From the minute you start the game, I am Bread is determined to prove just how dumb a game can be. By comparison, certain sections of Bossa Studio's (most famous for their work on the equally dumb Surgeon  Simulator series) makes this year's Goat Simulator look like a playable version of the classic works of Shakespeare. Looking deeper though, the epic tale of a slice of bread looking to become toasted by any means necessary is strikingly original and at times, even genius - in the worst possible ways. Like the Surgeon Simulator series before it, I am Bread is not for everyone but those looking for an original game with a distinct sense of humor and challenge should seek out this odd little gem.

"I am Bread's challenge is with it's ridiculously tough control scheme."

Yes, this is a game where you play as a piece of bread, and yes your main goal is to get yourself toasted from whatever source of heat you can find. There's really not much else to the story but it's not quite as easy as it sounds. Like Surgeon Simulator before it, I am Bread's challenge is with it's ridiculously tough control scheme. Depending on which control scheme you use; you'll have to control both the grip and the momentum of the bread as it traverses the house. For my time with the game I alternated between an Xbox 360 controller and a mouse and keyboard. While the controller asked me to twist my fingers around both the trigger and bumper buttons to move the bread, the game seemed a lot easier with the mouse and keyboard though that's not saying much.

The trick with both layouts is finding the right rhythm to move the slice of bread without running into the many obstacles spread throughout the house and again, it's easier said than done. The more that you run into, be it dust, bugs or other random foods that one doesn't eat with bread and your edibility factor begins to go down; land butter side down on a pile of cat littler or bugs and all your hard work is for naught, and you'll be starting all over again. This is both the genius and knuckle-headedness of I am Bread rolled into one. It's a lot of fun to get your bread into some truly outrageous situations and see what comes of them. There's a section pretty early in the game where you'll find yourself on a shelf near a jar of jelly and a skateboard and the rest, well..the rest is what makes the game so much fun.

"...encourages you to explore your surroundings and experiment..."

I'm well aware that this may be stretching things a bit, but the way that I am Bread encourages you to explore your surroundings and experiment to find out just what will happen is reminiscent of the some of the best sandbox games of recent generations, of course to a much smaller scale. While playing games like Just Cause or Grand Theft Auto I would frequently do things just to see what would happen and then change some of the setup and do it all over again. That same feeling can easily be found in I am Bread and the results provide the same giggle factor as land a jet in the middle of a crowded city, just again - to a much larger and admittedly dumb scale.  I'm not too ashamed to admit that I spent what some would say is far too long on a single level just because I wanted to explore it all and see just what I could do.

Be warned though, much like Surgeon Simulator before it, I am bread is easily one of the most frustrating experiences you'll have all year. The controls are frustrating enough on their own but the game has a tendency to mix up the inputs when you're playing with a controller, leading to an even more frustrating experience. There were several times when I was attempting to climb up a wall that the game read my button presses as wanting to loosen my grip and as a result I fell to the ground, often having to restart because I fell onto something that ruined my edibility factor. This is where the game crosses over from challengingly fun to frustration on the level of hair pulling.

I am bread is a surprisingly fun and challenging experience but unfortunately a lot of the challenge comes from the unforgiving and often unreliable control scheme. As a game that's only in Early Access release, I am Bread has a lot of potential and room to grow, provided that the word of mouth buzz that Bossa Studios has developed keeps on rolling. If you liked the frustrating fun and stupidity of the Surgeon Simulator series, I am Bread is strangely right up your alley.