PullFrog Review
accused of false marketing – a puzzle-platformer designed for the PICO-8 (a
“fantasy console” that imposes 8-bit-era limitations on its developers), the game puts
you in control of a lineage of Frogs (aptly named ‘frog’) and tasks you with pulling the
falling cactus blocks to survive.
Unabashedly inspired by TETRIS and PuyoPuyo, the green blocks of PullFrog
rain down one square at a time, giving players the opportunity to line them up to
clear rows by dragging them across, and destroying them one square at a time
after they land and dry up.
Every time three rows are cleared, you’re offered a reward : either an upgrade
to your jump or tongue length (did I mention that you’re licking the cacti to get them
moving?), or an illuminati-esque Eye. Collecting five Eyes gives you the chance to
“uncover the secret” promised by the game’s instructions, but little else.
Being designed for another era, the controls for PullFrog tend to be a bit finicky, with
as many deaths attributed to the game and the slow-down that occurs when the
Upgrade pop-up appears as my own mistakes. I also couldn’t help but feel like being
able to push the blocks would open up the game, especially with the great difficulty you
have with getting a block to either extreme of the screen.
As a result, at least one death is inevitable when starting out with the game, but the
often darkly-humourous quotes from the fallen frogs keep things light. The death counter
does stop keeping track at thirty (XXX), but I can guarantee my toll was in the hundreds
as of this review.
If you want to know what it feels like to be trapped in a TETRIS game as a cute frog,
PullFrog is available to download and play in your browser from
https://afk-mario.itch.io/pullfrog.
This game was featured at FrogCon 2021 alongside other ambitious amphibian
endeavours and has a sequel for the PlayDate in development as of the writing of this
review in late 2021.
