Games allow us to slip into all kinds of roles that we would never head the chance to access in real life. That’s one reason why I like games. I love RPGs as you’re allowed to do whatever you want. I can be the support that decides whether or not a party-member lives or dies. I have the power to do so. I can be a knife-throwing gunslinger and travel from planet to travel to deliver cookies to my favourite Robo-waifu FailSafe (Destiny 2). In other games, I take care of an ecosystem and hunt down dragons and dinosaurs so that everyone is safe (Monster Hunter). Then there are also games where I’m the bad guy (duh.) and murder people because of me not being able to sleep (Party Hard) and other games where I solve the mystery of a murder that will lead to the world’s destruction (Omensight).
Games allow us to do all kinds of things. As a kid, I liked “Case Closed” for instance and dreamt of solving murders like him. And I liked frogs because frogs are quite cool. Have you ever wanted to be a frog? Have you ever wanted to solve cases? Have you ever wanted to be a frog detective? (rhetoric question)
No?
Well, in today’s Indietail, we’ll be taking a look at The Haunted Island, A Frog Detective where we can do just that! So hop in, as we discover a lovely and rather bizarre world of a game that really tickled my fancy!
In the first case of the Frog Detective series, we’re playing as the frog detective who’s just waiting to get another job. The phone rings, we pick up and the Supervisor has a case for us. Since Lobster Cop – the best detective of all time – was busy, it’s our turn to solve a mystery about a private island being haunted by a ghost! We’re the second-best detective after all!
Developer: Grace Bruxner, Thomas Bowker, Worm Club
Publisher: worm club, SUPERHOT PRESENTS
Genres: Indie, Mystery, Adventure
Release Date: 23 November 2018
Reviewed on: PC
Available on: PC
Copy was purchased.
Once we arrive at the scene, we have the opportunity to question everyone on the island and search for clues as to why the ghost scientists are on the island, where the ghost might be and whether or not there’s an actual ghost at all. During our time on the island, we’re able to search for clues and find items that we can trade in with other people in order to receive other times that are needed to solve the case. At our search for clues, we are also able to take care of a sloth’s mental health, help out a worried rat, have an interesting chat with the suspicious lobster, Larry, and, in the end, have a nice dance-competition with everyone on the island.
It’s all rather light-hearted and cute. The art style and overall presentation is adorable and disturbing at the same time. Just look at everyone’s faces! Have you ever seen an otter wink? Well, me neither until now!
And while it’s fairly easy to beat the game and as the game looks rather simple, it’s definitely not a kids game for the sole reason of there being jokes that I don’t think would be appealing to kids.
“You could have died.” – “Yeah, Haha.”
“I wanted to hire the world’s best detective!” – “Was Lobster Cop busy?” – “Yes.”
Frog Detective’s first case is rather amusing and carefree. The game feels like an overall breather from other games with a lot of actions, which I found quite nice. Frog Detective doesn’t need all those gimmicks, like voice acting and complex puzzles. It has got its own way of storytelling, its own humour and is able to take you in for a little journey on a haunted island.
Now, to summarize it all, I’d say that I’d definitely recommend this game to everyone who’s got kids or who just wants to experience a weird world full of cheerfullness and weird humour. It only costs four bucks on Steam and you can beat it in less than an hour. I had a blast with the game and although short, I did have to stop here and there to just chuckle at some of the jokes.
The game definitely isn’t something for everyone but I kind of fell in love with this charming little gem, so there’s that. I’m definitely looking forward to playing the next games in the franchise!
Anyways, I wish you all a nice day and I’ll see you in the next post! :)
This post was first published on Indiecator by Dan Indiecator aka MagiWasTaken. If you like what you see here and want to see more, you can check me out on Twitch and YouTube as well. If you find this post on a website other than Indiecator.org, please write an e-mail to me. Thank you!
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