Wireframe - #33 - 2020

Early Access

Attract Mode

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FROG CHORUS

Given Norman’s background

as a musician, it’s only fitting

that rhythm and timing will be

key to A Frog’s Tale’s combat

system. It’s an idea he first

came up with while playing

Mario & Luigi on the Game

Boy Advance, he tells us.

“When I was playing it, it

didn’t seem like there was a

clear indication of when to

press the button. You’d get,

‘Good’, ‘Great’, ‘Wonderful’,

or whatever, but there was

no clear thing that tells you

to hit the buttons to get the

perfect timing. I wanted to

press those buttons to the

beat of the music. But when

I did, I didn’t get very good

timings. It seemed natural

to me to do that. The battle

music is really good, and

you’re already tapping your

music to the beat of it. So

it seems logical if an attack

lands right on the beat when

you’re jamming with the

music anyway.”

look really cute, but they’re going through some
serious stuff. At the end of the day, I hope the
stories can really connect with people that have
gone through something similar.”
A Frog’s Tale, then, has formed part of
Norman’s natural grieving process, he tells us:
a means of processing the sudden loss of a
loved one, and turning that difficult experience
into something universal. “Maybe the game can
bring comfort to those who are having a hard
time with loss, like I was,” Norman says. “It’s
not an easy thing to go
through. What happens
in the game is what I
hope happens in real life

• it’s my optimistic look
  on death, and learning
  to accept it and find closure when it wasn’t
  something possible to get yourself. The main
  character struggles a lot with that in the game,
  but learns to accept it. I think it wraps up in a
  really nice way.”
  Far from a melancholy game, A Frog’s Tale will
  explore its emotional themes with the lightness
  of touch you might expect from a homage to
  16-bit JRPGs and adventures. As well as Zelda,
  the game’s role-playing elements will draw
  from the likes of Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi,
  while the battles will take the form of rhythm-
  action minigames (see box). The game still
  has a long road ahead of it, as Norman hopes

to use the playable demo he’s working on to

either attract a publisher or form the basis of a

Kickstarter campaign. But the online response

to A Frog’s Tale has already been positive, and

while Norman’s never headed up a project of

this scale before, he’s

clearly determined

to see it through to

completion. “I want to

make a name for myself

in this industry, and

make something special – even if it is my first

game,” Norman says. “It’s not impossible as long

as you find the right people to help you with it.

That’s the important thing as well – you can’t do

everything yourself. You need help. You need

friends. So that’s what I’ve been focusing on –

finding the right friends to make this the best

game it can be.”

Early Access

Attract Mode

“The characters look cute,

but they’re going through

some serious stuff”

 A Frog’s Tale is being built in Unity, albeit

with some custom frameworks to handle

the 2D graphics and rhythm-based battles.

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 If you want an idea of how A Frog’s Tale

will sound, you can check out some of

Norman’s music at wfmag.cc/frogtale.

 We’re most intrigued by the

character journeys Norman

describes: “Their flaws can

mostly be traced back to their

relationships with their

parents,” he tells us.

 At this stage, A Frog’s Tale’s sprite design is clearly a big

draw. “It took me a long time to find artists who fit the

vibe I was going for,” Norman says.