Ophelia Payne

Just look at that image. There is no way you can look at that adorable froggy with his penguin friend and tiny wagon and not smile. I was disarmed immediately. This was sure to be a cozy, lovely game about friendship and our mutual hate of snow, right? Well, partially right. 

Developed by Crying Brick, Froggy Hates Snow is a cozy survival game. Is that a genre? Well, it is now. But cozy in looks alone. You play as an adorable frog, bundled up and determined to survive (and escape) the snow and cold around him. While cute and cozy in its appearance, this game can be demanding and sometimes brutal. This solo-crafted roguelite leans into the ‘one more run’ survival structure that I have come to both love and hate. I hate dying, but love learning something new with each run. Determined to do better the next time.

Now, I’ll get this part out of the way. I say ‘sometimes’ because there are multiple difficulty modes allowing for a less stress-free and calm experience, as well as a setting to test your skills and patience.

Your primary mechanic in Froggy Hates Snow is digging, lots and lots of digging. I am not sure this is a mechanic I’ve seen before in roguelites. You are not just moving through a map; you are digging your own paths to discover the map and move through it. You start in the warm bubble of your home. You are safe here while everything outside is a thick layer of snow. As you dig through the snow, you will uncover traps, gems and other secrets. As you move through the snow, you will lose body heat, meaning you must return to your bubble to warm up and drop off your treasures collected.

You will use the variety of gems you discover, as well as ‘DNA’ shaped bubbles you find to open and upgrade your skills. These upgrade skills include better ways to remove snow, like a shovel or even a blow torch!! The blowtorch made me ridiculously happy. You can get a wagon or penguins to help transport more treasure to your home, skis to help you traverse faster, or even a scarf to keep you warmer longer. There are also weapon upgrades for battles or blowing up ice you encounter. Like other games in this genre, once you earn permanent skills by completing tasks, you will find them at the start of each run. This means for each run, you decide what skills you want to start with.

There are also other versions of Froggy to unlock. Each with their own starting skills. Additional maps to open too.

The push and pull you feel in this game is real. Do you push a little further when you see a rare treasure, even though you are cold? Do you risk running into a trap or enemy? Or do you return to your safe, warm bubble, potentially missing out on something exciting and helpful?

If you play on the most casual of modes, there are no enemies, but in the other difficulties, you will encounter them. Some will hunt you; others will wait in silence for you to trigger them.  There are also anomalies you will encounter where you will navigate danger and stronger enemies to get to a treasure in the center.

Each run is different; the enemies are never the same, nor in the same place on the map. Combat is never about standing and fighting, though; it’s about how to manipulate your environment under pressure and save yourself. You can collapse snowbanks and tunnels, or use the bombs and flamethrower mentioned earlier (if you managed to open them).  Each run completes after the final enemy wave or after finding all the keys to unlock an escape door (if playing on peaceful).

Admittedly, I have spent most of my time playing in the peaceful mode. I generally choose games that don’t stress me out. This allowed me to stay in each run longer, enjoying my time hanging out with my penguin buddies, too. There is a lot of personality in this game. Generally, it seems like devs add an ‘easy’ mode at the end, and it often feels like that. Tacked on just because. I didn’t feel this way about Froggy Hates Snow. It was added with care, and it was a full and complete experience in itself. Bravo to Crying Brick for this.

When you play on one of the ‘standard’ modes, there is an obvious contrast between the harsh survival experience you are going through and the adorable allies. You can’t help but smile looking at them, despite the shared conditions.

While this game may not appeal to someone looking for a more complex combat experience, I loved the cute aesthetic and the peaceful mode. I loved hanging with Froggy and find myself popping back in for a round from time to time. Froggy Hates Snow is something unique among the roguelites I have played in past and has truly carved out a niche for itself.

Until next time…be good to yourself and be good to each other.

**Special Thanks to Digital Bandidos and Press Engine for the review code**

Reviewed on XBOX Series X