax themselves are designed to look like various foods merged with different breeds of bugs. Cakes, pies, burgers, beetles, butterflies, you name it! There’s a combination for almost anything you can imagine. And best of all, they have cute little googly eyes that give them so much personality.

Criteria for Rankings

There are so many factors that I could rank bugsnax on – looks, how easy they are to catch, rarity, etc. But none of those felt right. I’m supposed to be ranking the ‘best’ bugsnax, and all those other measures felt inadequate. But then it came to me – Deliciousness!

They’re bugSNAX, their whole purpose is to be eaten. So, I decided to make that the criteria for ranking them. Therefore, the tiers are based on how enjoyable they would be to eat. This includes taste, texture, and the psychological side, too. For example, bugsnax become more appealing to eat if they’re pretty and lose deliciousness points for being ugly.

I tried to be somewhat impartial in this list. I’m a picky eater so I didn’t want that to affect the scores. For this list, I ranked them under the presumption that I liked most foods. That way, they’re ranked on how well they incorporate flavors and not on how much I like those particular flavors in real life.

I’m not considering how difficult they are to catch, as I’m purely ranking the eating experience. However, the difficulty to eat/ prepare them DOES come into it. So, if I have to remove packaging, that counts against the bugsnax. This includes if the packaging is technically removed during the catching process, such as with Pielobite or Pinkle.

I decided to go with a tier list instead of ranking each individual bugsnak. It felt too impossible a task otherwise, as how do you compare a stack of ribs to a lollipop? They’re all wildly different so I figured broad categories would be fairest. Within tiers, they’re simply listed alphabetically, so the order is irrelevant.

An important caveat to my criteria – if it’s going to burn or freeze me, it won’t score above a B-Tier. I’m sorry, but no matter how delicious something is, I can’t call it A-Tier if it’s gonna cause me physical pain! The one exception to this rule is Scoopy Banoopy because it’s so clearly S-Tier.

F-Tier: Not Even for a Million Dollars

Okay, I’m exaggerating here as most of us would do pretty much anything for a million dollars. But my point is you’d have to pay me a LOT of money for me to even consider eating these. These are the bugsnax that I just know would be super gross. Eat at your own risk.

• Cheddorb – First off, it looks moldy, and secondly, it’s been rolling all around gathering a bunch of dirt all over every inch of its surface. No thank you.
• Pinkle – I know I said I wouldn’t let my personal preferences get in the way, but come on. It’s a walking pickle. Revolting.
• Scorpepper – This would absolutely sear my throat as it’s based on a ghost pepper. I’d melt from the inside.
• Snaxsquatch – I know all the bugsnax are living beings, but Snaxsquatch is way too humanoid to eat. I’d feel like a cannibal.
• Spaghider – Ugh, I get the creeps just looking at this thing. No matter how good it tastes, there’s no way I could ever get past its appearance, and I expect the texture would be awful too.

D-Tier: I’d Have to Be Starving

While F-Tier is for the ones you’d have to literally force-feed down my throat, D-Tier is for those bugsnax that are disgusting but edible. These are the bugsnax that I would begrudgingly pick up and eat of my own volition if it came down to it. Don’t get me wrong, I wouldn’t be happy about it, but it’s better than going hungry.

• Baja Tacroach – I’m not a taco expert, but I’m pretty sure they shouldn’t be this color.
• Cellystix – Celery is such a nothing food, neither bad nor good. But the creepy way it walks is entirely unappealing.
• Cheddaboardle Rex – The cheese would be dry as a bone from being open to the air like that.
• Cobhopper – Plain corn with no butter or anything? Terrible.
• Flamin’ Cheepoof – Is it too much to ask for my food to not be on fire?!
• Green Grapeskeeto – I like grapes, but something about Green Grapeskeeto just screams that it’ll be sour inside.
• Green Lollive – Green olives are bitter at the best of times and adding wings won’t change that.
• Grumpy Snakpod – I expect they taste pretty yummy although the texture wouldn’t be great. But they lose major points for resembling my friends.
• Inchwrap – Absolutely not. It moves creepily, it’s wrapped in very oddly-colored lettuce, and it does not look in any way appealing. Plus, it tries to attack me, and that’s just rude.
• La Sodieux – Sparkling water is disgusting, and the added pretentiousness of the name puts it solidly in D-Tier.
• Meaty Snakpod – I can’t get over its terrified expression. What does it know that I don’t?
• Pielobite – Definitely not worth the effort to eat. Plus, its legs are horrible.
• Poptick – Popcorn without any seasoning is objectively vile. I remember I tried some plain popcorn once as a kid, and I ran away coughing and spluttering.
• Red Banopper – This one looks like a gone-off banana, and I don’t trust that it wouldn’t taste like one, too.
• Ribblepede – I’ve never eaten ribs, but everyone I know who has eaten ribs has always regretted their choice almost instantly. They’re so messy for so little pay-off.

• Scorpenyo – Not quite as hot as the Scorpepper, but it would still be a pretty painful experience.
• White Rootle – A wriggly parsnip doth not a delicious meal make.

C-Tier: Might make an Okay Snack

Now we’re getting into the territory of relatively decent bugsnax. These aren’t ones I’d actively seek out, but they don’t faze me either. If I were walking around Snaktooth Island and happened upon one while I was feeling hungry, I’d go for it. These are the mid-tier bugsnax. They won’t leave a lasting impression, but they’ll be okay.

• Aggroll – It comes conveniently packaged in its own box, but the actually edible parts are minimal.
• Big Bopsicle – It’s freezing cold, it attacks you, and it’s too large to eat in one sitting. I bet it tastes pretty good, though.
• Black Lollive – Mildly better than the Green Lollive, as it looks a little less bitter.
• Buffalocust – This one probably tastes and feels decent, but it drops down to C-Tier because it looks like a naked baby.
• Cheepoof – I can’t prove it, but I just know that Cheepoof tastes incredibly artificial and probably stinks. Still, it avoids D-Tier because I bet it has a satisfying crunch.
• Cheezer – The cheese-to-cracker ratio is totally off balance. This would be far too pungent to be enjoyable.
• Clawbsteroni – This one’s very lucky to dodge D-Tier as conchiglie is the worst pasta shape, but pasta is still a decent food.
• Crapple – It’s a walking apple. It’s fine, but not exactly exciting.
• Crystal Sweetiefly – It looks delightful, but looks can be deceiving. Crystal Sweetiefly is based on rock candy so it most likely tastes like pure sugar and nothing else.
• Eggler – It’s just a fried egg, no salt or anything. Decidedly average.
• Fryder – It loses points for looking somewhat like a spider, but thankfully not to the extent of some other snax. I would complain that it’s dry, but it lives near ketchup, so it gets a pass.

• Grapeskeeto – Purple grapes are superior to green grapes, everyone knows that. But the mosquito part is still off-putting.
• Green Peelbug – I debated putting this in B-Tier, but ultimately decided it’d be too sharp.
• Mama Mewon – The effort it takes to get inside Mama Mewon is not worth it, especially as there are so many seeds you’d need to spit out.
• Megamaki – I’m not a sushi fan, but that’s not why this is marked down. The problem is the poor distribution of fillings.
• Mt Sodie – This one is so cold that it goes past refreshing and straight into brain-freeze territory.
• Nutty Snakpod – An appealing packaging design doesn’t change the fact that trail mix is incredibly average.
• Paletoss Grande – My reasoning here is exactly the same as for Big Bopsicle.

• Pineantula – I love pineapple, but not enough to ignore the spidery resemblance.
• Rootle – Carrots are better than parsnips, but they’re still nothing special.
• Spuddy – Now look, I love jacket potatoes, but Spuddy looks really dry and that simply won’t do.
• Stewdler – I don’t like that it’s spicy and I don’t like that it attacks me. I do like that it comes with its own spoons.
• Sweet Fryder – Just an alternative version of the regular Fryder, so my thoughts are the same.
• Tacroach – This beats out its Baja variety as at least it’s a normal color. However, it still resembles a cockroach, yuck.
• White Strabby – Have you ever eaten a white strawberry? They’re just not as flavorsome as red ones.

B-Tier: Pretty Darn Delicious

This is the tier where I would actively want to eat the bugsnax, regardless of whether or not I felt particularly hungry. These bugsnax look delicious and convenient. They’d be pleasant to eat without being incredible. B-Tier is where I’ve put most of the bugsnax which are based on a single real-life food with no toppings or extras.

• Banopper – These banana-like Bugsnax live inside Scoopy Banoopy, so I bet there’s a faint taste of cream.
• Bombino – I don’t like my food to explode, but I can make an exception when it tastes this good.
• Bopsicle – It’s still cold and aggressive, but at least it’s a manageable portion size. And who doesn’t like ice lollies?
• Charmallow – I would absolutely put this in A-Tier if it weren’t for the whole ‘on fire’ thing.

• Cheery – Not just a cherry, but a glacé cherry; Cheery is small yet delicious.
• Chillynilly – I would absolutely put this in A-Tier if it weren’t for the whole ‘iced over’ thing.
• Crispy Snakpod – I’m only human, so there aren’t many circumstances where I wouldn’t devour a pack of chips.
• Deviled Eggler – Seasoned to perfection, Deviled Eggler only loses points for burning your mouth.
• Dr Sodie – I know all Sodies are technically the same temperament, but Dr Sodie seems so much more relaxed and welcoming.
• Flutterjam – You can never go wrong with some jam on toast.
• Fruity Snakpod – I bet it tastes fantastic, but the texture would probably be a bit too chewy to deserve any higher than B-Tier.
• Greater Cocomite – It’s a large coconut and coconuts are wonderful.
• Green Crapple – Sure, it’s still just an apple, but this time it’s green!
• Hunnabee – I’m not a honey person myself, but Hunnabee makes me want to like it.
• Incherrito – I love wraps, but I don’t love the weird way Incherrito moves, or the fact that it attacks me.
• Kweeble – Kiwis are excellent, but I can’t go any higher for a regular fruit.
• Lesser Cocomite – It’s a small coconut and coconuts are wonderful.
• Millimochi – Why oh why did this have to be frozen? They look so scrumptious and I’d definitely put them higher if they were room temperature.
• Minimaki – A solid distribution of fillings, but it looks pretty dry.

• Noodler – It’s like a Stewdler with more variety and a better flavor profile.
• Orange Peelbug – Oranges are great, but they’re still just oranges.
• Paletoss – Just like their larger variants, see my reasoning for Bopsicle.
• Puffy Snakpod – I don’t like rice crackers, but if I did, I bet I’d be thrilled to eat a Puffy Snakpod.
• Razzby – One of the absolute cutest bugsnax in the game and probably quite tasty, too.
• Scoopy – I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream!
• Sherbie – I know for certain that Sherbie tastes scrum-diddly-umptious, but I had to mark it down for constantly freezing me.
• Shishkabug – If this one didn’t look so insect-like then I’d probably have given it A-Tier. Honestly, there’s also too much tomato.
• Tikkada Masala – This one took me forever to obtain and is lucky that I’m not ranking difficulty to catch. However, annoying as it is, I can’t deny that it looks delicious.
• Twisty Snakpod – Pretzels are a solid snack, and I’d be more than happy tucking into a bag of these.
• Weenyworm – It’s so plain that it only just squeezed into B-Tier, its saving grace being its proximity to ketchup.
• White Cheepoof – This one feels like it has a much cleaner taste than the regular Cheepoofs.
• Yellow Peelbug – It could turn out to be tart and sour, but I would still risk it.

A-Tier: Now We’re Talking!

Here we go! We’ve already had some excellent bugsnax, but we’re moving towards the top tier. The snax in B-Tier set the bar pretty high, now prepare for the A-Tier bugsnax to raise it even further. These are guaranteed to give you an excellent eating experience. You’ll be licking your lips and demanding more. Young Horses certainly knew what they were doing when they designed these delicacies. As the saying goes, you eat with your eyes. Well, my eyes are telling me that I’m about to enjoy a banquet!

• Black Razzby – Sure, it’s just a recolored Razzby, but as in nature, the black fruits are always the juiciest and the sweetest.

• Bunger – Bunger, Bunger, Bunger, Bunger… BUNGERRRRR!
• Bunger Royale – Like Bunger, but bigger. But bigger does not automatically make it better, so they’re both sitting pretty in A-Tier.
• Cappucceetle – Its rarity only adds to its appeal, but aside from that, its frothiness is to die for.
• Caramel Poptick – See the difference that flavor makes? While the regular Poptick is down in D-Tier, the caramel coating ascends this bugsnak to A-Tier.
• Chippie – Do you remember the playground debates about whether muffins or cookies were better? I was always Team Cookie and Chippie perfectly represents the side.
• Cinnasnail – Don’t deny it, you want to rip the shell off that innocent little snail and devour the doughy goodness.
• Daddy Cakelegs – The cake part is fantastic and although the spider part is off-putting, all I can think about are those creamy layers.
• Golden Kweeble – Pipping its regular variant, I reckon Golden Kweeble would have a subtle sweetness.
• Kwookie – It looks like an Oreo, and Oreos are A-Tier cookies.
• Loaded Spuddy – Loaded Spuddy makes up for the shortfalls of regular Spuddy. No way is this too dry with all those delectable toppings.
• Lovely Sweetiefly – It’s technically not a real flavor, but I’m telling you now, Lovely Sweetiefly tastes of pure joy.
• Melty Snakpod – This one looks like a bag of M&Ms, and if it’s anything like its real-world counterpart, it’ll be delightful.
• Preying Picantis – For the most part, I didn’t allow Spicy or Frosty bugsnax to make it past B-Tier but I have to make an exception for something this phenomenal.
• Ruby Peelbug – Blood oranges are the best citrus fruits (fight me on it, I dare you), so Ruby Peelbug is the best Peelbug.

• Sandopede – Sandwiches are the underrated king of savory foods, and Sandopede has a fantastic balance of fillings.
• Shy Weenyworm – Whereas Weenyworm is bland, Shy Weenyworm is perfectly sauced.
• Sodie D – Normally, I don’t like when my food spits at me, but it takes the edge off when the food in question is a delicious orange soda.
• Strabby – I know this is a really basic take, but strawberries are the best fruit, and I will die on this hill.
• Sub Sandopede – Exactly like Sandopede, except arguably slightly better due to having less crust.
• Sweetiefly – The adorable stripey patterning takes me back to my childhood, and the nostalgia adds to what I’m sure will be a great snack.
• Tropicabug – A fabulous array of fruits; I have no complaints here. Tropicabug firmly deserves its place in A-Tier.
• Waffstackarak – Not enough variety or sauces to earn a place in S-Tier, but waffles are an incredible food item, so A-Tier it is!
• Wee Mewon – Unlike their poorly constructed mother, Wee Mewon is an example of the perfect watermelon – all flesh, no seeds.

S-Tier: I’m in Culinary Heaven

These are the best of the best. The bugsnax that I would sell my house for. Well, I would if I could afford a house in the first place, although that does feel like a poor financial decision. These bugsnax are so perfect, so visually and gastronomically appealing, that I feel homelessness would be worth it for that brief moment of pure ecstasy whilst I was eating them. The snax on this list are the ones that had me salivating every time they popped up on the screen.

• BBQ Bunger – While Bunger Royale didn’t get any special treatment for being bigger, BBQ Bunger adds a whole new flavor profile, securing itself as undeniably the best Bunger.
• Baby Cakelegs – The offspring of Daddy Cakelegs, Baby Cakelegs are infinitely cuter and therefore, infinitely tastier. Those are the rules, everyone knows that.
• Flapjackarak – Look at those perfect layers! Pancake, bacon, butter… It all works together in perfect harmony.
• Instabug – Although I’m ranking by tier and not individually, if I were to pick an ultimate winner, then it would be Instabug. It’s so gorgeous that I want to reach through the screen and shovel it into my mouth.

• Mothza Supreme – I went through a phase as a student where I would order takeaway pizza twice a week, every week. Very quickly, I realized this was draining my bank account, so I stopped and made takeaways an occasional treat. But, if my pizza had looked as incredible as Mothza Supreme, there’s no way I’d have had the self-restraint to stop buying it, and I’d probably have ended up skint and on the streets.
• Rainbow Sweetiefly – The best of the Sweetieflies, Rainbow Sweetiefly has a welcoming pattern that conveys pure yumminess. Just look at all those colors!
• Scoopy Banoopy – Do you realize how delicious a bugsnak has to be to earn a place in S-Tier despite giving you brain-freeze? Scoopy Banoopy is truly the pinnacle of gourmet excellence.

• Snaquiri – The perfect refreshing drink after a day of consuming all the bugsnax you can find. I’m not entirely sure what flavor Snaquiri is supposed to be, but I am entirely sure that I don’t care. Whatever it tastes like, I know that it will be delicious.

FAQs

Conclusion

Phew! That was a lot of work. Ranking over 100 species of bugsnax is no easy feat. Still, I had a blast putting this together. So, there we have it, the definitive ranking of the best Bugsnax. I tried to be as objective as possible, given that it’s a highly subjective topic. But I took my preferences out of the equation and approached it from the perspective of someone who enjoys most foods.

Bugsnax is a thrilling and wholesome gaming experience, and one that I was more than happy to take a deep dive into for this article. I ended up replaying it, as writing about the bugsnax had me feeling so hyped! I bet you’re chomping at the bit to go and play it, too.

Remember, these rankings are based purely on the eating experience and aren’t a reflection of how great (or otherwise) a design is. We all know that Bunger and Strabby would’ve taken the top spots for iconic design. I apologize if your favorite was ranked low, but I had to stick to my journalistic integrity and think of the bugsnax from a culinary angle.

If you enjoyed this article, why not check out some of the other ranking articles we have here on Indie Game Culture? There’s this useful one on Vampire Survivors upgrades or this one ranking the Furi bosses!

• About
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Melika Jeddi

Melika, a Co-Host of the Indie Game Culture Podcast, is someone that almost exclusively plays indie games. With Spyro and Crash being the exceptions to the rule. She is a lover of cozy games, with bright colors and shiny objects often being the primary selling point for all games in her wishlist.

She also runs her own Pop Culture site called Screenhype, is a skilled Rock Climber, and needs put on a merch-buying ban due to the abundance of cons she attends.

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