Born of Bread

Last updated
Born of Bread
Born of Bread Cover.jpg
Developer(s) WildArts
Publisher(s) Plug In Digital
Engine Unreal Engine 4
Platform(s) Windows, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series
Release
  • WW: 5 December 2023
Genre(s) RPG
Mode(s) Single-player

Born of Bread is a 2023 video game developed by French Canadian independent developer WildArts and published by Plug In Digital. It is an action-RPG in which players fight enemies as a batch of bread that has been brought to life named Loaf. The developers aimed to create a game evocative of Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door , creating a similar visual style that merges two and three dimensional graphics. Upon release, the game received average reviews.

Contents

Gameplay

Gameplay Born of Bread Gameplay.jpg
Gameplay

The player assumes the role of Loaf, an animated being of dough created when the Kingdom's royal baker accidentally creates life when creating a new type of bread. Loaf is tasked to venture out and defeat five demons that have been awakened by archaeologists and have taken over the castle. [1] Born of Bread is an action-RPG in which players explore the world to battle foes and interact with characters to progress the narrative. [2] The game features turn-based combat, in which players can direct Loaf and their allies to attack enemies or perform supporting actions by using WP. [2] Battles are broadcast before a fictional audience, and players can perform the requests of audience members to recover WP. Upgrades can be made to improve combat abilities by improving stats from experience points earned from battle, or completing side quests to earn Boons that enhance certain abilities in battle. [2]

Queen asks the kingdom's royal baker to create a new bread dish for dinner.

Development and release

Born of Bread was created by WildArts, a four-person French Canadian independent development team. [3] The game was the second by the studio after the 2017 title Helltown. [4] Lead designer Nicolas La Marche stated that the studio set out to create a RPG for the first time and aimed to emulate Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door as an exemplar of the genre. [5] The studio focused on innovating on the formula of the genre, taking a more open-world structure to Paper Mario to encourage greater exploration. [4] To achieve the resemblance, the developers merged two-dimensional and three-dimensional animation for the game's art style. [5] Bread was focused on as a theme as a hook to create a protagonist with "versatile and interesting" abilities that could "interact with the environment" in clever ways. [6] The game was creating using the UE4 Blueprints engine, and received an Epic Games grant as an Unreal Engine project. [3] Born of Bread was showcased at the Microsoft ID@Xbox Fall Showcase in September 2022. [7] A game demo was also released for Steam Next Fext in June 2023. [8] The game was released on 5 December 2023. [9]

Reception

Born of Bread received "mixed or average" reviews, according to review aggregator Metacritic. [10] Comparing the game's visual presentation to Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door , Rock Paper Shotgun praised the game's "colorful" graphics and "buoyant" music, but cautioned that players could differ on whether they enjoyed the humor. [9]

References

  1. 1 2 Bueno, Daniel (30 December 2023). "Review: Born of Bread Is a Familiar Home-Cooked Meal". Siliconera. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  2. 1 2 3 4 Vogel, Mitch (13 December 2023). "Born of Bread Review (Switch eShop)". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  3. 1 2 Crecente, Brian (26 July 2023). "Born of Bread is a Paper Mario-inspired RPG made entirely with Blueprints". Unreal Engine. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  4. 1 2 Hussain, Mudassir (31 December 2023). "Born Of Bread Devs Are Considering Adding A "Challenging Hard Mode"". eXputer. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  5. 1 2 "Interview: Baking Up Goodness With Born of Bread". Gamerhub. 20 December 2013. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  6. Ozzy, Dave (20 December 2023). "Exclusive interview with the makers of Born of Bread: the little RPG with a lot to prove". TheXboxHub. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  7. Dinsdale, Ryan (15 September 2022). "ID@Xbox Fall Showcase: Everything Shown at the Event". IGN. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  8. "Born to Bread - Official Steam Next Fest Demo Trailer". IGN. 29 June 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  9. 1 2 Evans-Thirlwell, Edwin (5 December 2023). "Born of Bread, out today, is a Paper Mario-style RPG starring a cheeky dough golem". Rock Paper Shotgun. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  10. 1 2 "Born of Bread". Metacritic. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  11. Orona, Alex (22 January 2024). "Born of Bread (Switch) Review". Nintendo World Report. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  12. Chandran, Neal (30 December 2023). "Born of Bread". RPGFan. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  13. "SwitchArcade Round-Up: Reviews Featuring 'Born of Bread' and 'Hammerwatch 2', Plus New Releases and Sales". TouchArcade. 26 December 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  14. Biordi, Jordan (4 December 2023). "Born of Bread (Nintendo Switch) Review". CGMagazine. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  15. "Review: Born of Bread (PC)". Digitally Downloaded. December 2023. Retrieved 3 October 2025.
  16. Ikeda, Achi (23 January 2024). "Backlog Review: Born of Bread (Switch)". Nintendojo. Retrieved 3 October 2025.