Froggy Hates Snow

Winter is a harsh time in the animal kingdom, facing the elements head-on. Whereas we humans can stay in homes and have the heating on … well, not so much as before. Frogs are one of many denizens of nature that burrow deep into the Earth and hide away until the days become longer and warmer (Nice). But maybe some frogs don’t have that luxury and instead must face the extremities of the cold. Well, we’re about to get an insightful insight into the life of a brave frog facing the cold head on, with only a scarf, jacket, their trusty tongue to pick up resources, and of course a flamethrower.

I’m reviewing, Froggy Hates Snow!


Dig’em

In a frozen wasteland is an honest Frog, huddling within a bubble of warmth as snow, as tall as a house sits around them. Froggy has had enough, and it’s time to dig your way out of this frozen hellhole in this survival roguelike. Players will dig through freezing snow to create pathways, uncover treasures, and most importantly, find an exit out of the cold.

Froggy always starts in a small bubble of warmth and safety (hilariously made warm with an electric heater!), but Froggy can’t stay in there forever. Players battle the elements and mystical creatures while keeping warm and finding useful upgrades to escape.

The setup is simple and effective, and while there is little in terms of story, there are plenty of neat environmental storytelling. It’s not as deep as the snow you have to dig through, but each zone has its own interesting theme and quirks. But the depth comes from the roguelike gameplay rather than a frog-themed narrative.

You start in a bubble, with low stats, and have to slowly dig your way through the frozen landscape. As you dig, you will find an assortment of resources that you can gather and bring back to the bubble to upgrade your stats, such as warmth, health, and digging power. Upgrading your stats will ensure a better rate of survival, and what starts as a slow crawl through an icy terrain becomes a much more joyous venture of discovery.

As you can dig further, and stay warmer longer, you can go further and have a better chance of discovering more resources, treasures, upgrades, and oddities that need dealing with. From shovels to TNT to flamethrowers, useful tools are abundant, and skills you unlock and obtain that diversify how you tackle the snow. And digging is not the only thing you’ll be doing, as there is an option for combat/enemies to be present in the game.

So, you dig, gather, upgrade, flamethrower, fight, and survive until you find the magical door home. It’s a simple yet highly satisfying gameplay loop, made all the more engaging through a series of unlocks and characters.


A frog with a flamethrower

There are two sides of this froggy coin: the survival gameplay and the combat, and both scenarios are fun to play for their own reasons.

You can go about surviving in the wasteland without the fear of combat, ensuring you can keep warm, gather enough resources to upgrade your stats, and find the keys you need to unlock treasure chests and the door home. If you’re not in the mood for combat, then you can just go about and survive in the snow. The gameplay loop is sufficient without combat, as zones are quite large enough that you’ll likely be digging between 30 and 40 minutes at a time, if you’re looking to do a 100% run in each zone. And the loop does stay fresh with the number of skills and perks you unlock, including penguin helpers, skis, and a helpful owl that acts as a spotter for resources.

As I said, it can be a slow start, especially since Frog is never that strong to begin with. And it might be me, but I always aimed to upgrade my digging, since there are zones where the snow is much denser, and you have no chance to dig through. Upgrading other stats rather than digging can result in a soft lock, pretty much. And I always felt that I took priority of certain gear over much of what was ever on offer. Between a cart, gloves, and a flamethrower…. The answer is obvious. And without certain tools such as the shovel, digging can become incredibly tedious, especially in the last stretch when you’re finding those important keys to the exit.

The combat does spice things up, but the core survival stuff is thrilling enough to keep you invested. I loved the burn of gathering resources, upgrading, and that RNG in finding those critical resources and items that made digging much easier and fun. It’s a rather chill game, and there’s a pleasant rhythm that made me super relaxed at times, usually where I would spend a couple of hours just digging and clearing the entire area.

We also get some light puzzle elements with the strange safes that appear throughout the map, and have to figure out how to open them. Be it finding buttons in the snow, staying in a dangerous area for a set time, or clearing snow. These are nice icebreakers, and honestly, I would’ve loved more of these events. But the combat (if active) does fill in these gaps.

It is repetitive for sure, but the amount of unlocks, new elements, and characters you obtain through playing does mean there are some layers and replay value overall. But there are also some tedious aspects, especially when finding those all-important keys, in the last bit of snow that’s easy to miss.


It is a cold Wednesday … my frozen dudes

Combat does play a large part in the full Froggy Hates Snow experience, and it’s quite a ball buster I will say. Combat is more of a randomly plotted affair as you dig around, with a countdown displaying when the next enemy wave will appear. You reach the end of the countdown, and you become trapped within a small area, fighting for your life.

Now, much like a general run, I found combat to be quite sluggish and tedious to begin with, without having some of the better unlocks and skills. And quite frankly, I would focus on chilled, more explorational-focused runs to help unlock some key items/weapons. Since the froggy tongue roll is just quite lame. There is a slow buildup at first, and the forced nature of combat can seem quite frustrating for sure, but I understand why it is done this way.

As I said, I did focus on exploration and unlocking skills/weapons, which balanced combat, since again, it’s a punishing experience. Especially when you have to contend with the snow, digging, survival, and the bloody cold!

But when combat clicks, despite the brutality, it’s quite entertaining. I loved using the flamethrower and other tricks to deal with the shadowy figures that emerged, and the sheer variety of the enemies was very impressive. Enemy waves feel well-paced, and bosses are a thing, too, for froggy to deal with.

Separated, each side of the gameplay loop is simple, yet satisfying, but together, it makes for a gripping and highly rewarding roguelike venture. At the same time, the tedious elements, slow progression for combat, and some bits of repetition don’t outweigh the sheer awesomeness of Froggy Hates Snow.


Overall?

Froggy Hates Snow is anything but cold-hearted, with a warm sense of joy and reward with its roguelike gameplay, which can be catered to your liking. While there are indeed slow moments, grind and repetition, there is also an immensely satisfying gameplay loop, where even digging through snow is incredibly fun. The charm of its characters, the weirdness of the dangerous world, the sense of progression and discovery all amount to a game that blends cosy vibes and challenging risk/reward gameplay with cute frog characters at the centre.

This gets a high recommendation from yours truly, and now you know that frogs do truly hate the snow!

++ Satisfying roguelike gameplay
++ Great sense of progression, and plenty of unlocks
+ You can have cosy or challenging playstyles

- Quite slow to begin with
- Combat takes time to grasp and be enjoyable
- The grind and key hunting can become tedious


The publisher kindly provided a PC review key for Froggy Hates Snow