PC Gamer - UK (2022-06)

Your main quest, and it’s a fairly
low-stakes one, is to gather various
bits from around the low-res
environment. We’re talking
mushrooms, herbs, bones, and a
magic crystal, if you can find one.
These items are dotted
around the couple-
dozen screens that
comprise the game,
leading you subtly to
the many denizens that
call it home, be they
human, animal,
skeleton, or ghost.
There’s the
shepherd whose sheep have
wandered off, the vet helping
wounded animals, and the lighting
fanatic who wants you to illuminate
every lantern you come across. It
took quite a bit of work to pass an
underground barrier, but my reward
(aside from one tiny item) was an

enjoyable chinwag with a massive

skeleton. I consider it effort well

spent. With just some well-placed

pixels and a few lines of charming

text, these are memorable, friendly

characters who contribute greatly to

the cosy atmosphere –

and who you’ll be

happy to go and fetch

items for.

FROG FRACTIONS

I completed the game

almost without

realising it, by which I

mean I found

everything, grabbing every item and

wrapping up every quest. I can’t

remember the last time I did that in a

game, even if I initially wanted to

• most games simply outstay their
  welcome. Frog Familiar’s world feels
  almost as intricate as one of the early
  Zelda games, but it achieves this in

miniature. Over the course of about

an hour, you’ll go from a humble,

hoppy frog to being at one with the

forest, via a bunch of tools that will

unlock pathways and let you hoover

up every last collectable item.

The shears will let you shave

every sheep, while the shovel will let

you dig up graves. Thankfully, none

of the ghosts seem to mind this

desecration. There are coins to pay

the ferryman, and honey for...

someone who likes honey. It might

sound like too much – too much for

an hour’s worth of game, perhaps

• but any less could make this feel
  unsatisfying. It could make the forest
  seem small, when I look back on it
  now as a big and populated space.
  I really was taken back to the old
  Zelda games, only without those
  enemies and dungeons to pad things
  out. Frog Familiar condenses that
  experience down into something you
  can finish over a lunch hour.

82

FrogFamiliaris a cosy,

Zelda-esque adventure

that’sno less satisfying

for being a fraction of

the size.

VERDICT

T

here’s a realm between spooky and cosy that Frog Familiar
has carved a comfy little nook in. In this top-down adventure
game, you play as a witch’s amphibian familiar, who has to
hop around a compact forest in search of ingredients. Imagine
The Legend of Zelda, but un-imagine the combat and
dungeons, and you’ll know what you’re in store for: a game of exploration
and running errands for the charming forest folk.

HOP TO IT

Will the cosy FROG FAMILIAR put a spell on you?

The world feels

almost as

intricate as one

of the early

Zelda games

NEED TO KNOW

WHAT IS IT?

A top-down adventure

game where you play as

a cute little frog

EXPECT TO PAY

Free

DEVELOPER

dotmoon

PUBLISHER

In-house

REVIEWED ON

Intel Core i7-10750H,

16GB RAM, GeForce

RTX 2060

MULTIPLAYER

No

LINK

bit.ly/FrogFamiliar

88

COOL TITLES FOR NO CASH by Tom Sykes

FREE GAMES REVIEWS

There are four

witches, each with the

own animal familiar.

BELOW: (^) The pixel art is starkly low-res,
but full of character.