The Blogtastic Blogfest That Is Getmeoutofthis.net!

Some people on Talking Time were talking about Tiny Tower, a game coming out, and they were like “I’m so excited and it will be good because it’s by the people who made Pocket Frogs.” That video looked good, and I had seen Pocket Frogs a lot on the iTunes store, and it cost nothing, so I gave it a download.

Holy shit, Pocket Frogs.

Pocket Frogs is basically frog-based Viva Pinata, only a bit more straightforward. You get frogs of different patterns. By breeding them, you create more frogs. You can breed two frogs together that you have tamed and are in your frog habitats, or you can go hunting for frogs in the Pond minigame and sex them up. New frogs are born, and you can mate them, or sell them for coins. You buy new habitats for your frogs, special breeds to play with, and decorations. As you breed more frogs, you level up, and unlock more complex frog types. You can play little minigames with your frogs to make them happy, if you want, and win prizes. Mostly, though, you’re trying to breed expensive frogs to sell for capital, and frogs to match up with daily challenges and so forth in the game.

The deal is that it’s microtransaction based. You can buy stamps to make items you buy or send to friends show up faster, or potions to make your frogs mature and be happy faster. If you don’t do that, everything takes a set amount of time to happen.

Personally, I love that you have to wait. It makes the game a very low time investment. I check on my frogs like once or twice a day to breed some new ones, make some money, and so forth, and then I don’t have to worry about it. Things don’t go bad if you don’t check in. There’s no punishment for playing slow. It actually kind of rewards you for it, because you aren’t pressed to spend money. It’s pretty fantastic in that way. It’s a complete game without spending tons of cash. I love that. That’s smart microtransaction design, and I appreciate it.

It’s free, and it can be a timesink if you really, really want to maximize the value on all your frogs. (I don’t.) But it’s really cute, and a great time without spending any money. I’m poetfox on Plus+. Friend me and send me a frog or something! I’m really enjoying it, and it really makes me look forward to Tiny Tower, to be sure.