Mudborne Review

Developer: ellraiser, TNgineers

Platforms: macOS, PC (Reviewed)

Genre: Adventure, Management, Sim

Publisher: Future Friends Games

Mudborne is a casual nature management sim about discovering & breeding frogs! Mudborne was developed by ellraiser, TNgineers and published by Future Friends Games. Games similar to Mudborne would be Apico and Sprout Valley. This review was done for the PC, but the game is available for macOS. 

Mudborne is a single-player game where you are awoken from hibernation and find your pond abandoned. No other frog resides in the pond, so it is up to you to use the genetic key to find new species and restore the lost population! Explore the swamp and gather insects and species to increase the genome! At first, players might have the impression that you are playing a casual game where you get to roam around as a frog, but Mudborne is far beyond that. 

The controls for Mudborne are very straightforward. You can easily play Mudborne on the keyboard/mouse or the controller. Whatever method of control the player performs. The guide (compendium) you are provided as you spawn into the world has a descriptive tutorial with highlighted keybinds and an explanation of all the mechanics you will need to know. Nothing is left keeping you confused as everything is written so detailed for you to follow along easily. Now, some may find that the reading and trialling is a bit excessive, but it is worth it so that you can get more familiar with mechanics. This is especially important for genetic mechanics. I love how using some of the machines requires you to do the action manually. For instance, the crusher gets you to move a scroll up and down. The cauldron gets you to move a scroll from left to right.

The art style for Mudborne is so cute and cosy. It has subtle pixel art visuals with a top-down-ish view of your world. Mudborne is such a beautiful game. The pixel sprites and visuals are stunning, with complementation to the subtle animations. The details in the way the rain falls, the little frogs jumping in the water, and the mosquitos flying around are so subtle but make such an impact on how the game looks to the player. As someone who has played Apico before, there is much resemblance to the Apico when it comes to the UI of Mudborne, but this is nothing I can complain about because it works so seamlessly. Everything about the game is so bright and colourful. A swamp-like world has both a vibrant and grim look that you can explore. The details put into the visuals are outstanding, making each of these frog habits feel realistic. The pixel art is smooth and creates an inviting atmosphere to the game. There are a lot of little details in the game that bring it to life; for example, a small animation in the water makes it seem like the water is flowing. With the visuals of this game, the soundtrack soothes it so well. It is subtle piano music that seems to be mixed together with other instruments to create soothing, relaxing music and ambient sounds.

You start the game by getting to pick from 8 different coloured frogs and getting to name yourself. The main premise of the game is for you to be ‘awakened’ and restore the population of the pond by breeding frogs. The breeding process consists of several parts that require players to pay close attention to each step. First, you are required to add mushrooms to alter the genetic sequences of the frogs. The ‘pools’ that you create must be matched, and each species varies by the mushrooms and frogs you have mixed. The game lets you experiment with several elements (sometimes, it is a matter of trial and error) to discover frog breeds you could not think of. The breeding process can become overwhelming and sometimes too confusing to figure out (it almost seems like you’re playing a puzzle game). Mudborne is definitely difficult, and I think it requires a lot more attention from the player than you would think. Once I started experimenting, I found it was best to keep notes to make sure everything made sense. 

The game itself also has a lore, which you can read up on as you make discoveries through various new rooms and locations. The scrapbook is perfect for taking down notes on all the information that you encounter. I especially love reading up on the different journals that give an idea of what certain ‘frogs’ in this world have been up to. 

Mudborne has several weather cycles, and the in-game time system is highly important in finding specific critters/species. In Mudborne, the books you are given are essential assets that you need to keep an eye on as you play the game. My favourite book would have to be the encyclopaedia, where you get to fill in all the unknown species and get genetic keys, the likes, and tracking for each species. Besides being able to capture frogs to add them to your genetic library, you can even become best friends! They pretty much act as a pet frog that you can literally pet, which is such a cute addition to the game. As you see your little frog character traverse through the world, you will see your little frog hopping around behind you.

Mudborne has one of the most interactive and detailed user interfaces, which makes it player-friendly. Every time you discover a new species, you will see pop-ups that inform you of your discovery and give you the quick key to access information on it. You can easily see additional information for other items by using shift, which makes things extremely clear. I love that no detail is missed, and it will keep players from missing out on any important details. This is essential for Mudborne as there are several things happening at the same time which can easily be overlooked. 

Mudborne does not add any unnecessary mechanics. Each mechanic, aspect, and element had a meaning, and it made the game stand out even more. One of my favourite mechanics in this game is where you can stick out your tongue to eat up bugs just like a frog, but rather than having it for the simplicity of being a frog, it can help give you speed and even assist with figuring out the taste flavour of certain critters. The main reason for this is that once you start growing your own tadpoles, they will each have their own taste preferences that you need to match. I also love being able to spam the space to ‘ribbit’.

The game is wonderful, and I had found myself spending hours on end playing the game without realizing how much time I spent. The main thing is that once you have familiarized yourselves with the different resources, tools, and mechanics, you can easily start working on populating the pond to make it thrive once again. I also like the fact that you do not need to spend time crafting the different machines and tools but can trade your resources with Hopert to get the items that you need. You can bring resources and items to Hopert, who can build stuff for you. Mudborne does a wonderful job at thoroughly guiding players on what they need to do. 

Mudborne, a frog-themed breeding simulator, gets the player to read through 4 different books, but this does not take away from the gameplay at all. Some players might be taken aback by the reading that you need to do, but I love how well things are detailed to give players guidance as you have the will to do whatever you like as well as complete tasks. For the price of Mudborne, I highly recommend it as it’s a new concept that people may not have looked into playing before. Of course, it goes without saying that you need the right mindset for Mudborne. At first, you may think that it is a relaxing simulator, but things can get confusing and frustrating quite quickly. 

If you want to play a game that gets you to genetically engineer frogs to restore the population of a lost pond, then this game is just for you. Mudborne offers mechanics that work effortlessly with one another to create an experience that almost feels like you’re cracking codes or getting to the bottom of difficult puzzles. With the brain-racking experience, you can also spend your time living the frog life. I highly recommend that players check out Mudborne! 

Overall: 8.5/10

S & S Reviews

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