# Bug & Seek — catch and collect real bugs

> Peaceful bug-catching simulation game with collection and customization. (iPhone/iPad app by So Peculiar, LLC.)

- Source: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bug-and-seek/id6502613297 (this page in markdown: same URL + `.md`)
- Developer: [So Peculiar, LLC](https://appshunter.io/developer/1235147913)
- Category: Games, Education, Family, Simulation
- Price: Free with in-app purchases
- Rating: 4.80/5 from 61 App Store ratings · 42 written reviews indexed
- Age rating: 4+
- Requires: iOS 13.0 · 487 MB
- Languages: American English
- Released: 2024-12-23
- Data updated: 2026-08-20
- Monetization: free with in-app purchases
- User reviews in markdown: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bug-and-seek/id6502613297/reviews.md

## What is Bug & Seek?

Catch 200+ real life bugs in this peaceful creature collector. You’ve bought the local insectarium (bug zoo) in the cozy town of Buggburg, so start swinging your net to build your dream bug collection and create the best insectarium Buggburg has ever seen.

Developed by a tiny, two-person dev team, Bug & Seek is a relaxing bug-catching game with a mystery twist and pixel art bugs.

You've just bought an abandoned Insectarium (bug zoo)—congratulations! Now, go catch real-life bugs, build your collection, and level up your skills. Bug & Seek features a very simple and peaceful gameplay loop, no stress, and no wrong choices. So relax and enjoy all those bugs (and learn about them too)!

* Discover 200+ adorable and real insects
* Customize and Expand Your Insectarium
* Explore The World
* Meet the Locals 
* Solve the Mystery

What to Expect: 
* Simple Game Mechanics — Explore, shake objects to reveal hiding bugs, and swing your net. Bug & Seek was meant to be easy, peaceful, and stress-free. A leveling system increases the rarity of bugs you can catch, and some special items boost your chances too.
* A Bug-Based Economy — To earn money, you will have to sell bugs at the stores and for jobs and quests. But don't worry, you will be able to catch more!
* Cozy, Humorous Vibes —  The cute little town of Buggburg to explore, lots of goofy and bug-obsessed NPC's, bugs with personalities and jokes, and a fun mystery about someone stealing a bunch of bugs.
* Light Customization — There are a handful of adorable new decoration sets, and even a few new clothing items you can acquire. 
* Real Facts and Information — Every bug in the game is a real bug, and you'll learn things like why bugs are so important to biodiversity and environmental health.

What Bug & Seek DOES NOT have: 
* Challenging gameplay; the gameplay loop in Bug & Seek is very simple.
* Mini games; if you swing your net at a bug, you will catch it.
* Energy meters or sleep requirements; after all, you can only catch certain bugs at night.
* Multiplayer options;
* Combat; while bugs in real life do attack and eat other bugs, they don't in Bug & Seek, and you won't fight NPC's with your bugs. The bugs also do not carry swords or wear medieval armor, as fun as that might sound.
* Romance; while you can talk to NPC's, and do jobs for them involving catching bugs, you cannot romance them, nor can you romance the bugs, regardless of the superpowers that might give to your offspring.

## Key features

- Catch 200+ real insects
- Customize and expand insectarium
- Explore the world
- Meet locals and solve mystery
- Simple, stress-free gameplay
- Bug-based economy
- Learn real bug facts

## Pricing and in-app purchases

Base price: Free.

**One-time purchases**

| Purchase | Price | Type |
| --- | --- | --- |
| English (U.S.) | $6.99 | one-time |


## Recent user reviews (10 of 42)

All indexed reviews: https://appshunter.io/ios/app/bug-and-seek/id6502613297/reviews.md

### 5/5 — Wish controllers worked

*2026-07-11*

Cant use controllers. Love the game but seriously hope future updates to include some form of controller accessibility. You cant move the character. and i hate playing games with my thumbs on the screen and i like having my hands under a blanket while I play games i cant do that in this one. I know first world problems, but makes me really sad cause i love bugs, and this is all the coziness of animal crossing without the extensive neverending chores. Plop in and plop out.

Im still gonna play it but please add accessibility for controllers so i dont have big circles invading the screen.

### 5/5 — sad day..

*2026-06-28*

It’s an absolutely great game, but when I attempt to buy DLC it says I already have it (I don’t). :( But, with the limited gameplay I can do, it is truly a nice game!

### 5/5 — So Much Joy

*2026-05-02*

I can hardly express with words how much joy this game brings me. The thought, the humor, the colors, the characters, the scenery. It’s so beautiful. It manages to bring me peace throughout my day. So, so worth the full game. So worth it. Every single pixel makes this game a masterpiece. Thank you so much devs!! This is all I ever dreamed of and more!

### 4/5 — Pretty good

*2026-04-24*

I loved the game and the old timer graphics but my 
insectarium is fully maxed but I still don’t have any room for my bugs. But it is still a great game with the quests and story lines. I would definitely recommend it.

### 5/5 — 🪲🙂‍↕️

*2026-04-12*

Best bug game! It’s clear there is a lot of love put into it. I got stupid excited upon seeing the silhouette of a pseudo scorpion, and a FAQ just for the red velvet ant is so funny! I wish it was a bit more involved, like having bug traps and maybe a bug version of a stardew valley community center thing (maybe there is but I’m living that broke college student life and can’t get the full version yet lol). Regardless, very worth playing🙂‍↕️

### 5/5 — Awesome

*2026-03-13, version 1.0.5*

I love bugs! And I love this this game too! 10/10

### 4/5 — Bugs!!!

*2026-01-20, version 1.0.5*

I love bugs and this game! But for some reason it has me restart when i close out of it but others it’s fun!

### 4/5 — Bugs disappeared

*2026-01-19*

Love this game super charming and relaxing! 

I am writing to mention that I recently lost about 20 habitats with all the bugs within as it turned from winter to spring for the first time. The 4 bugs that remained had no distinctive pattern to explain why they remained. Hope this doesn’t happen once more. Thanks!

### 4/5 — Absolutely amazing

*2025-11-21*

You have no idea how excited I was to bee the blue death beetle (and many more of my favorite bugs) because only a couple days before this post I drew a blue death beetle for the first time!!

### 5/5 — Awesome game

*2025-10-16*

I friggin love this game as an autistic person who loves insects and invertebrates. I did get the game somehow without paying though? Not sure how, but thank you for the gift!!  Amazing game

## Frequently asked questions about Bug & Seek

### What is Bug & Seek?

Bug & Seek is a peaceful creature collector game where you buy an abandoned insectarium and build your dream bug collection. You'll catch over 200 real-life insects, customize your space, and explore a charming town with a light mystery.

### What are the main features of Bug & Seek?

Key features include discovering and collecting over 200 real insects, customizing and expanding your insectarium, exploring the world, meeting quirky locals, and solving a fun mystery. The gameplay is designed to be simple, peaceful, and stress-free.

### Is Bug & Seek free to play?

The game is free to play and includes in-app purchases and ads. While the core gameplay is accessible, players can choose to make purchases to enhance their experience or progress.

### What kind of gameplay can I expect?

Expect simple mechanics focused on exploration, shaking objects to reveal bugs, and swinging your net to catch them. There are no challenging elements, mini-games, energy meters, or combat. The game emphasizes a relaxing and stress-free loop.

### What is the target audience for this game?

This game is ideal for players who enjoy relaxing simulation and collection games. It's suitable for those who appreciate peaceful gameplay, learning interesting facts about nature, and a charming, cozy atmosphere without intense challenges.

## Version history (last 5 releases)

### 2.1 — 2026-07-13

**Bug catchers! I fixed an issue where starting a purchase and canceling resulted in the full game unlocking. Purchases are now verified through the AppStore. If you were a lucky winner of a long-term free trial, you may find that you are now limited to the demo area of the game. You can always choose "Restore Purchases" in the Main Menu > Get More Bugs to see if you own the full game. Thank you to those who alerted me and expressed their desire to support the project in this way!**

New Features and Quality of Life (QoL) improvements!
- Autosave feature implemented, saving your progress in the background as you play.
- A simple on-screen timer lets you see how long you have to catch a bug (and gives a clue its rarity).
- Interactive objects now reset at dawn & dusk.
- No storage needed for clothing! All of your owned equipment is now visible in the Equipment menu. 
- Bonuses from equipment are now listed in the equipment menu.
- Repeating quests with clothing rewards now grants coin rewards once clothing has been obtained.
- Mastery levels, Karl's fee, and some rewards have been rebalanced.
- There are now 216 total bugs to catch!
- The Codex now gives you a total for the number of bugs you've discovered (i.e., 121 / 216).
- A bug category icon has been added to the "New Species Discovered" pop up.
- Fixed issues with decor replicating in the insectarium.
- Fixed an issue where the heist end screen failed to continue dialogue.
- Other (bad) bug fixes.
- Improved performance, most notable on older devices.
- Thank you for playing!!

### 2.0 — 2026-07-10

**Bug catchers! I fixed an issue where starting a purchase and canceling resulted in the full game unlocking. Purchases are now verified through the AppStore. If you were a lucky winner of a long-term free trial, your progress is intact! You may just find that you are now limited to the demo area of the game. You can always choose "Restore Purchases" in the Main Menu > Get More Bugs to see if you own the full game. Thank you to those who alerted me and expressed their desire to support the project in this way!**

New Features and Quality of Life (QoL) improvements!
- Autosave feature implemented, saving your progress in the background as you play.
- A simple on-screen timer lets you see how long you have to catch a bug (and gives a clue its rarity).
- No storage needed for clothing! All of your owned equipment is now visible in the Equipment menu. 
- Bonuses from equipment are now listed in the equipment menu.
- Repeating quests with clothing rewards now grants coin rewards once clothing has been obtained.
- Mastery levels, Karl's fee, and some rewards have been rebalanced.
- There are now 216 total bugs to catch!
- The Codex now gives you a total for the number of bugs you've discovered (i.e., 121 / 216).
- A bug category icon has been added to the "New Species Discovered" pop up.
- Fixed issues with decor replicating in the insectarium.
- Fixed an issue where the heist end screen failed to continue dialogue.
- Improved performance, most notable on older devices.
- Thank you for playing!!

### 1.0.5 — 2025-09-02

- A quick fix for in-app purchases

### 1.0.4 — 2025-08-26

Updates you'll see here:

* The Community Collection! Our player community submitted dozens of bugs, with artwork and descriptions to include in the game. We chose 30 from these great submissions, and they've been added to the codex! 
* Focus Feature - choose a bug to "focus" on and increase your odds of catching said bug. This feature unlocks when you achieve mastery in a category.
* Buy back feature - Accidentally sell a bug you wanted? It will show up in the merchant's Buy inventory for a short while.
* FLIES are now a category! Level up your fly-catching skills and even donate them to the University for a Fly Statue.
* A pink frame will now signify when you have a bug that is part of an active Quest.
* Other minor fixes and polish.

### 1.0.3 — 2025-01-21

No more ads in Bug & Seek mobile! After hearing from our players, I decided to remove all ads from our mobile version. Since many of players are kids, I wanted to give them a better, safer play experience. The full version is still available as an in-app purchase, and it will still come with income bonuses for completing jobs + the Saturday Insectarium event. My family and I so appreciate all the love our players have shown us, and we hope this makes your time in Buggburg all the happier!

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## More apps by So Peculiar, LLC

- [Cozy Maze Game](https://appshunter.io/ios/app/cozy-maze-game/id1574192037)

All apps by So Peculiar, LLC: https://appshunter.io/developer/1235147913

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*Data collected daily from the US App Store and indexed by [AppsHunter](https://appshunter.io/). User reviews are verbatim App Store reviews. Ratings, prices and chart positions refresh continuously; this snapshot is from 2026-08-20.*