The art of a perfect leap
It’s only because the ‘Frank’ brand is so strongly associated with jigsaw puzzles in my mind, that their Funville Games imports seem so incongruous. This week I tried Flipping Frogs (`195), and marveled at the many variations of a simple design idea.
The winner has to get the maximum number of frogs into the open mouth of a giant purple frog. Press gently the tail bone-like bit of a frog. With the right amount of pressure, at the right angle, and a certain manner of release, your frog will leap up and forward, and gracefully land home.
Junior engineer Hamsini tried flipping a couple of bright orange frogs. The first hardly moved at all. The second turned turtle. With disquieting promptness, she panned the game, blamed the design, and grumbled the frogs can’t actually jump any distance. The fate of the buildings of our future lies in the same hands! While her structures fortunately won’t need to pass a leapfrog test, there must be some professional skill she can gain from mastery over this flip and jump wonder!
On closer inspection, the tiny frogs have little bug eyes, and happy smiles. Their feet with three splayed digits each, are a curious feature. The back feet have tiny stubs. Is this to help provide a better jump, or is it merely a moulding and extrusion-sealing requirement? Flipping Frogs is a delightful diversion. After much flipping, I’ve had frogs jumping sideways, swiveling around wildly, and on occasion, landing on target!
The author may be contacted at arup_kavan@yahoo.com
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