Bonnie Bear Saves Frogtime from Bonte Avond and offbrand games is an adventure about a bear wearing a frog onesie who loves tactical battler Frogtime. Learn more in our Bonnie Bear Saves Frogtime review!
Bonnie Bear Saves Frogtime from Bonte Avond and offbrand games is an adventure about a bear wearing a frog onesie who loves tactical battler Frogtime. You’ll be placed in the role of the titular Bonnie Bear, and your journey will begin on your Bearday as you and your friends prepare for an epic session of Frogtime. Everyone has their own frogs and bags, and your friends are more than ready to show no mercy during combat. It was all fun and games until Rik Spek, the local bully, pops up. He decides that he should eat your cake, and, after challenging you to a special game of Frogtime, steals your present as his reward! Your only option? To defeat a Rik in a new game of Frogtime to recover your present! You can’t battle Rik right away and will first defeat other members of his group. But in order to do that, you’ll also need to play Frogtime against others who will then help you carry on with your mission.
I previously had a chance to review Once Upon a Jester, a theatrical, musical adventure about two best friends planning a royal heist on Nintendo Switch back in 2022, an adventure that I enjoyed on Nintendo’s console, so I was definitely up for seeing what indie studio Bonte Avond set out to do with Bonnie Bear Saves Frogtime.
When taking control of the main character, you’ll be using the left analog stick or the D-Pad to walk around each area, running while moving by pressing the B button as needed. Press the A button to interact with points of interest, items, or other characters. You don’t always need to interact with other characters to learn new information, since you can walk to others who are already mid-conversation and listen to what they’re saying.
How is Frogtime played? You’ll first need to select a starting row for your frog. Once that’s been taken care of, the frog will be able to move one tile in any direction, including diagonally. Some frogs will be able to hop over other frogs. If your frog manages to reach your opponent’s side, then it will deal some damage. The same goes for your opponent’s frogs reaching your side of the playing field, so you’ll need to be ready to protect yourself before launching a counterattack! All frogs from each player must be moved once before their actions are reset for the next turn. When you move a frog, your opponent also moves a frog at the same time. This does mean it’s possible that both frogs jump at the same time toward the same spot, thus canceling each other.
Frop placement is key, because if you leave any empty spots that allow a frog to perform multiple leaps in a row, you’ll quickly be doomed! That frog bag that you got for your Bearday? It will include the following frogs: two regular Jumpers, one more powerful Jumper, and a Pusher. The Jumper can hop over other frogs. The Pusher can hop over frogs and then lick and push the next frog after moving, be that a frog from its own team or from the opponent’s. Each one can deal one point of damage, except for the more powerful Jumper, which can deal two points of damage. If you ever forget what each frog type does, just press the X button, and the game will kindly display said valuable information.
Bonnie Bear Saves Frogtime is an adventure about a bear wearing a frog onesie who loves tactical battler Frogtime. You’ll be placed in the role of the titular Bonnie Bear, and your journey will begin on your Bearday as you and your friends prepare for an epic session of Frogtime. Everyone has their own frogs and bags, and your friends are more than ready to show no mercy during combat. It was all fun and games until Rik Spek, the local bully, pops up. He decides that he should eat your cake, and, after challenging you to a special game of Frogtime, steals your present as his reward! Your only option? To defeat a Rik in a new game of Frogtime to recover your present!
You can’t battle Rik right away and will first defeat other members of his group. But in order to do that, you’ll also need to play Frogtime against others who will then help you carry on with your mission. Earn enough Cocoduds and trade them at Sharky’s for Booster Eggs in order to get your hands on some better frogs, and you’ll be one step closer toward recovering your present! You could, for example, get a Plunger for your frog bag. This particular frog can hop over other frogs and charge up after moving. Once it’s charged up 3 times, it will dash for a single tile, which could be very useful for getting it across the playing field more quickly so that you can make the most of the two points of damage it can deal.
This release also features an in-game achievement system for you to consider if you’re the type of gamer who likes to 100% games. Some of the objectives you’ll need to complete include winning 5, 15, and 30 Frogtime battles, singing a song with a ghost, frogpicking 5 and 10 chests, collecting at least 50 different frogs, reaching selfworth level 10, and finding a colossus frog, to name some examples.
As was the case for Once Upon a Jester from indie studio Bonte Avond, this new release features voice acting in English, which helps to bring each of its many characters to life. Bonnie Bear Saves Frogtime is out on Nintendo Switch with a $16.99 price tag, and it’s definitely one you should check out!
Disclaimer
This Bonnie Bear Saves Frogtime review is based on a Nintendo Switch copy provided by offbrand games.
