Tap The Frog is a collection of six mini-games that are designed to test your reflexes and powers of observation. The Windows Phone game is nicely animated and full of challenges that will not only test your reflexes but also your powers of observation.
Tap The Frog has likeable graphics, gaming achievements, and an online leaderboard. The game has its appeal and has a slight addictive quality. Tap The Frog is a fun game for short bits of time but it can be somewhat nerve racking as well.
Tap The Frog Main Menu
The main menu for Tap The Frog offers you access to the online leaderboard and gaming achievements, a link to the game’s Facebook page, and access to the game’s settings. Settings cover language support, sound/vibration on or off, developer credits, and a reset button to erase your gaming progress.
Tap The Frog Game Menu
When you are ready, tap the frog on the main menu to choose one of the six mini-games in the collection. In order of availability the games are:
- Pop the Frog
- Paint the Frog
- Launch the Frog
- Feed the Frog
- Treat the Frog
- Fight the Frog (two-player game)
Each game is progressively unlocked based on the number of stars you earn. You earn the stars based on your performance within each game. For example, to unlock the Launch the Frog game you will need to earn eight stars between the previous two games.
Pop the Frog Game
The games are designed to test you reflexes and to some extent, your powers of observation. The first game is Pop the Frog where are presented with a group of frogs where you have to tap each frog to make it disappear. You only have fifteen seconds to tap as many groups of frogs as possible. Some frogs have hats that require you to double or triple tap the frog before it will disappear. Once you've popped all the frogs in the group, bonus time will be awarded.
Paint the Frog is a game where you have to tap groups of frogs to change them to the same color. Each group has two colors of frogs and a tap will change the frog to the opposite color. You have fifteen seconds to tap all the frogs to the same color in as many groups as possible. Some groups only have a few frogs of a particular color, allowing you to match that particular group’s color in fewer taps and less time. As with Pop the Frog, bonus time is awarded after you successfully match the color in each group.
Paint the Frog Game
Launch the Frog takes a little different approach on things in that you still have to have super sonic reflexes but are called upon to tap groups of asteroids that are labeled with numbers. You have to tap the space rocks in ascending ordered based on those numbers. You get a little more time (twenty seconds) with this game and each completed group will earn you tad more bonus time.
Launch the Frog Game
When the clock strikes zero, you’ll have the option to spend one of your bonus clocks to add just a little more time to the clock and continue the game or end the game. You have five bonus clocks when you start Tap The Frog and as you unlock the additional games, you will earn additional bonus clocks.
With any of the games, the longer you last, the faster the pace.
At the end of each game, Tap The Frog presents you with a score summary that will display a point’s total, a star total (based on your score) and any achievements earned. If you have earned enough stars to unlock the next level, a little frog will parade across the bottom of the screen alerting you to that fact. I would like to offer a description of the other three mini-games but try as I might; my reflexes aren’t quick enough to earn enough stars.
Tap The Frog Scoring Summary
And that might be the draw to the game. Game play presents itself in such a simple fashion that you force yourself to try one more time to earn enough stars to see what the next mini-game is like. Next thing you know, you’ve been playing the game for fifteen minutes.
Now for the downside to things with Tap The Frog. Tap The Frog is a free game but only allows you to play the first two games. You will need to upgrade to Tap The Frog Pro ($.99 and found here) to unlock the additional games but when you do, any stars collected in the free version are lost. Hopefully this is a glitch in the programming because it kinda sucks to spend the time to earn the stars in the free version only to lose them when you upgrade.
None of this is mentioned in the Store description and until this can be fixed, I would consider the free version of Tap The Frog as a trial version. I wouldn't invest a lot of time earning stars with the free version of Tap The Frog, and if you like the game, go ahead and make the jump to the Pro version and then start collecting stars.
Overall, while at times painfully challenging due to the pace of the game, Tap The Frog is a well-drawn up game for our Windows Phone. Game play is simple but challenging, the graphics are good and Tap The Frog is a fun game to pass the time with.
Update: The game has been pulled from the Windows Phone Store. Apparently there is a copyright issue present with the developer Playfo holding the rights to the game. We have been informed by Playfo that an official Tap The Frog game will be heading to the Windows Phone platform soon. Should more information become available we will update things accordingly.