Bonnie Bear Saves Frogtime is weird and charming in the best way.

Bonnie Bear Saves Frogtime. Credit: Bonte Avond / Offbrand Games

Yesterday saw the release of Bonnie Bear Saves Frogtime, the latest game from Bonte Avond (Once Upon a Jester) and a strong candidate for the “best titles ever” list. The game blends a whimsical comedy adventure with a surprisingly compelling strategy game, all tied together with an immense amount of charm. I love Bonnie Bear, and I love Frogtime.

Bonnie, a bear wearing a frog onesie, rarely leaves her room because her self-worth is at an all-time low. On her birthday, her friends gift her a toadbag so she can play Frogtime, the game everyone’s crazy about, and finally boost her self-esteem. When her best friend Ann gets sucked into a mysterious shell, Bonnie sets off on a quest to find the other three shells in the set before a doomsday cult led by a giant skeleton gets to them first. Of course, she has to play a lot of Frogtime along the way.

*Bonnie Bear Saves Frogtime.* Credit: Bonte Avond / Offbrand Games

The game of Frogtime is a complex, tactical form of checkers played on a wide 3x9 board. Each player places frogs on the three squares on their end and must guide them to the opposite side to deal damage based on their attack power. If a player loses all their hit points, they lose. The game uses both frogs and toads: frogs can hop over others checkers-style, while toads move along the ground. If your frog reaches the end of the board, you can place a new frog from your toadbag on your endzone.

Two things make it especially interesting. First, turns happen simultaneously. Your opponent moves at the same time you do, which can lead to collisions that cancel both moves. Second, there’s a huge variety of frogs and toads with different rarities and abilities. Some charge up and move extra spaces, others push enemies back, and some dash halfway across the board when another frog reaches the endzone. These are just a few examples and only scratch the surface of what you’ll discover. Oh, and you can put hats on them.

The only real flaw is the lack of flexibility in building your toadbag. You can only carry eight, and you must discard a frog to keep a new one. Some encounters clearly favor specific builds, but you’re forced into a one-size-fits-all setup. This becomes especially frustrating when buying random frogs from gachapon-style shops, where you’re often choosing between rare options you may not easily see again.

The writing is great: funny, heartfelt, and perfectly tuned to the game’s absurd tone. The game is fully voice-acted, including appearances from creators like Lilypichu, Ludwig, CDawgVA, and Ironmouse. Some vocal flubs are intentionally left in, so you’ll occasionally hear actors repeat lines, adding to the game’s handmade charm. Audio quality and volume can be inconsistent across performances, though. The developers at Bonte Avond were musicians before making games, and it shows. The soundtrack is full of catchy original songs, along with a few interactive musical sequences. They can’t be skipped, but honestly, you won’t want to. They’re great.

Visually, the game renders everything like paper cutouts, flat color fields with detail and shadow added only where absolutely needed. The style is reminiscent of South Park, with simple, expressive animation that fits the humor and character designs perfectly. A lot of the game’s charm comes from this look and the sheer absurdity of its world.

Bonnie Bear Saves Frogtime is a charming, funny adventure through a bizarre world. The writing and music are its strongest elements, but Frogtime itself is genuinely fun and varied enough to stand on its own. I loved the time I spent with it, and it’s the kind of game that’s easy to recommend if its humor and style click with you. It’s weird in a very specific way that was right up my alley.

Bonnie Bear Saves Frogtime is available now on Steam and Nintendo Switch.