Promotional artwork for "Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge" showcasing a serene setting with cartoon-style frogs in various poses. The image features a large blue frog on a wooden platform, a yellow frog with a crown on a similar platform, and a playful pink frog sitting in a colorful inflatable pool. In the center, the game's logo is adorned with a stylized lotus flower. The backdrop reveals a peaceful outdoor scene with trees, shrubs, and a clear sky, evoking the tranquility of a frog haven. Published on: LadiesGamers.

Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge Demo Impressions

Demo code used with many thanks to Player Two PR.

Did anyone else notice that frogs have become really trendy lately? I think that they deserve it. In Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge, the developer Humble Reeds brings us a beautiful wetlands restoration game filled with adorable creatures plus science themes (but not too complex mechanics).

We got to take an early look at a demo version, and you’ll be able to check out a demo yourself soon during the coming Steam Next Fest (February 5th through February 12th). Let’s hop right in.

A wetland landscape. A cabin is visible at the top of the screen, with a wooden patio and paths leading away. Amid the mud, there's a small pond where a bright pink frog smiles. A heron flying across the screen is seen in the bottom right. Along the left side is a column of navigation options, and on the right is a display of information.
Welcome to the wetlands!

First Impressions of Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge

Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge is not optimized for controller, at least not at this point, but it’s playable on the Steam Deck. I liked primarily using the touch screen. The art is so gorgeous, and the music made me feel calm and focused. The main initial draw to Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge is certainly the frogs, and I was quickly reminded of Neko Atsume.

Like that hit cat collector mobile app game, you purchase furniture and decorations, then wait for the animals to come to enjoy your scene. A logbook fills with your discoveries, and you can “take pictures” to enjoy the cuteness forever.

Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge In front of a view of the frog refuge, a pop-up window shows an image of a young man, featuring the text "Use the shop to buy some furniture. I gave you some money to buy a bathtub. Frogs LOVE bath time." To the right of that text, a preview is shown of where to find the bathtub item in the shop.
Let’s create a frog paradise.

This would be a great experience to pair with your morning coffee or unwind for a while before bed. It really is remarkably pretty, and you can pass the time just admiring the setting while watching frogs come and go.

A Jump Ahead

There’s so much more than just finding as many frogs as possible. In addition to the initial tidy area, there are other biomes to discover, and there’s a fun gameplay loop of beautifying those places, gathering resulting resources, using those resources to create cute items to sell in your gift shop, and then using the profits to enhance the land even more. Creatures besides frogs will show up, too.

An "INFO" display, displaying the bioscore details of the player's wetland progress, with details such as the spawn rate of the various insects. Other tabs are "TECH" and "HELPERS".
Keeping track of the data.

The scattered assorted mini-games help Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge stand out from more simple casual collection games. There’s an interesting version of Tic Tac Toe, where creating lines of three in a row helps you determine what frog will result from breeding.

I’d never seen anything like that, and it’s a great way to make the player feel involved without overcomplicating gameplay. I expect that the extra mini-games added in the full version will be my favourite part.

"Nature's turn now!" says the speech bubble above the head of a lady scientist with glasses and short white hair. On a chalkboard, a tic tac toe game is in progress, with frog qualities instead of Xs and Os.
Mini-game to determine the traits of breeding outcomes.

From the interesting characters to the pacing of new discoveries, this demo felt very well presented. Everything comes together, with a pleasant variety of things to do.

Delightful Details

A view of puddles at night. Two icons show that flies are present to collect.
Look at the beautiful art!

Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge also presents a lot of promise of what will be in the full Steam version. Looking at the available furniture and imagining the customization options is exciting. I found no frustrations or disappointments. I believe that Kamaeru: A Frog Refuge is going to be a great find for fans of cozy sims. I hope that you’ll give it a try and have just as much fun as I did.

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