There’s nothing less funny than most video games that try to be funny.
Most attempts at comedy in gaming fall back on memes and crude jokes that feel aged before the game is even released. Part of the problem is that humor is usually tacked on to games that are mostly about other things — like collecting a bunch of guns and shooting things with them, for example.
Then there’s Frog Detective. Comprising three extraordinarily silly adventures, Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery is about comedy and nothing else. Well, technically, it’s also about doing tricks on your scooter, but it’s mostly about comedy. And as of October 26, the formerly PC-only Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery is available on consoles and included in Xbox Game Pass.
All three episodes of Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery were released individually on PC, and they all received rave reviews. The only thing that anyone had to complain about was that there’s really nothing to the game except walking around and talking to various characters, but again, that’s exactly what makes it so funny.
In Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery, you play as Frog Detective, who is a detective and also a frog. Its three ludicrous cases have you hunt ghosts, search for an invisible wizard, and track down a bushel of stolen cowboy hats. In terms of gameplay, there’s really not much going on. To solve each case, you just talk to the games’ ridiculous characters, gathering clues and items that you can trade to move the story along. Also, in the final chapter you do get that scooter, so that’s neat.
But aside from the scooter, Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery is all about conversations with the colorful residents of each location. The dialogue in every game is infused with absurdity, from Frog Detective’s earnest warnings about the dangers of reading books to an outlaw mouse named Rhonda Dynamite cheerfully declaring herself above the law while offering helpful data security tips. All the Frog Detective games succeed on the back of their writing, which sparkles with energy and wit.
Across the three cases of Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery, the games get a bit more expansive each time. The Haunted Island takes place on a tiny patch of land, and the whole adventure lasts under an hour. By Corruption at Cowboy County, you have a whole wild west town to explore, with a larger cast and a story that stretches to around two hours.
But — aside from the scooter, which, again, is crucial — the Frog Detective games never feel the need to pad things out with more complex quests or even a single mechanic aside from talking. If you’re looking for a game that really puts you in the shoes of a detective, you’ll have to look elsewhere. In the last two games, you get a notebook to keep track of clues and stickers to decorate it with. Designing your notebook is genuinely the biggest decision you’ll make in the entire game.
Even as the games’ scopes expand a bit, developer Worm Club wisely decides not to change much more than necessary. There are marginal upgrades in the games’ art styles over the three mysteries, and the more detailed environments certainly get more compelling with each title, but every character is still cartoony and stiff, with unblinking eyes, perpetual smiles, and hilariously wonky animations.
All you really need to know about Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery is that it’s pure joy. It won’t change your life or give you a new game to get lost in for weeks at a time. What it will do is instantly make your day better with its mystery-solving amphibian antics. Each chapter of Frog Detective: The Entire Mystery can easily be finished in a single sitting, making the whole package the perfect way to wind down after a bad day or settle in for a quirky comedy marathon.
