Witch's Pranks: Frog's Fortune

 
Developer: Shaman Games Studios
Steam Release: May 2014
Hours Played: 3.2
Similar To: Enigmatis / Grim Legends / Lost Lands / Secret Order  / Weird Park Trilogy
Rating: 5/5 Parsnips

GAMEPLAY

WP:FF is an absorbing adventure game set in the grand castles and swamps of fairy-tale land. Your goal is to help various frogs escape from their prisons and to escape the evil clutches of the witch. Although not an Artifex Mundi game the general formula is the same: collect useful items in your inventory; use them to interact with objects on screen; solve puzzles and mini-games along the way; unravel the mystery etc. There are a few hidden object components thrown in but these are few and far between and rather than finding listed items, involve collecting fragment or parts. As ever, you negotiate your way through the game by entering a series of screens which usually take you deeper into castles and/or their surrounding areas. Zoom in on certain areas to uncover further vital items that allow you to continue your journey.

BALANCE & PACE

There are letters and documents to collect as you go that explain the story or give instructions but there is no map. Yes, this means that a certain element of backtracking, searching and head-scratching is required but I never felt this led to impatience or frustration. For a start, to avoid scanning pictures meticulously with the mouse and cursor, there is an eye-icon on the right side of the screen that will highlight all the hidden areas that you can explore. For seconds (on my selected difficulty), the hint system (question mark at the top-left) will point you in any direction you need to go if you get stuck. So whereas this does encourage over-use of the hint system, I still felt I was solving the vast majority of conundrums myself and greatly enjoyed the experience.      

PRESENTATION & DESIGN

WP:FF is hand-drawn and set in creepy castles and sinister forests. As such the art-style is gothic mixed with mock-horror. Trees and plant-life are spindly and evil-looking while the strange creatures who inhabit the land show that it's unmistakably a fantasy world. The sound is subtle and ambient but peculiar enough to draw you in although the frogs make a very strange incongruous warble. The game is packed with unique and interesting puzzles that are either entirely new and fresh or (if based on a well-trodden formula) presented with inventive twists that make them seem different. My only complaint was that I had to skip virtually a whole series of a wire-frame puzzle because I just couldn't match up an earlier one with pixel-perfect accuracy. Still, I only needed to skip a very small handful of puzzles overall.    

PROGRESS SYSTEM

In the top-left corner, under the question mark, lies an icon of a bunch of scrolls. Clicking this will show you the contents of all the documents you've found but also a list of achievements presented as cards with frogs on them. There are two sets of six cards. However if you wish to know how deep you have delved into the macabre world you can click on the icon in the bottom left which will first reveal a list of 11 chapters plus a bonus one. This is basically the answer booklet which reveals pretty much all you need to know. Chapter headings are not shown within the booklet so it's hard to know precisely which chapter you're presently engaged in, and the diagrams are a little small and hard to focus on, but if you're stuck and don't want to traverse the game using hints then this booklet is the golden key. 

 

CONCLUSION

WP:FF is a fine game to have in your adventure / hidden object collection. Although seeming to have the features and look of an Artifex Mundi game, this is not a title from that developer and actually has enough of its own distinctive quirks to set it apart. Also, unlike a lot of other adventure / hidden object hybrids you'll not get overburdened with large amounts of junk in your inventory. Furthermore, although possibly following age and gender stereotyping, this title doesn't fall victim to those common complaints for this type of game. i.e. it doesn't get so sugary sweet that you want to barf (Grim Legends and Nearwood) nor does it get so obscure that you start to feel completely lost and lose heart (Nearwood). For now it adds a fresh twist to puzzles and definitely worth snapping up.