Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge Review: "A Fun, Amphibious Twist On A Well-Trodden Format" (2024)

Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge is a new cozy game all about raising frogs on a wetland reserve. The debut title from indie developer Humble Reeds and released by Armor Game Studios, which has helped produce other well-received titles like Bear and Breakfast, it adds an environmental twist to the typical crafting formula by tasking players with requirements like biodiversity on top of the usual collecting and processing. Though it's simplistic, it still manages to be an adorably charming experience that's genuinely relaxing.

In Kamaeru, players assume the role of Cleo, a woman who's traveled back to her childhood home and reunited with her frog-minded friend Axel. The duo embark on a project to revitalize the surrounding wetlands through placing furniture for the area's amphibian friends while balancing the its biodiversity and carbon capture stats. It's an interesting blend of real-life scientific inspiration and more storybook-like elements, placing actual environmental concepts alongside dreamy watercolor aesthetics and colorful, fictional frog breeds lounging on furniture.

Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge

7/ 10

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Pros

• Fun twist on the farmsim genre
• Extremely relaxing and low-key gameplay loop are appealing

Cons

• A little too simple at times
• Core mechanics get exposed over time simply due to a lack of content post-rehabilitation

The Many Frogs Of Kamaeru's Amphibian Cast

Hundreds Of Adorable Amphibians To Rescue

There are over 500 total frogs to be found in Kamaeru, consisting of a myriad of different color and pattern combinations. Each has a combination of insects it must be fed to be tamed, and will spawn in the first place based on the environmental conditions of the area, which includes both bug species and the objects decorating the refuge. Over time, players will build up their Frogedex with species and photos, the latter of which is one of the game's cutest features, allowing players to fill a scrapbook full of frogs enjoying furniture like beds and baby strollers.

While attracting frogs is a big part of the game's overall collecting, breeding is a key component as well. With the help of scientist Anabelle, players can take two tamed frogs and make them reproduce to form fresh color and pattern combinations as well as new hybrid hues. Genetics in Kamaeru aren't as convoluted as games like Wobbledogs, instead having players literally play tic-tac-toe with nature to try to guarantee certain traits - it's very low stakes, as is most of the game, but discovering a particularly vibrant new combination was always pleasing.

Building Up The Wetlands To Succeed

Living Off The Land & Helping The Land Live

Kamaeru is a game all about saving the environment, a project which requires several key resources and a growing volunteer team. Crafting materials, bugs, and money are all essential when it comes to making progress with the refuge and larger wildlife areas - harvestables like berries and reeds can be further processed into things like jam and paper crafts to be sold for decoration and landscaping money, while insects need to be collected in mass quantities for frog feeding. Crafting minigames and in-game collecting are both extremely simplistic, which at first feels almost a bit meditative, but gains tedium over time.

Rep, which is earned through taming and decor, is also necessary to unlock items and progress in the story - as the project grows, so will the technology and nature players have at their disposal. This encompasses smaller things like new ponds and machinery blueprints as well as entirely new locations, with horizons broadening as environmentalists from around the world enlist Cleo's help in their own ventures. This in turn means more helping hands, like characters who can make new objects for players or be hired to collect some extra bugs each day.

Final Thoughts & Review Score: A Double-Edged Sword Of Simplicity

3.5/5 - "Very Good" By Screen Rant's Metric

The simplicity of Kamaeru is both a positive and negative for the game - on one hand, the low stakes and slight idle-game elements present are what make the title so genuinely relaxing. However, once each area's ecosystem has been rehabilitated, there's not much to do besides collecting materials - which just takes a single click - crafting, and discovering new frog breeds. There's still fun to be had with photographing the frogs and decorating their spaces, but the repetition of the crafting games becomes more apparent after everything else is largely taken care of.

The game feels like an escape into nature where players are also able to make meaningful change at their own pace, and is a lovely way to wind down at the end of a long day. It's certainly not a cozy game that can be played indefinitely - or, in truth, even for more than perhaps 10 hours at the very most, depending on how fast players opt to progress - but the time that is spent is overall quite endearing. With charming visuals, calming music, and a bevy of adorable frogs to be adopted and given silly names, Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge offers a fun, amphibious twist on a well-trodden format.

Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge

Platform(s)

Nintendo Switch , PC , Xbox Series S , Xbox Series X

Released

June 8, 2024

Developer

Humble Reeds

Publisher

Armor Games

Genre(s)

Farming , Simulation

Engine

Godot

ESRB

Everyone