Operation Backlog Completion 2025
May 102024
 

In 2022, we discussed The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game, a silly little adventure game about a frog detective solving a mystery.

A few months later, our first mystery game celebration included a look at Frog Detective 2: The Case of the Invisible Wizard, which was a bit longer and more grounded, but still another wacky adventure.

Now it’s finally time to talk about Frog Detective 3: Corruption at Cowboy County.

In this third entry in the series, Frog Detective goes to Cowboy County to help Lobster Cop with a new case. Like its predecessors, it’s a simple adventure game where you’ll talk to characters, learn their requests, and then solve other characters’ requests to get what you need to help them. It’s an easy, straightforward formula without too much challenge, but it works.

Oh, and this time you get a scooter to get around town faster.

The humor is quite goofy as always, but there’s actually a bit more of a narrative thread this time. For as silly as these games are, I actually got excited to see how things would progress. This is the longest Frog Detective game so far, taking me an hour and a half to complete.

It’s a fun, lighthearted adventure game with plenty of humor, although it lacks the extreme absurdity of the first game. Still, if you enjoyed the first two, you’ll likely enjoy this one as well. Now, its store description calls it “the third and final game in the Frog Detective series.” That made me a bit disappointed at first, because I’d like to see this series continue. I’d love another Frog Detective game, or even a spin-off.

However, Frog Detective 3: Corruption at Cowboy County brings together loose ends from the previous two games and resolves things in way that feels fitting for a finale. If this is the end of the Frog Detective series, it’s a satisfying one.

May 162022
 

One of the first games we discussed this year was the first Frog Detective game, so our mystery game celebration wouldn’t be complete without Frog Detective 2: The Case of the Invisible Wizard.

Like its predecessor, Frog Detective 2 is a silly mystery filled with off-beat humor.

This time, the Frog Detective is sent to a small town to investigate who ruined the parade that was intended to welcome the town’s newest resident, an invisible wizard.

It’s a little longer than the first game, running closer to an hour, but it also felt more straightforward in its structure. Each character needs an item, so you help one to get the item another needs, and so on, until you’ve helped everyone and reached the truth. That’s essentially the same as in the first game, but there’s a clear order to follow this time.

(On the other hand, there are some achievements that require you to experiment a bit.)

You also have a notebook now, in which you record clues and other “important” details, often to humorous effect. The dialogue is goofy and fun, if slightly more grounded this time. Slightly. It’s an amusing way to spend an hour.

Overall, if you enjoyed the first Frog Detective game, you’ll probably like Frog Detective 2 as well. A third game is planned for this year, so I’ll be looking forward to that.

And remember, May is Mystery Game Madness month, so you have a chance to win games and other great prizes by participating in this year’s contest!

Jan 102022
 

Near the end of 2021, I ended up playing a couple of short games to meet my goal for the year.

One of these was The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game, which I got along with its sequel in a bundle.

The Haunted Island is very short. It took me 37 minutes to beat.

It’s also very silly. This is not the sort of game that takes itself seriously at all.

You play a frog detective who is called in to investigate an island that might be haunted. Several animals are on the island, and you’ll need to talk to them to get more information and the items you need to continue. It has a fairly simple adventure game structure – you need an item from a character who wants a different item, so you help someone else to get that item and give it to them.

Most of this revolves around the four items you need to make explosives: toothpaste, wool, gold, and pasta.

Yes, that is the level of ridiculousness you’ll find here. The dialogue is wacky, and it generally just has an absurd atmosphere throughout its entire short run.

It might not have a deep mystery to solve or any serious levels of drama, but I went into The Haunted Island, a Frog Detective Game looking for something silly and funny, and that’s exactly what I got.