Froad Review: Bug Eating at Its Finest

YoYo Games' Froad, a name that I can only assume refers to a cross between a frog and a toad, is a cute casual game that's surprisingly challenging.

Froad (the game) follows the daily life of Froad, a yellow-spotted orange creature with a long, sticky tongue. Froad needs to eat bugs daily to stay alive, but he's annoyingly picky, so his hunger can only be sated by very particular bugs (which change on a whim). To help Froad nab a bug, all you have to do is tap near the creepy crawler and his tongue will lash out. It may sound easy, but trust me--it gets difficult very quickly.

There are three types of bugs in Froad: good bugs that Froad wants to eat, good bugs that Froad doesn't want to eat, and bad bugs. Froad sits on a tree branch or a tree stump and slowly loses life unless he gets the right bugs. Good bugs of either type will not hurt Froad, but only good bugs that he's craving will help him regain life. You can tell which bugs Froad wants to eat, because a thought bubble with the correct bugs will pop up next to him.

Bad bugs are poisonous, though, and will give Froad indigestion. Bad bugs are usually spiky, dark, and have evil, slanted red eyes.

It's a simple game, but it's more difficult than you might first think. Froad's tongue, for example, is long and sticky and therefore catches any bugs that are in its way--whether they're good or bad. So if you shoot for a good bug but there happens to be a bad bug in the way, you'll get both bugs and Froad will get indigestion.

Each "level" is one day, and includs a nighttime section. Your goal is to keep Froad alive for as many days as you can, keeping him fed with the right bugs so his life meter doesn't run out. As you progress through the levels, bugs get faster and have more erratic flying/jumping/crawling patterns. There are two "worlds," the forest and the lake, and you can unlock the lake world by surviving in the forest for at least seven days.

When I first picked up Froad, I wasn't terribly impressed--gameplay mechanics are slightly off (you have to overshoot bugs to nab them), and the first few days are extremely easy. However, after about four days it starts getting really difficult and really addictive. For just $1.09 on Google Play, Froad will keep you entertained for hours.

This app was tested using a Samsung Galaxy Nexus running Android 4.0.2.