Bossa Games

Bossa Games is a British independent game developer and publisher founded in 2009 and based in London. The studio built its reputation on experimental, physics-driven games that prioritized absurd humor and unconventional mechanics over traditional game design. Bossa is best known for Surgeon Simulator and I am Bread, two titles that became viral sensations through YouTube and streaming platforms in the early 2010s and introduced the studio to a global audience.

I am Fish was a lot of fun, though frustrating at times when the physics didn’t go my way. I didn’t know it was a sequel to I Am Bread when I started it, but eventually I might go back and play the original game.

Surgeon Simulator

Surgeon Simulator launched in 2013 and became one of the defining games of the early streaming era. The premise placed players in control of a surgeon performing increasingly complex operations using deliberately awkward mouse and keyboard controls, making even basic tasks comically difficult. The game’s intentional obtuseness made it perfect content for YouTube and Twitch, and it spread rapidly through let’s play videos and reaction content. Surgeon Simulator has since received multiple updates, ports, and a sequel, Surgeon Simulator 2, which added cooperative multiplayer.

I Am Bread

I Am Bread followed in 2015 with a similarly absurd premise, casting players as a slice of bread attempting to become toast by navigating a kitchen environment using the same kind of deliberately difficult controls that made Surgeon Simulator work. The game leaned even further into the experimental direction Bossa had established and reinforced the studio’s identity as a developer willing to build entire games around a single ridiculous concept.

Bossa Games Today

Bossa has continued developing games beyond its viral hits, including Worlds Adrift, an ambitious multiplayer sandbox game that shut down in 2019, and Impostors, a social deduction game in the vein of Among Us. The studio has remained independent and continues to experiment with unconventional concepts, maintaining the creative identity that made its early games stand out in an increasingly crowded market.

Bossa built its entire reputation on the idea that difficult controls and absurd premises could be a feature rather than a flaw. For a certain era of gaming content, that was exactly right.