FROGGY HATES SNOW Review

Developed by CRYING BRICK and published by Digital Bandidos, FROGGY HATES SNOW is a survival roguelite title that invites players to embody various frogs and dig through snow to win the round! It has a total of 12 levels and 10 froggies to unlock, with dozens of upgrades to gather.

While FROGGY HATES SNOW's marketing focuses on the survival roguelite aspect, it glosses over one of its most charming and unique traits — one that makes it feel like two games in a trenchcoat: the peaceful mode. As someone who usually only plays games on Normal or higher difficulty settings, I nearly missed out on a big chunk of the gameplay. I will elaborate on this a little further later on, as I'd like to give it its own spotlight in the review; for now, let's talk about the main loop!

Every run begins with the selected playable character relaxing in a bubble of warmth and surrounded by a seemingly endless sea of white snow and blue ice. As players step out and clean around their base, they'll find Gems that they can bring back to upgrade their current loadout of skills.

All frogs share the same basic ones, which allow them to dig, walk, or gather faster, among other things, but they also have unique ones to set them apart. A great example is the first playable character, Froggy, who starts with the Map, which shows resources and the Scarf, which helps them retain heat longer.

Regardless of the character you choose, the gameplay loop is always the same: you start off in the little bubble and move outward across the map while looking for things under the snow. Areas are split by three different rings, and each new layer has tougher snow, which means you’ll need to upgrade abilities to get through it. 

While on paper it sounds a bit simple (and maybe even dull to some), FROGGY HATES SNOW keeps your attention through the constant bursts of materials, the waves of enemies that come every few minutes, and by engaging your focus with what abilities you’ll level up. The higher level they are, the more Gems (and colour variety) you’ll need, which means you’re back to the snow to look for more! 

By playing the frogs and earning experience, players can use Blue Gems (which are used only for meta upgrades) to level them up and unlock more options for their kit, from skills to combat. This is great because having to play them repeatedly allowed me to get a better grasp of their gameplay style and find out which ones I enjoyed the most.

There's a nice variety of frogs, as their stats and kits change. I was worried that I might end up obsessed with the ones that had fun skills, but CRYING BRICK thought ahead and added a menu where you can see all the abilities, unlock them, and even banish them if you don't want them showing up (though there’s a limit to how many you can do this to). This allowed me to play the frogs I liked the most while also not having to let go of the skills I thought were most fun!

Aside from Gems, players can find a variety of important things underneath the snow, such as Anomalous Zones. They ranged from staying inside a circle of hazards until the reward was ready to search around the area to find a code. I enjoyed these as they added a change of pace from fighting or digging, and there was a surprisingly large variety of them.

These challenges reward Blue Gems and Artifacts (these can be found in treasures, both big and small, too), which are used to modify your frog's stats. This can make the game easier, such as with additional speed, more carry weight, or even a revive! If you find enough of the same one, you can even upgrade them!

Lastly, players can uncover the Door, which will finish the run as a success. To open it, they will need to find five keys underneath the sea of snow, and from my various experiments, I found that there is usually one surplus! This means they can be used freely to open up the various small treasures, the Treasure Chest, and the exit without fear of running out (unless they don't find enough; always keep at least five if you plan to leave).

If players don't find the Door, the only other way to end the run successfully is to fight the 10 waves of enemies and the boss at the end. The combat works similarly to a survivor-like title if you choose to leave the attacks automatic, or just like a normal bullet hell if you want them to be manual.

While I did enjoy the variety of enemies and the automatic hits felt comfortable, it was still somewhat punishing due to the lack of invulnerability frames. As someone who plays a lot of action titles and has finished several FromSoftware games, I was basically unable to get used to having no i-frames. Even using Knox and Zippy, who I read have them, didn’t feel that much more comfortable. 

Eventually, the lack of invulnerability in the dodge made me want to try other difficulties... and I'm so grateful for that! FROGGY HATES SNOW has three options to pick from, and dropping down to Easy made the experience more enjoyable because missing dodges didn't add extra pressure, giving me more space to enjoy the combat, as well as being able to use Gems more freely. 

Still, after a while, I just wanted to focus on clearing the snow and using fun abilities, so I dropped it down to Peaceful, and I found something amazing: by removing combat, you can enjoy the second game hidden underneath the trenchcoat! CRYING BRICK put evident effort and thought behind Peaceful Mode, which made it a genuinely different and pleasant experience. Most titles just slap on a "no mobs" tag and move on: here, the entire experience rewires.

In this mode, you'll receive a new list of objectives: instead of needing to find the Door, beat the boss, and locate the Treasure Chest, you'll need to clear a certain amount of snow, find the Treasure Chest, and complete two Anomalous Zones. You can also enjoy it in Easy, Medium, or Hard, which will change things like how much damage you take from hazards and how tough the snow is. 

I didn't feel like I was playing a less polished version of the game when I changed the modes; I just felt like I had turned on the cosy switch. I was able to use my Gems on the various fun skills I wanted and not worry about the timer counting down for the next wave!

What made me even happier is that switching to peaceful mode prompted me to complete the worlds 100% with the new objectives. I loved having even more to do, especially as I could continue to farm for Blue Gems to upgrade the frogs and the Artifacts or unlock skills. 

FROGGY HATES SNOW is a unique experience that invites players to enjoy the game however they want. It offers a vast array of upgradeables and creative skills that make the gameplay even more fun! I loved my time with it, and I feel like CRYING BRICK did their best at offering an enjoyable experience for everyone, whether you want to jump into combat or just relax and clear snow.