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Frog breeding management sim Mudborne gets a release date this March on World Frog Day

Ribbet me this

A large, potentially magical frog speaks to a smaller, potentially also magical frog in Mudborne.
Image credit: TNgineers

I generally avoid using the word 'darling' as an adjective because it makes you sound like an bourgeois playwright two bottles of sherry deep into a nervous breakdown. Lord Of The Rings tainted the word 'precious' forever, and the term 'wholesome' has been Cronenberged to hideous effect. 'Cute' is too pat, I use 'adorable' too much, and you cannot make me say 'Kawaii' under any circumstances.

All that said, management simMudborne makes my eyes go wide and my heart swell like a marshmallow dropped in a pond full of excellent frogs. It's releasing March 20th on World Frog Day, and a portion of the profits will go to amphibian, wetland, and environmental charities. Have a Steam demo. God I love that soundtrack.

Watch on YouTube

It's from Apico studio TNgineers. That was a beekeeping sim, and Mudborne is a "spiritual successor of sorts", focusing on genetic manipulation and "generational puzzles". There's the frog breeding management aspect, but there's also a dreamy exploration angle, as you discover more about the world through your frog splicing. Here are some features:

BE THE FROG

  • Finally reach your life goals of becoming an actual frog!
  • Catch (and eat) delicious bugs. Have another, treat yourself.
  • TINY LITTLE FROGS YOU CAN CATCH AND CHASE

GENETIC ENGINEERING

  • Genetically modify frogs to create weird and wonderful new species
  • Grow and cultivate mushrooms with all sorts of strange effects
  • Some of the frogs have tiny hats!!! GOTY contender????

SMALL FROG, BIG POND

  • Utilise your frogs to uncover secrets and power your machines
  • Hop between the waking + dreaming worlds to solve puzzles
  • Restore the pond and its inhabitants, and find out what happened
This feels like a good time to recommend the beautiful psychedelic artwork from the board game Cosmic Frog.

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Nic Reuben avatar
Nic Reuben is secretly several Skaven in a trenchcoat that have somehow developed a predilection for weird fiction, onion bhajis, RPGs, FPS, Immersive Sims, FromSoftware titles and Strategy Games that tell emergent stories.
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Mudborne

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