Walk The Frog Review (PC)

Walk The Frog does for leftover note pads what Sticky Business did for sticker books — it gives you a reason to finally use them. In any other case, you would use a sticky note as a way of reminding yourself of a task that needs to be accomplished at some point in the future. But in Walk The Frog, sticky notes are used for building worlds, like a jigsaw puzzle, to some extent. The only thing that separates the lily pad from the common jigsaw here is the frog—an amphibious friend who just so happens to have the flexibility to traverse the pieces (or notes in this case) and hop along your sticky pads as you carefully place them on the pond.

If you think all of the above sounds a little too simple, well, that’s because it is. In fact, if you can muster up the imagination to picture a cluster of yellow sticky notes and a jolly green frog, then you can more or less visualize just about everything that Walk The Frog aims to achieve with its short but adorably cozy point-and-click adventure. What’s more, you don’t need to understand the logistics of getting from point A to point B. If anything, it’s a simple drag-and-drop affair that requires very little effort to complete. But, more on that later.

At the center of its amphibious heart is a relaxing puzzle game that combines basic drag-and-drop mechanics with a lovingly crafted pond-like world. As Froggo, the rightful protagonist in this tale, you find yourself with a simple desire: to venture back home and to join your friend to celebrate the start of spring. But, herein lies the problem: between you and the pond lies a whole bunch of sticky notes and eccentric characters, all of whom have a tendency to relay their own problems to amphibious folk. Your goal, in short, is to weave through various sticky notes and complete the scene so that a small homebound frog can find its way back to its pond. Again, simple, yet surprisingly effective.

Frankly, there isn’t much for you to fret about in Walk The Frog, as the game mostly consists of finding the correct sticky note to attach to a scene. For example, if the frog stumbles upon a collapsed bridge, then you will need to source the correct note to add to the sequence, naturally. Likewise, if two sticky notes are in the wrong order, then you will need to swap them around so that the frog can progress through to the next area. But of course, you get the idea. With a stern eye for basic details and line work, you highlight the appropriate note that matches the scene, and you establish a complete picture.

Over the course of a rather short journey, Walk The Frog invites you to meet other animals around the pond. Along the way, you can aid their efforts to solve a puzzle, as well as use your note-prodding abilities to build scenes that will naturally lead to their success. To echo, none of these are fundamentally complex, nor are they designed to test your patience. There are no timers to keep track of your progress, and there are no drastic consequences for your lack of expertise. It’s simple puzzle solving at its finest, and it makes every attempt to spoon feed you that mantra as you slowly trickle through its world.

While Walk The Frog isn’t a mechanically complex game, it is a game that captures a lot of brilliant ideas. The puzzles might be a bit on the lighter side of the lily pad, and the general plot might be slightly more appealing to the younger player than the older, die-hard puzzle fanatic. That said, Walk The Frog is still an adorable game that proudly wears its heart on its sleeve, with a lovable host of weird and wonderful characters, a palpable plot, and a good variety of settings to compliment its amphibious diorama.

To be honest, Walk The Frog is a surprisingly easy game to sit down with and enjoy for a short while. Yes, it’s simple, and yes, it lacks the depth of a powerful springtime novella. Though, for what it does bring to the table, it makes for an incredibly charming entry-level puzzler with a wholesome story, to boot. It might not appeal to the casual puzzle-fumbling spectator, but to those who enjoy the little things—the intuitive drag-and-drop mechanics, the lovable characters, and the plot that befits a hearty children’s book—it’s a real joy to watch unfold for the short period that it sticks around on the bulletin board.

With all of the above said, it’s best not to expect a perfect game here. A niche game with lots of quirky and charming elements, yes, but not so much a universal game that could easily compel those beyond the target demographic. For a light puzzle game that doesn’t demand much of you other than a slither of time and skill, however, it ought to fit well into any fan of the genre’s collection. Amphibian lovers, too — but that’s a given.

Verdict

Walk The Frog makes for an effortlessly charming stick-and-strafe puzzler that can and will keep you hopping along the waterline for the long haul, with a host of lovable sketchbook characters and an intuitive jigsaw-like system to keep you company whilst you whittle through its amphibious tale. Again, it might not boast much of a challenge, let alone a great feat that can only be accomplished through skillful work and dedication. But, I can certainly spot an inviting indie when I see one, and honestly, Walk The Frog is one that I can’t help but put in a frame here.

It might be relatively short, and it might not offer a lot more than a bouquet of sticky notes for you to ponder and shuffle, but Walk The Frog is definitely a game that you’ll want to take a chance on, doubly so if you’re an avid fan of cutesy puzzlers that don’t require much effort to solve.