Game Structure

This is a local multiplayer (up to four players), pass the controller, game-show game. Based on the trailer and some reviews, I was expecting an adventure game and I’m surprised at how completely off that impression was.

It’s organized into structured game-show type rounds. Every player gets a score, and is supposed to compete against the other players. There are story sequence rounds, where players need to watch for clues, challenge mini-game type rounds, and quiz sections which test you on story details. The mini-games are very clever and original, and generally, you play each mini-game once and never see it again.

Currently, there are three purchasable episodes. Each “episode” is basically a 60-90 minute game-show type play session. These are not suited for replay since once you’ve seen the solution to the episode’s crime and seen the tricks to all the mini-games, there is no challenge for a replay.

Just Like Buzz?

This game is surprisingly similar to Buzz, which is what the developer (Relentless Software) is known almost exclusively for. Buzz, was kind of odd, since trivia games are so absurdly simple, yet with a lot of polish and dressing, it was still a really fun, satisfying, crowd pleasing, party game.

Blue Toad is similar. It’s a very similar game show style format. It takes a fairly simple game and adds a lot of polish and dressing, and delivers the same party game crowd pleasing appeal.

Strengths

• Good, simple, polished, unpretentious, family friendly, crowd pleasing fun.
• Fresh, underdeveloped genre; and easily the best of this type of game show style game that there is. It’s surprising how few games there are of this type given how simple they are and how fun they can be. There are tons of shoddy shovel ware game-show games, but this is one of the few that is actually worth playing. We don’t see a lot of games like this.

Caveats

• This is designed for local multiplayer and if that isn’t your playing style or situation, you should look elsewhere. This is not suited for solo play at all and there are no online features (it does have trophies).
• You will play through each episode in approximately 60-90 minutes and won’t want to replay. Obviously, different people can replay.
• You don’t save your game. You play the episodes you want in the order that you want. The downside is that you really have to get your group to commit to completing a 60-90 minute episode, and its a problem if you need to stop playing halfway through.