Game Review: Frog Detective - The Entire Mystery

Developed by a pair of independent Australian video game developers by the name of Grace Bruxner and Thomas Bowker; Frog Detective is a mystery/investigation series in which you play the titular frog on a collection of cases to solve. His cases will take him on three separate adventures in which he has to interact with a cast of anthropomorphic animals in an attempt to solve the mysteries that have befallen their local communities.  The core appeal behind this series appears to be its simplistic art style which helps give it a unique impression, alongside this is also the notably humorous and self-aware writing behind the dialogue.  While each case was individually released across 2018, 2019 and 2022, the series was compiled into a complete collection edition in 2023 which I picked up and played on Xbox Game Pass.

The first case in the collection is titled The Case of the Haunted Island.  Frog Detective is given a case by his supervisor in which residents of a local tropical island are claiming to hear a mysterious ghostly voice emanating from the island’s local cave. Equipped with his trusty magnifying glass, Frog Detective sets sail to the Haunted Island and interviews its local residents.  The owner of the island is known as Martin, he is a sloth with a known obsession for gold.  He has allowed a group of scientists to come to the island to do their own research on the supposed ghost.  Frog Detective soon learns the only way to solve the case is to venture into the cave himself and find the source of the ghostly noises.  To do this, Frog Detective will have to assist the local residents with their personal needs to obtain key items that will help in acquiring a bomb to blow the entrance of cave and head on in.

The second case is called The Case of the Invisible Wizard. In this case, Frog Detective is once again given a case by his supervisor to visit Warlock Woods.  Within the woods is a small town which was in the midst of preparing to throw a welcome parade for their newest resident, an invisible wizard.  Before festivities could be initiated however, a mysterious vandal destroys the decorations and leaves the town in disarray.  Frog Detective’s arrival to the town comes with an important task, mingle with the local townsfolk and determine who was behind the barbaric vandalism before they can strike again.

The third case is titled Corruption at Cowboy County. This case has Frog Detective’s supervisor ask the titular detective to venture out to the small western town of Cowboy County to aid his fellow detective Lobster Cop in a very peculiar case.  The residents of Cowboy County have reported that all of their hats have gone missing.  There’s no clear clue behind who or why these hats were taken, but Frog Detective is ready to don his figurative cap and solve the mystery that emanates from the heart of the desert town.

Each of the games three cases do a wonderful job in leaving a unique impression on many different levels.  Visually this game utilizes a notably distinct graphical style to help give it a unique sense. I think it was smart for Bruxner and Bowker to go this route from the visual end as it helps to mask the limitations they likely faced from a financial end.  I love how each character in this game is rendered to reinforce the games blocky style, yet they are all detailed enough to differ from one another and get across some semblance of a personality.

The games true strength comes from it’s writing though.  There’s never a single moment where the writing in this game doesn’t fail to impress me and make me chuckle.  Despite the limitations of its engine and gameplay scope, you can really tell Bruxner and Bowker laid deep into the written element of the game to really emphasise it’s potential.  Each of the three cases are constructed in a way that it is notably easy to pick up on the outcome, but you don’t care because it’s made fun through the course of the dialogue in each case. Each character and the way they exchange words with Frog Detective is incredibly realised through the self-referential humour that is embedded into it.

What lets the game down for me somewhat is the remainder of its lacking elements. The game’s actual gameplay features are limited to simply interacting with characters and obtaining items to exchange with other characters.  It’s odd that the game makes a big deal about Frog Detective’s trusty magnifying glass and offers functionality to use it, when there’s no actual opportunity provided through the three cases to benefit from it.  The latter two cases at least provide you a customizable notebook to track your notes and suspects down with, but it doesn’t do anything further with it despite allowing you to label characters as suspects; and even then, that doesn’t impact the case in any way.  The third case feels like the most fulfilling in terms of gameplay, simply on the basis that you’re given a scooter to use for navigation purposes.  I feel the game loses its appeal when you really consider how limited its gameplay functionality actually is.

On the whole, I would say that Frog Detective – The Entire Mystery is worth trying out despite is limitations. I think in spite of its gameplay pitfalls, the game more than makes up for it in the level of charm and humour it embeds into all of its remaining elements.  The length of the game’s total playtime makes it a fairly digestible experience too, so there’s no reason to dismiss it if you’re at the very least considering giving it a go. If you like your detective experiences, Frog Detective may not be the most hardcore representation of the genre, but it does just enough to give a unique spin to it that anyone can truly appreciate.