| Product: |
racingfrogs.org |
| Date: |
12/01/08 (163 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Fun and addictive - particular to the competitve species out there.
Disadvantages: Have to pay to access VIP zone, unfortunately
As a former Under 17 National Javelin Champion, I am instinctively of a competitive disposition, accompanied by a vast interest in various sports. Consequently, I am always obliging to try anything that satisfies both needs for me - whether it is serious or not. A couple of years ago, a friend introduced me to a very quirky and fun website that satisfies the latter. On www.racingfrogs.org, you create and manage a frog to race against other frogs owned by online gamers. The idea is very fun and the science sounds simple enough, but it is far more complex than you'd perceive.
The Premise
++++++++++++
The premise is akin to being a horse trainer - once you have created and customised your frog, you manage your its diet, exercise and motivation. Every day, there is a race which your frog will compete in, and each race normally consists of 24 frogs including yours. Where the frog places depends on how effectively you train and manage it.
Getting started
+++++++++++++++
Racing frogs is free to play. When the homepage loads up, you are greeted by an intro screen which informs that you can create your own racing frog, set up your own club, train motivate and feed your frog, race your frog every day etc. At the bottom it gives you the option to 'Enter'. Once you click into it, you are given a choice of three different ponds you can race in. Each pond has a range of different races within it.
These ponds and races are:
Frog Pond - Toad Alley / Lily Cove / Muddy Bank / Ribbit Shallows
Windymore Lake - Dark Wood / Pike Alley / Trout Cove / Fergal's Cove
Stumpy Creek - Hopper Hill / Snake Alley / Gangrene Gorge / Scarper Flow
Once you click a pond, you are then either invited to 'Login' if you are an existing user, or to to 'Sign up'.
When you click 'Sign Up', you are given some brief instructions such as that it is important you feed your frog and train it, and that it will race once a day at 3am. It is important to note that you play no part in the actual race - you only feed and train your frog so that it is ready to race. It will then race overnight, and you can see the result in the morning. At the bottom of the screen, you are invited to 'Go Create Your Frog'.
You will then go to the 'New Racing Frogs Trainer Application Page' where you click if you are a boy or girl and what you age is, and then you make a username and a password for login purposes. There are some more details to put.
After doing this, you are taken to the 'Create your Frog' page. Here, you are given a naked frog, and you can choose the body-wear, headgear, facial expression, and leg-wear for the frog.
Once you are happy with your frog creation, click on 'Create frog' and then you are taken to your Frog page.
How to play
++++++++++++
Once you are on the frog page, this is where you get your frog physically and mentally ready for the race. In order to do this, you are given 500 pieces of gold (this is the currency in frog land).
At 3am every night, your frog will race 24 other frogs, and the fitter and more motivated they are, the higher they will place.
The next day, you will see the results on the bottom right of the screen - giving your place in the last race, where you now rank amongst the frogs that are the same age range and also where you rank amongst all the frogs in the pond overall.
Training your frog
=============
On the Frog page, you can click the option 'Train your Frog'.
You can train your frog in one of three gyms - Spuddy's Gym, Fit Frog Centre and Top Gun training Academy, and you can train it only three times a day. You can choose a different gym each session. To train your frog in a gym, you have to pay a certain amount of gold each time. Each gym costs different amounts to train in, but the point is, the more money you pay, the more attempts you get. When you are in the gym, you can develop Strength, Hoping, Speed and Stamina.
You must train the frog every day to keep them in top shape. If you cannot train them every night, there is an option on the training page to set the automated 'ACME Personal Trainer' that will train your frog at 100 gold per day.
Choose your Frog's Diet
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To assist in getting the frog in the best shape, you can click the 'Choose your Frog's food' option. Here you can choose four foods among a list of twenty. If you choose four very good foods, you will be given a high energy score. If you choose bad ones, you will be given a low one, but you can either save that score or reject it.
Making your frog happy
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You can click in the 'Hypermarket' and buy your frog a present or presents - the shop's items range include a mobile phone, mountain bike and sports car rental - the more major the present, the higher the contentment points. The higher your contentment score, the happier your frog. This makes your frog more motivated to race.
Motivating your frog
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You get medals dependant on your success in races - if you come 1st, 2nd or 3rd. The more your frog wins, the higher its motivation score is.
Extras
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Retire frog - an option if you want to retire at the top, or if you become sick of the game
View your frog's form - your frog's form is measured on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the best.
Speak with your frog - you can ask your frog questions and praise it, and it will reply to what you say to it, in word format.
View its potential - every point your frog has ever gained is added together and then divided by it's age. The higher the potential, the greater the chance of being a Superfrog.
VIP Zone
++++++++
After your frog has raced, on the bottom right corner of the screen, will have your 'Latest results', showing where your frog came in the race. You cannot see the race unless you are a member of the VIP Zone. However, you have to pay to enter the VIP Zone.
You either have to purchase the 'Frog City and the Racing Frogs' book via the site, Ebay or Amazon at a price of £6.99 or hopefully cheaper. Otherwise you can purchase a password to access the VIP zone.
Superfrog race
+++++++++++++++
Every Sunday is a superfrog race, where every frog on the whole website will take part. The Superfrog race is the equivalent of a Grand National. If you win it, as the trainer, you have achieved the ultimate accolade on the site. Winning normal races is brilliant, because you are clearly the best trainer in that particular pond. However, to win the superfrog race is better on a gargantuan scale.
Website
++++++++
This is a very colourful website, very visually attractive, quirky looking and easy to navigate around. You could be forgiven for preconceiving Racing Frogs as a game tailored to the younger age range but the website does not give the appearance of that. It is very versatile and modern, and appeals to any age.
The website has received a couple of notable accolades such as:
Radio 2, 2004: Website of the day
Cool Website of the year 2005
Overall the website is superb and justifies the acknowledgement it has won.
Repeatability
+++++++++++++
This game is addictive - lamentably, whether you are junior or senior in age, you will get colossal enjoyment from racing frogs, you will just admit to it more if in the former classification. The frog ages 3 days per every human day, and normally stops racing at 240 years of age. This means you have 80 days worth of play here to keep your frog going. Once the frog has to retire, you will then need to create another one - if you have not been deterred by the first attempt.
Personal thoughts
+++++++++++++++++
I can be quite a serious person but, nevertheless, this game appeals to me. It is a fantastic and versatile game that I can imagine would appeal to virtually anybody for a bit of fun. I think those who like a bit of competition and desire to be the number 1 will enjoy the challenge a lot more. Having said that, my fiancée is not naturally competitive and has meagre interest in sports yet she loves it.
If you want to get the best out of the game, you do have to visit your frog page everyday and manage it for a couple of minutes. Not visiting the site can cause little improvement in your frogs fitness and therefore success.
I would recommend that anyone loads up this website, create a frog, and see for yourself if it is for you. I guarantee you will have some short-term fun at least.
Thanks for reading!
Summary: Enjoyable frog-management game!
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