Frog Island

Really interesting little game, with everything I expected and a bunch of things I didn't! The joy of a solo dev game is that you know you're getting as close to one person's vision as possible, and the drawback is that sometimes that makes for a somewhat strange experience. The frog attracting/befriending part works pretty much exactly like you'd guess: put down furniture for the frogs, they turn up, you interact with them in various ways to raise your friendship with them. The variety of frogs, items, decorations, and frog accessories is great, and everything is unbelievably cute. Farming, foraging, catching bugs, shopping, and exploring the island are all also exactly like you'd expect. I really appreciate the timer over the crops so you know exactly how long something will take! Cooking and fishing were the speedbumps for me. I didn't initially realize the game will guide you toward new recipes if you're only one ingredient away, and after I burnt my first tutorial meal I was scared to waste any of my scarce ingredients for way too long. Some more recipes or quests that encourage you to cook early on might be nice to make it clear that the system is actually pretty friendly. (Also there's a use for burnt food later, so don't toss it!) The fishing is probably the hardest fishing minigame I have EVER played. The learning curve on Stardew has nothing on this one! There are four different things to watch for (fish moving, shrinking targets, spinning targets, and rapid clicking) and the first one can overlap with the last three, which makes for total chaos. It's fun once you get the hang of it, but it's another one where I looked at my bait (~5), looked at my wallet (moths flying out) and decided I would wait until I got some upgrades. I was massively relieved to see the accessibility additions just a few days after launch! I have the hang of the minigames now, but it's still so nice to be able to toggle them off if you need Just One Freaking Fish for a quest and want to chill. The story also felt a little odd along with the rest of the game, but in a nice surprise sort of way. There's a lot of goofiness and fun in this game, but there's a ton of heart too and that's what makes these solo dev games so special. If any part of the game sounds fun to you, absolutely give it a go. It's a relaxing experience, and with the accessibility additions you can really focus on engaging with the parts you like best while skimming over anything giving you trouble. Thanks, DevFrog! :)

Super chill cozy game. You can tell the creator put a lot of love into every aspect of it.

Красивая игра. Но не более. Какой-то бессмысленный набор механик и странно сделанных мини-игра, без смысла, логики и нормальной прогресии. Без понятия, что делать в этой игре. Управление и навигация неудобные. Короче, как пишут, красивая картинка, но игры нет.

i love frorg