Tapo is about to have his first birthday, and things aren’t exactly going to plan. The baby tadpole has gone missing, leaving a group of frog adventurers with 20 dungeon floors to get through if they want to bring him home. There’s fighting to do, plenty of increasingly ridiculous upgrades to find, and a D20 that could make things considerably easier if it decides to cooperate.
Released on July 31 by solo developer Dubs, FROGGLE is a turn-based roguelite dungeon crawler inspired by Slay the Spire, Balatro, and Inscryption. Almost two months after launch, it’s still sitting at just 12 Steam reviews, with 91% of them positive.
Four Frogs Walk Into a Dungeon
Your rescue party consists of four frog adventurers, covering the familiar Warrior, Tank, Mage, and Healer roles. There’s also a secret fifth hero waiting to be unlocked once you’ve spent a little more time hopping around the dungeon.
Each brings different abilities into battle, with combat taking place entirely in turns. That gives you plenty of time to work out which frog should do what and, more importantly, how you can start bending all the game’s different systems in your favor.
XP earned during a run can be spent on upgrades and ability enhancements, helping your current party grow stronger as you head deeper into the dungeon. Gold works a little differently. That can be spent between runs on permanent upgrades for the whole party, so getting wiped out doesn’t mean you’ve come away completely empty-handed.
Things Can Get a Little Broken
There are 10 sigils to discover along the way, and combining them can lead to some powerful synergies as your build develops. You’ll also occasionally discover that an encounter isn’t quite finished when you thought it was. Some have a hidden Platinum second stage, giving you the choice of taking an additional risk in return for another reward.
Then there’s the D20. Each of your heroes has an Ultimate ability that activates when you roll a natural 20. Exactly what happens depends on the frog, but getting lucky at the right moment can give you a considerable advantage. It’s a nice extra bit of chaos in a game that otherwise gives you all the time you need to think through your next move.
Sometimes the carefully considered strategy works, and sometimes you just really need that 20.
Twenty Floors Aren’t Enough
Getting Tapo home isn’t the end of FROGGLE either. Finishing Standard mode unlocks FROGGED UP mode for anyone who thought the first trip through the dungeon was a little too comfortable. An Evolution system added after launch takes things further again, acting as a late-game prestige system and giving you another reason to keep sending the frogs back in.
You don’t have to do all of this alone. Local shared-screen co-op and Remote Play Together are both supported, letting somebody else join your rescue attempt. Every encounter also comes with its own custom funky soundtrack, and there are plenty of nods to famous frogs hidden throughout the game.
This One Might Have Hopped Past You
With only a handful of Steam reviews almost two months after release, FROGGLE seems to have slipped past quite a few people. Its inspirations are easy to spot, and Dubs openly points toward Slay the Spire, Balatro, and Inscryption, but there’s plenty here to make it stand out.
The four-character party gives you multiple abilities to juggle each turn, sigils offer plenty of room for experimenting with builds, and the D20 adds just enough luck to potentially throw all those carefully made plans in another direction.
There’s a free demo available on Steam too, so you can head into the dungeon and meet the frogs before committing to the full rescue mission.