game reviews | frog detective #1: the haunted island

the dirty little details

You're a detective, and a frog, and it's time to solve a mystery.

game title: frog detective #1: the haunted island
developed by: grace bruxner and thomas bowker
published by: worm club
release date: november 2018
genre: short, simple, point-and-click, adventure, mystery
platform(s): steam
player(s): single-player
my total playtime: 70 mins
for fans of: ooblets, lil gator game, phogs
watch the game trailer over here :)

the vibe check

• chill
• silly
• family-friendly
• short

game features

• ​cute characters
• exploration
• achievements
• a dance competition??

what I enjoyed

• ​dialogue that made me genuinely laugh out loud
• taking so many good reaction image screengrabs because the dialogue was so funny and fantastic
• simple, childish art style
• the snazzy, jazzy tunes
• I loved looking at everyone's faces through the magnifying glass LOL
• the characters!!! my personal faves were Mystery Monkey and Supervisor the penguin

what I didn't enjoy

• I wish there had been more incentive to actually use the magnifying glass besides just goofing around with it for fun

my game rating (1 star per criteria met): ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

#1 | did I genuinely enjoy playing this game? yes.

even though the "puzzles" were all easy fetch quests, I still loved talking to all of the characters and exhausting all of the dialogue options.

#2 | was the story memorable or the game concept unique in some way? ​no.

honestly, the characters were the stars of the show here. that being said, I think you could take this cast of goofy characters and throw them into any story regardless of how in-depth it is and it would be a fun time.

#3 | did I feel immersed in the game world? ​yes. 

the world was restricted to a small island in the middle of the water but despite both the world and the art style being so minimal, there was a shocking amount of detail sprinkled around the island! I loved the goofy little faces on the starfish and bugs around the island and laughed out loud at one of the little easter eggs I found while looking around. the jazzy tunes also really helped to set the noir mood.

#4 | did the characters make me feel some type of way? ​yes.

there is a surprisingly large cast of characters crammed into this tiny game and I feel like nearly all of them had distinct, memorable personalities that really stood out despite only interacting with them for maybe 5-10 minutes each.

​the character dialogue and animation was so silly that I found myself laughing out loud over and over again throughout the entire game. I also took SO MANY screen grabs of funny reaction images that I may or may not be spamming my friends with every since I finished this game.

#5 | was there enough content to justify the price? ​yes.

over on steam this game is priced at $4.99 and Frog Detective #1 took me 70 minutes to complete. ten minutes of my play time was likely from me pausing to take screenshots every so often. personally, I'd wait for a steam sale and buy all three of the Frog Detective games as a bundle for super cheap but overall, I feel that the original price is still worth the experience!

if you've played frog detective #1: the haunted island, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the game in the comments down below. if this game sounded interesting to you, please consider supporting the game developer(s) and wishlisting the game on steam.

happy gaming everyone :)