Metamorphosis, the Kafka-inspired game about bugs, gets a very weird new trailer

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Metamorphosis, inspired by the Franz Kakfa novella of the same, is a game about waking up to discover that you've been turned into a small insect of some sort, and also that your friend Joseph has been arrested. That's kind of a weird pairing of events, eh? In fact the whole thing looks very weird, and a new trailer that dropped today to reveal the August 12 release date does not help dispel that notion.

The tone of the new video is quite a shift from the April reveal teaser, in which an unfortunate insect—perhaps your friend Joseph?—undergoes an unpleasant one-on-one insect interrogation. This one takes a broader look at bug life as a whole, including jobs, leisure time, and the surprisingly complex society our little bug friends live in. It actually looks not entirely unpleasant, although I do think that some of these folks could stand to clean out their drawers a little more often.

Your ultimate goal in the game is to "unravel the truth, and regain the life you once knew," saving Joseph along the way of course, but for me the real attraction is simply the opportunity to explore this bizarre, hidden world. The Steam page promises "challenging environmental puzzles," with clues to find and obstacles to overcome, and it sounds like the bug life will truly be yours: You'll "make full use of your tiny body and sticky limbs" as you crawl around the game world.

I'm not going to pretend that I understand what Kafka was going on about, but I do dig weird games and so I'm looking forward to this one, even if the literary allusions go screaming over my head. If you don't want to wait until August 12 to see what it's all about, a demo for Metamorphosis is available now on Steam, and there's also a website with more up at metamorphosisgame.com. (And weirdly enough, we were just talking about giant bugs yesterday.)

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.