🔗 Share this article The Year 2026 Dubbed the Year of the Croaking Craze. Although I thoroughly enjoyed the recent Day of the Devs showcase was a delight to watch, my biggest takeaway was a personal epiphany: I am convinced that 2026 will be the peak period for frogs in video games. No fewer than five of the highlighted projects—Frog Sqwad, Stretchmancer, Unshine Arcade, Awaysis, and Big Hops—prominently include these amphibious creatures. Considering a band of frogs is known as an army, it appears they are launching an invasion. The Enduring Appeal of Amphibians Croaking characters are anything but new to the gaming landscape. Ever since the era of Frogger to the iconic froggy chair in Animal Crossing, they have long held a niche presence. However, their prevalence has noticeably surged in recent times. A quick search for "frog game" on Steam unveils an staggering number of results. Granted, some of these are low-budget titles, a significant portion are bona fide amphibian adventures. Charting the Croak Comeback To grasp this trend, I undertook a detailed review into the past five years of hoppy gaming on Steam. My methodology was admittedly subjective, prioritizing games with frogs in the title or clearly visible in screenshots. The findings reveal an unmistakable trend: a steady increase from less than 20 titles in 2020 to close to 60 in 2025. This significant surge prompts the question: why the sudden leap? The amphibian's growing prominence in the cultural zeitgeist is also apparent elsewhere, like the revival of Frog and Toad as Gen Z icons. Yet, the explosion in gaming appears uniquely pronounced. Designing for a Sticky Tongue In my opinion, this is a shift I can fully endorse. Frogs have natural appealing traits for game developers. Unique Characters: They are ideally shaped to be designed as memorable characters that often become a standout feature in any game. Innovative Systems: Their elastic legs and sticky tongues facilitate a myriad of innovative control schemes. Many of the showcased games directly leverage these traits. Examples include the tongue-swinging in Big Hops and the extra-long limb puzzles of Stretchmancer. On the Cusp of a Croaking Renaissance So, what can we expect in 2026? Given five frog games already announced before the year has even started—and the potential for more—the stage is set for it to be the most significant year so far. When these games perform well—and based on past trends, games from this showcase tend to succeed—we might just be witnessing a full-blown amphibian entertainment revival.