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Time on Frog Island Review


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820238077_TimeonFrogIslandboxart.jpg.427c5a0819d9dacfba44a7c2e3ae47df.jpgRelaxed or cozy adventure games are practically a genre unto themselves now, and that includes Time on Frog Island. With no dialogue or text and an island littered with things to discover, this game prompts players to explore at their own pace and piece together puzzles that often require running around and trading items with the island's amphibian inhabitants. The aimless structure of the game leaves something to be desired, though.
 
You play as a sailor whose little boat is shipwrecked on an island populated by anthropomorphic frogs. The boat is in dire need of repair, but by helping the frog inhabitants you might be able to piece together all of the parts you need to set sail once again. Many of the frogs have their own little stories that you can get involved in, and your backstory is also gradually revealed through still images every time you sleep. Time on Frog Island is charming but the lack of dialogue might ultimately hurt the experience. Without any kind of narrative grounding that dialogue might provide, the simple requests of the frogs feel too basic, and the sailor's backstory, while emotional, lacks impact.
 
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Time on Frog Island is more or less a puzzle adventure game with an emphasis on chains of trade requests that might be a side quest in other games. For example, you need rope from the fisherman, but he requests a feather in return. The island's chieftain has the feather but wants something else in return, and to get to him in the first place you'll need to get past the guard and complete his request. So on and so forth, until you gather every item you need and can leave the island. These trade puzzles aren't bad but they can get a little tedious at times, for a few reasons.
 
Initially the island seems confusing, especially since there's no map and no way of keeping track of where frogs are or what they requested from you. Thankfully the island is fairly small, though it is still annoying having to just remember where you might need to take objects. You can only carry one item at a time, so either you need to remember where to find it once you do need it or you'll have to try to keep a stash somewhere for easy access, which is pretty messy. You also don't move terribly quickly, so even when you do know where you need to grab something it might take a bit of time to just do it. Time on Frog Island is obviously meant to be a slow paced, meditative game, but the wandering, slow nature of the gameplay and the inconvenience of no map or quest tracking system can make the experience a bit boring.
 
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It might be for the best then that the game is so short, because this gameplay formula wouldn't sustain a longer experience. Assuming you spend a bit of time wandering and slowly figuring out what to do, you'll probably spend around three hours on Frog Island. If you know exactly what to do you could likely finish the game in under an hour. On the bright side there are a lot of little optional things to interact with and accomplish, including achievements, but again the lack of direction can make figuring out what to do tedious and unrewarding. They feel like tasks for the sake of tasks, not challenges for your puzzle-solving or adventuring skills. And on a separate note, the game's controls have a finicky problem where you have to be standing in just the right spot to talk to NPCs or hand them items. It's a small annoyance but it happens quite a lot.
 
The game's presentation isn't all that thrilling either. That's not to say it's bad, but it probably isn't going to "wow" anyone, with its fairly basic trees, shrubs, and rocky terrain that could easily come from any number of games. Even the sailor, the player character, doesn't have a lot of personality in his design. The one bright spot here is the frog design since they each have unique little features—it would've been nice to see the rest of the island get that kind of attention to detail, though. The soundtrack is also pretty understated and atmospheric. Not a bad approach for the game's relaxed vibes, but it also comes off as forgettable.
 
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Time on Frog Island is a cute little game that just doesn't have the energy to keep its brief runtime engaging. Despite being the focus of the game, exploration isn't all that rewarding and uncovering secrets isn't quite worth the effort. You have to be sure you're in the mood for a meandering, low energy game if you're going to set sail for Frog Island.
 
Rating: 6 out of 10 Frogs
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