Developer: Half Past Yellow
Publisher: Merge Games
Platform: PC, Switch, Playstation 4, Playstation 5, Xbox
Tested on: PC
Time on Frog Island – Review
Time on Frog Island is a relatively short sandbox adventure/exploration game, developed by the independent development studio Half Past Yellow. After having developed and released their first commercial project Tiny Tomb in 2019, Half Past Yellow is now ready to share their newest game Time on Frog Island with us. The question is, is it worth it for us to spend our time there?
Story
The game starts off with our sailor going through some rough waters. Sadly, the storm overtook the boat and we got stranded on a strange island full of froggy inhabitants. We came out of it unscathed, but the ship got wrecked into pieces. Luckily for us, the friendly frolicking frog locals are very inviting and are always willing to help us fix up our boat, for a price of course. You scratch their slimy back, and they scratch yours. That’s how it works on Frog Island.
There’s also a bit of background story for the unnamed sailor about who he is, and how/why they got into sailing. The story is subtly told through the use of still frames that can be seen during the loading screens when you rest up at night.
That’s about it for the main story in this game. You can make up smaller side stories from the locals but it’s not always clear what the story you’re getting actually is. Then again, making it up yourself is part of the fun, right?
Graphics
The visuals and art style are absolutely adorable! The game is colorful and charming. The shadings and lighting changes throughout the day are stunning and make the environment feel more realistic. You can get the sense that time is actually passing by since the game has a day/night cycle. This – almost – makes up for the lack of navigation or a clock on-screen.
Setting the game in an isometric view was a great idea. It makes it easier for us to explore while, at the same time, enjoying the surroundings. If we would have to describe it, we’d say this game is a mix between Gravity Falls and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker with the movement animations of Overcooked. This is very fun and quirky to see.
Sound
The in-game sound is a great match for the game’s lovely graphics. The melodic background music is soothing and relaxing. The impeccable sound effects work perfectly with the realistic feel of the island. You’d almost froget that you’re not on vacation.
Gameplay
Time on Frog Island is an adventure game that is mainly focused on exploring the island. You mostly run around and find items to trade with the locals. Eventually, by trading the right things with the right amphibians, you’ll get the items you need to fix the shipwreck.
The controls are fairly easy to use, but it’s still recommended to use the gamepad (ours and the developer’s opinion). All you need to do in this game is jump, pick up stuff, throw stuff, and talk with the locals. Since the view is set to isometric, you don’t have to worry about the camera angling getting in your way.
However, the rest of the game is not as easy-going as the controls, because there’s no hand-holding whatsoever. The game does not give you a questline, a waypoint, or anything to guide you. You just get thrown into the game and you’re supposed to figure it out all by yourself. The only thing you’ll get from villagers are speech bubbles with images of what they want visually. The rest is up to you. So the game’s duration mainly depends on you, the player, on how well you’ve explored the island (and found the necessary items) and on how long it takes for you to put one and two together. That’s basically it for the game. Explore, find items, trade with the villagers, and get your boat fixed.
At first glance, Time on Frog Island seems like a fine relaxing chill game. It is most of the time. But the game can often be quite frustrating as well. First of all, as we said before, there is absolutely no guidance. There’s no waypoint or questline for us to keep track of things. You’ll have to memorize all the villagers’ requests yourselves, and in case you do forget, you have to get back to the villager to restart the conversation. The same goes for items. Since you don’t have an inventory bag and have to literally carry your item across the island, leaving the item somewhere random is a terrible idea. It sucks even more if you can’t play the game in one sitting and have to come back to it later. This is a multitasker’s nightmare.
With that said, the gameplay let us a tadpole down. Granted, completing tasks feels rewarding, yet it felt repetitive after a while. Besides some small extras such as hidden treasures and running parkours, the exploration part felt tedious.
Conclusion
Time on Frog Island is a cute, short game with a big focus on exploration and trading. It’s meant to be played at your own pace. Unfortunately, the game can be equally frustrating as it is enjoyable at the same time. We can understand that it’s all about minimalism, but with no guidance such as a to-do list or way pointer/map, it feels more like the game is lacking in content. In this case, less is not more. Less is too little.
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