Mudborne: Frog Management Sim

[h3]Huge and Fun Puzzle Game[/h3] When I got this game, I was hoping to play something like Factorio with frogs at best, but deep inside I expected a cute but shallow game with frog aesthetics, something simple to kill an evening or two. What I did not expect was that this game would have such a satisfying gameplay loop, a huge world map, and a ton of puzzles to solve! I have played this game for almost 20 hours, and I can definitely say that I enjoyed it. Time was flying when I was in Mudborne. The main thing is how I always had the feeling of, "Oh, okay, let me try this thing out, let me get a new frog, I will finish this task, play just 5 more minutes..." And then, every single time, those 5 minutes became hours without me even noticing. There is a constant feeling of being rewarded for every small step. Hey, you have unlocked a new critter! Oh, a new variation of a frog! Or here is a new portal, a new blueprint, a new piece of lore, a new area... There is always something new to anticipate, sometimes even without knowing exactly what it will be! It is such a perfect game to get hooked on and immersed in. The puzzles are also great. You are trying to find optimal ways to get the required species, discover new mushrooms and the conditions needed to grow them, experiment, and move forward. The puzzles are not that hard. They are mostly just arithmetic plus finding the cheapest way to achieve your goal with the tools you have at your disposal at the moment. This brings a bit of Factorio-like engineering satisfaction to the game. But with all of these good things, there is another important part... [h3]I will not even try to finish this game[/h3] You see, the game is designed to be cozy. Coziness implies that it is chill. Relaxed. Slow. Too slow. There are intentional limits to the speed of crafting anything. Wait a minute for the mushrooms to grow. Then a minute for the tadpoles to mutate. Then a minute for them to grow. Then catch them and repeat again. This is some kind of core gameplay element that repeats throughout the whole game, and eventually, after becoming predictable, it becomes tiring. I told you that the map is huge? That's cool. But there are so many obstacles on your way that navigating through this world requires a map. And even with a map, it is pure anger, because there are obstacles that force you to circle around the whole map just to get to the other side of a bridge. At first, it feels like a good part of puzzle exploration, but on every next trip to that location, it feels like a waste of time. And sometimes you need to find mushrooms, and they can grow only in very specific locations. So you spend a huge amount of time going there, then realize that the weather is not appropriate, and your bed is far away. So you return, sleep, wait, and go back there again. And what if you forgot to bring something? Is there fast travel, maybe? There is not a fast travel system, but... eh... a bit-faster-than-walking travel. There are rare portals, and they make things better, but you need to get to that portal network first. And the portals are not even next to each other! You still climb stairs, jump on rocks, and walk around just to get from one portal to another. And no one told you that you would be teleported directly to your destination! So walk more! You can also travel to your last spawn point, but only one way, and that is not always convenient. And you know how bad it is when you need to find some specific species of frog? The one that you spent an hour creating and now want to use for some purpose? Good luck finding it on your screen, because the colors repeat too often, and the sprites have only a couple of pixels of difference. Try to catch that one frog you need. Maybe it will not even spawn at your location, so have fun wandering the map. [h3]Discovery VS Repetition[/h3] So, at first, EVERYTHING, every small step, is tied to a huge shiny discovery. Everything is new. You explore new places, new puzzles, new mechanics. Everything is so engaging, and you are never forced to do the same thing again! But then, at some point, there is less sense of finding something new and more of an "Ah, I guess I need to go to location X to find something..." And the more I played, the less satisfying discovery became, and the more backtracking was placed on my shoulders. My journey ended when, one day, I wanted to play this game and suddenly realized that it felt like a full-time job, not relaxing enjoyment. And then I realized that I did not want to come back. Weeks later, I still feel reluctant to continue. The game is too big for the foundation it was built upon. The game is intentionally too slow, in places where it should offer you more ways to skip the routine. Judging by achievement rates, around 7% of players got to the point where I gave up. And around 4% cared enough to complete the game. It just had to be shorter to be perfect. But what started as perfect now feels like a negative review. Anyway, pick it up, explore while it is fun, and move on.

Puzzles galore. This game is time consuming and not really laid back as you would think. A lot of math is involved. I wouldn't recommend if you hate math.

Hidden gem of a game, for its price there’s actually a lot to do. The main questline is there to aid you in what is the true goal of the game: breed and collect all possible variations of frogs, which is a delight to do just to see what weird little critter you cook up. You decide the pace, the game never makes you feel rushed. Paired with the lovely soundtrack and background noise it makes for a very chill and relaxing experience where you can waste as much time as you want. As fun as progressing the story is, I spent just as much time (if not more) customizing my little corner of the world. I loved spending hours decorating a home worthy of my little frog children. The accessibility menu also helps streamlining the more lentghy gimmicks that some people might find frustrating. A little buggy, especially on controller, but its charm more than makes up for it. Overall great game to sit and relax in, give it a chance.

I immediately bought this game when it came out during World Frog Day, and it did not disappoint. It's a relaxing game where you manage and unlock more frogs while you discover the world around you. The graphics are pretty for pixels, and the animations are cute.

Lost me when it makes me place decomposters, and compost in every biome situation for mushrooms... ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ obnoxious and the compost decay is not worth the investment. The amount of notes you have to take when you encounter hints is also obnoxious.. there's no catalogue for the hints to go to so you're left either taking a ton of screenshots or notepadding them third party, or running to the spot on the map. Excessive and annoying.

iine!

I love this game so much. It's so whimsy and fun and sooooooo cute.

fun froggy game, collect all the things

x-- 7/10 --x Enjoyed this waaaay more than Apico. I think it's because of my love for frogs, but I also just found this one a lot less overwhelming and a lot more chilled.

You want to play this game. Not just because you get to create an entire army of frogs. Not just because the story is wonderfully captivating. And not just because the soundtrack is soothing in the best kind of way. But because such a seemingly simple game is actually mentally stimulating, effectively addicting, and will have you dreaming about frogs long after you save and exit. I would not consider myself someone who likes math by any means. But cracking each of the frogs' genetic codes, had my brain exploding with satisfaction. Harvesting mushrooms, documenting where, when, and under what conditions certain mushies could be found had me running to the local convenience store so I could create a physical "frog log" on each type of frog, mushroom, and bug in the game. The Pondmother has blessed me, this game has brought me to tears.