FROG DETECTIVE: THE
HAUNTED ISLAND.
DEVELOPERGRACE BRUXNER, THOMAS BOWKER • PRICE$6.50
http://frogdetective.net/
QFrog Detective is like emptying a toybox onto
the floor and then playing “pretend” with the
world’s driest, wittiest children. That’s the only
way I can describe it. I mean, there’s a koala
who’s been floating in the sea for two weeks
and you ask them if their feet are crinkly. They
want a magnet so that they can catch a ride on
a passing boat, but you really just need them to
swap a magnet for their shell. Because another
character needs the shell. And everyone needs
something they don’t have but will give you
something else, with the eventual aim of
making dynamite.
It’s definitely an adventure game. And satire.
If you’re familiar with the genre, you’ll know
how spurious all of the reasons for finding
new items can get. Frog Detective doesn’t
even try to pretend there’s a good reason
for doing anything, it just explores the art of
conversation. Why are you giving the broom
to the ghost-hunting sheep so that they’ll give
you wool? I honestly can’t remember, but I’m
still laughing about the fact that the sheep is
grossed out by other animals wearing wool.
And the sheep is wearing a jacket made ofanother sheep’s wool!
Frog Detective delivers what it promises;
a short (about 40 minutes long) mystery, set
to engaging jazz, and with silly animations. It
does have an ending, I promise; an adventure
game cliche ending, even. And you get a
magnifying glass with which to magnify things,
and that’s literally all it does...Unless I missed
something. Somehow, I only got three out of
six achievements. Personally, I’m hoping this is
the first of a few episodes. I loved it. It’s one for
adventure fans who don’t take themselves too
seriously, or to play with the kids if the toybox
has gotten boring.INFLICTION
DEVELOPERCAUSTIC REALITY• PRICE$25
https://www.causticreality.com/
QAt PAX Australia last year, I had an assistant
for the first time; Rob Hart. It was great. He
followed me around the indie section taking
notes and played Infliction in VR while I
chatted with the designer. After a particularly
bad jump scare, however, Rob disappeared
for the rest of the afternoon, so it was with
no small amount of trepidation that I booted
up this game for review. Scary movies
don’t bother me too much, but the active
engagement required to walk forwards into
danger yourself, is more compelling. Like
investigating a weird noise in the
kitchen at 2am.
If you’d prefer not to be told a story about
domestic violence, in which the consequences
for heinous crimes is enigmatic, you may
want to give this a miss. Otherwise, Infliction
provides a detailed, classic, horror scenario, in
which you explore, much like in Gone Home,
examining objects and piecing together a string
of nonlinear events. I particularly liked the
changes made to the house in different time
periods. There was a painting of a man
guzzling wine. One time, it was hung,
prominently, in a hallway. Another time, it was
stashed in the basement.
Items that will help you progress glow, so
you can find them. Most memories are voiced,
which is an evocative touch. And there were
moments that reminded me of how Ultima
VII’s Guardian gave me nightmares. I dolike an enigmatic narrative but I’m not sure I
understood everything that happened. The
sound design reminded me of the sound in
Duskers, too. You know something is close by,
at which point you can hide, flick on a light,
flash with the camera, or die. If Infliction
seems like your thing, just play during
daylight hours.RELEASEDRELEASEDINDIESW