Introduction

Froggy Boogie has gotten some rave reviews, something particularly noteworthy for a kids' game. So should you buy it for your kids? Will they like it?

The short answer: yes, as long as know what you're getting and who you're buying it for. Even though Froggy Boogie is at heart just a simple memory game, the combination with a race mechanic and the beautiful wooden pieces make this game a favourite with kids around 4-5 years old. Will adults like it? Personally I'm not a huge fan of memory games, so I find it gets a bit tedious after a while, but I am willing to join the odd game. In sum, adults may like to look at it, kids will love to play it!

Components

When you first open the box this is what you see:


(Picture by Sagrilarius)

One minor complaint I have is that the pieces still had a very strong paint smell to them, that took quite a few plays to dissipate.

Here is another picture of the wooden components. The eyes are individual pieces and fit loosely in the frogs:


Picture by Cerall)

On the bottom of each frog eye there is either a picture of a frog or a blank:


(Picture by Cerall)

So the pieces that come with the game are all top-notch, the box is sturdy, with one of the best inserts you'll find, and the design on the cover and back is nice and colourful. This game just asks to be played.

The Rules

The rules are straight-forward. To set up the game, place the large dual-coloured frogs in the middle of the table. These are the mommy and daddy frogs. In each frog place one eye with a blank, and one with a froggy on the bottom. Place the leap-pads around the frogs, and then put as many small frog pieces on the large lily pad as there are players.

The large lily pad is the beginning and end of the race. The idea is that it's nap time at the pond, but the little frogs don't want to go to sleep. They want to have a race. However, every so often the parents wake up and look to see if the little ones are sleeping. If they see them they make them stop and go back to sleep.

That's the story. To put that into action, the players take turns rolling two dice. You can see them in the bottom right of this picture:


(picture by cvandyk)

The dice roll results in two colours that will match the colours of one of the parent frogs in the middle of the table. The player then chooses one of the eyes of that frog and lifts it to reveal the bottom. If there is a froggy on the bottom, that means that he or she has been spotted and has to stay put. If there's a blank the frog gets to move to the next lily pad. Then it's time to boogie I guess!

My thoughts

So, here's first of all what's good about this game:

- Great components.
- Easy game play. Kids don't have to make choices between a huge number of tiles. They pick only one of two eyes each time.
- Little down-time.
- Good training in colour matching.
- Adjustable play-time. By removing one or more lily pads you can make the race shorter. This is good both for parents who find it tedious, and for kids with short attention spans.

If you want any more proof that kids enjoy this game, check out these pictures:


(Picture by Sagrilarius)


(Picture by Sagrilarius)

The down-sides:

- strong paint smell (At least in my copy)
- If players roll the same colours repeatedly it can give an unfair advantage. This is also the case when one player rolls the same result as the previous player. Of course kids still need to pay attention (and they often don't!), but this can make it hard on some.
- Kids will eventually grow out of it. Whereas with a game like pitch-car (to choose but one example) the fun lasts, with Froggy Boogie there will be many more interesting things to do after a certain age. The game might still hit the table once in a while, but it won't be as much of a hit.
- parents who don't like memory games (like me!) might be less interested to play.

In conclusion, this is one of the better kids' games out there, and despite some minor issues I highly recommend it!