Tap the Frog HD
- Created by Playmous Inc.
- Originally $0.99
- Mix of various mini-games, collect enough stars to advance to a new game.
- Reviewed on an ASUS Nexus 7 (2012, 1.2 GHz, 1GB RAM)
The mini-game frenzy starts with a cute video of two frogs making noises, than jumps right into a game selection screen. You'd have no idea what the hell is going on unless you read the product description beforehand. Apparently he's trying to impress the purple female frog by becoming a "Frog Prince." Cool.
After the useless video, you finally reach the title screen where you begin the game. There's already multiple levels available right off the bat, and many more games will be available when enough stars are collected.
There's a specific amount of items you need to pop, collect, or reach a certain distance for each ranking of stars. Up to five stars can be collected in each game. Mini-games vary from just tapping the frogs on the screen, changing their color so they're uniform, collecting bubbles as they fly up in the sky, selecting the correct asteroids in their numbered order, etc. Each game gives you 20 seconds to complete, and there's plenty of ways to add time in each game.
The simple design of the games makes them incredibly attractive and replayable. Every game is polished and extremely balanced. None of the mini-games are too strenuous or difficult that makes anyone throw their phone or tablet out the window, but each of them have enough challenge to keep players coming back to collect all five stars.
Well-added was the addition of an item -- clocks. Players start out with 15 clocks, and once the mini-game ends, they have the option to select the clock to add five seconds. Sometimes it doesn't make sense to add time -- the game doesn't give you partial credit. Once you reach a certain level that you need for a star, it will give you that many stars at the end. Anything gained additionally that doesn't complete a star won't be credited.
But the reason why these clocks are so essential is that it gives players the incentive that they can complete the game. Just five more seconds -- that's enough to get the next star or get all five stars right? Sometimes it works, and sometimes it can backfire. That's the beauty of it.
There's enough clocks for a seasoned mini-gamer to get through without needing to buy more. Plus, every time a player goes up a level, three more clocks are awarded to the stash.
Some drawbacks include how short the game is. It's not too hard to power through all the mini-games in less than an hour, and there's the additional of a completely wasteful two-player game that just has players tap on the screen to push the opposing frog off the platform. The creator does promise more games later.
How'd it run? It crashed once on my Nexus, but it was right after a mini-game that was completed. Nothing was lost, the game still recorded my progress from that game. Other than that, the game ran flawlessly.
Play or pass? Absolutely play. It's a pretty fun and charming game for those that want a little break from their day. It's polish and cute design and music is enough to give it a whirl, and some games are addictive enough to come back to. It's short, but for something that's free, or even just under a buck that don't get it as a FAOTD, it's pretty fantastic.
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