The visuals and narrative on the Funville Games box made it clear this was a drag-and-drop strategy game. It felt like the production quality would be good. At `375 it was sensibly priced. The tile Frogs in the Bog and the cover illustration which features an animatedly alert green frog looking at a forlorn and rather concerned orange frog, had me sold, early into the browse-before-I buy routine!
While setting up the game my first emotion was that of disappointment. It turns out there are no charming little frogs I need to save while shifting the bog. The 20 frogs, I assumed would leap into play, are represented by staid plastic beads. The moulded plastic bog with the battery of sliders on four sides, has a textured surface with fallen leaves, twigs etc that one might imagine in a bog in the wilds.
Once I shrugged off the feeling that I had been misled by packaging, I settled down to enjoy the game. The player with the last frog bead standing on the bog wins. Playing with 5 beads each, you alternately move sliders one space at a time. The 6x6 grid of holes on the bog surface is partly blocked from below by sliders, so the solid surface is at best temporary. With multiple players recklessly pulling or pushing sliders, there seemed little hope that my best laid plans would play out. They didn’t! My frogs sank into the bog abruptly as I watched in helpless horror!
The author may be contacted at arup_kavan@yahoo.com [1]
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