I am Bread v13.08.2015 - EXE Setup - FreedomLoader

Reviewed on PC / 13 Apr 2015
I Am Bread Review
141
Call of the Toaster

By Mikel Reparaz As I nudge a slice of bread away from its loaf, it pushes open the door of the medicine cabinet where someone inexplicably placed it, revealing a vast, untidy bathroom. If my slice can somehow reach the hairdryer on the other side of the room, it'll be able to toast itself to perfection. It shouldn’t be possible, but the slice flops forward, gripping the cabinet door with one of its corners. Slowly I swing it upward, grab the door with a different corner, and repeat the motion until the slice reaches the top of the cabinet – which turns out to be surrounded by mildew. As the bread's edibility rapidly diminishes, I reflexively lurch it away, only to watch helplessly as it plummets toward the watery floor and soggy doom. It's moments like this that typify I Am Bread: awkward, frustrating, and a little exhausting, but with just enough bizarre charm to justify another try.
Launch Trailer
01:17

I Am Bread has a story, surprisingly, but all that really matters is your bread slice's single-minded drive to toast itself by whatever improvised means are available. Like Bossa Studios' other hilariously clumsy physics puzzler, Surgeon Simulator 2013, much of I Am Bread's challenge lies in simply coming to grips with its purposely awkward grab-and-flop controls. Each corner of your slice corresponds to a different key or shoulder button (there’s controller support), which makes them grab whatever they're touching, creating an axis from which you can flip or fling your slice. Touch the floor or some other filthy surface, and your slice's health – or "edibility" – drops (along with your final score) until you can swing to safety. And when you need to climb, make it quick; your bread can cling to anything, but it can only do so for as long as its grip meter holds out.

It's difficult, but not impenetrable. Like anything else, manipulating your toast-to-be gets easier with practice, and toward the end of I Am Bread’s story mode (which takes around four to six hours to complete, depending on how good you are), I was able to get around with some degree of speed and even accuracy, halted only by hazardous surfaces and occasional confusion over which corner was which. Also, if you're totally stuck, failing a level a few times causes a power-up to appear that grants you infinite edibility and grip if you touch it. It's tempting to turn your nose up at this and the dismal end-of-level scores it brings, but it's an excellent way for the easily frustrated to experiment with each level without the constant frustration of failure – and experimentation is a big part of I Am Bread's fun.

Each of the eight suburban-themed levels is a huge physics playground, filled with breakable objects and rewarding secrets to find. Aside from "get toasted," there isn't really any direction, so there's a certain thrill in discovering that – for example – rubbing up against butter and jam improves your deliciousness score, or that flopping onto a skateboard can create a safe path from a table to a counter. And while the radiator on the other side of the room might seem like an obvious toaster substitute, it's a lot more fun to find out that you can also smash a TV in the same room and toast yourself on its fiery wreckage.