Frogatto & Friends

Frogatto & Friends

Company type	Video game
Industry	Video games
Founded	July 2010
Products	Frogatto & Friends (platform game)

Frogatto & Friends is a platform game infused with adventure components, launched in July 2010. It garnered acclaim particularly for its striking pixel art visuals. This cross-platform title is compatible with Linux (including Nokia N900), AmigaOS4, AROS, Mac OS X, Microsoft Windows, iOS, and BlackBerry Tablet OS. The game runs on an open-source engine licensed under the Zlib License, while most of its game assets remain proprietary, with a portion released under a Creative Commons BY license.

Plot

The story follows Frogatto, a resolute frog who awakens in his residence near an archipelago-like region. Intending to visit a friend in the nearby town, he discovers the area overtaken by a feline military force, with inhabitants confined in cages. At the mayor’s residence, Frogatto confronts a commanding officer demanding payment. After overcoming this adversary, the mayor reveals that Milgram, a dominant overlord controlling much of the territory, is attempting to capture the town and impose travel restrictions.

Determined to find a diplomatic resolution, Frogatto embarks on a journey to meet Milgram. Upon leaving the mayor’s home, he notices that the soldiers have disappeared and the cages are unlocked. Traversing caves, forests, and jungles en route to Milgram’s fortress, Frogatto ultimately defeats Milgram in combat. They then share tea, during which Milgram explains that he had financed local initiatives through the mayor but later uncovered embezzlement. His army was dispatched to reclaim the funds; when unsuccessful, they withdrew.

Although Milgram’s actions appeared hostile, his objective was to enforce contractual obligations. Frogatto deduces that the mayor will likely be reassigned as guardian of the east gate—considered a benign role—and informs Milgram of the probable location of the missing funds.

Development and release

The development team behind the game included the creator of The Battle for Wesnoth along with three of its lead developers.

In contrast to their earlier project, the Frogatto team functioned as a small, centralized unit prioritizing the creation of a solid engine and a demonstration game before fostering community involvement. This strategy was intended to streamline development by reducing administrative overhead and encouraging creative autonomy.

The game’s engine, Anura, is written in C++ and supports multiple platforms. Its source code is distributed under the Zlib License, while accompanying content falls under CC0. Both the source and game have been accessible publicly since early repository versions; however, community engagement efforts began after the 1.0 release. The developers aim for the source code to assist other open-source game projects. Anura’s design for cross-platform compatibility allows deployment on various systems, aiding smaller platforms like AmigaOS by providing technology for creating high-quality open-source games.

Frogatto & Friends became available in July 2010 across numerous operating systems, including MacOS (via Mac App Store), iOS (App Store), and BlackBerry App World. In 2013, version 1.3 was offered through the Humble Store.

Reception

The title was well-received critically, especially praised for its gorgeous pixel art. The iOS edition holds a Metacritic score of 78/100 based on six positive reviews. Brian Lufkin from Gamezebo commended its classic 2D art style, highlighting how well it has endured compared to early-generation 3D graphics.

See also

• List of open source games

External links

• Anura engine – The game engine behind Frogatto, hosted on GitHub