2 for Free by Anatoliy Loginovskikh: Mushroom Cats & 100 Hidden Frogs!

“If cats looked like frogs we’d realize what nasty, cruel little bastards they are. Style. That’s what people remember.” – Terry Pratchett

Introduction

Anatoliy Loginovskikh is a solo dev from Russia with nearly 30 games currently available on Steam. These include a number of free titles with the most expensive offering available for £5.79. This article looks at two of the free games, Mushroom Cats from 2019 and the newly released 100 Hidden Frogs!

Mushroom Cats by Anatoliy Loginovskikh

Overview

Mushroom Cats is a short and simple point-and-click game about Cats that live in a big magical toadstool! A sequel, Mushroom Cats 2, was also released by Anatoliy Loginovskikh in April 2020 and is available on Steam for £0.79.

Gameplay

Mushroom Cats’ gameplay is pretty straightforward, the player must explore the toadstool tower in order to find bobble hats for the 22 cats that live there. The controls are similarly simple using a mouse click to interact and moving the mouse to the edge of the screen to view the rest of the environment which is much longer than it is wide. There is not a huge amount of challenge and the hats are quite easy to find, however, success is still rewarding.

Narrative and Styling

The narrative centres around the fairytale creatures Mushroom Cats and their lives on the giant magical toadstool. They have built little houses on the toadstool, even a cloud mill and players can see them going about their daily lives doing activities such as reading, napping and playing a keyboard! Unfortunately, winter is approaching and the cats need some help staying warm!

The game’s art style features cute, cartoon-like drawings in vibrant pastel shades and charming animation. The music is jolly and upbeat and matches the visuals and the overall tone of the game well.

Summary

Mushroom cats is a short game and can be completed in less than 10 minutes, however, this works well for this type of game which could get repetitive if it were longer. It is a fun and relaxing experience overall, perfect to enjoy with a cup of tea. Additionally, it is an adorable family-friendly game that can be enjoyed by adults and children alike.

100 Hidden Frogs by Anatoliy Loginovskikh

Overview

100 Frogs is a cute hidden object game centred around frogs and is one of 16 similar games by Anatoliy Loginovskikh that are currently available on Steam.

Gameplay

The gameplay is quite simple and requires the player to explore a fantastical environment in search of frogs. Some of the frogs are a little tricky to find but the game is largely unchallenging overall. The controls are straightforward and use a mouse click to interact with the frogs and players can move the mouse to the edge of the screen to view the rest of the vertically scrolling setting.

Narrative and Styling

There is not much of a narrative in 100 Hidden Frogs but players can get a sense of the fairytale setting from the other objects in the illustrations such as a sleeping gnome and a plethora of toadstools. Reminiscent of Hidden Folks, the game’s art is black and white. cartoon style line art, with the addition that the frogs turn green when found. The upbeat and uptempo music is like a jolly dance track that is energetic without being intrusive and even verges on motivational.

Summary

Overall, 100 Hidden Frogs is a short but enjoyable game. It is easy to complete the game in 10 minutes or less and is very relaxing making it ideal to enjoy on a short break. It puts a froggy spin on a tried and tested genre and is easy to recommend to players of all ages.

Conclusion

Both of these titles are great examples of short, free, family-friendly games. They are simple but enjoyable and feature some adorable hand-drawn artwork. I’d happily recommend both Mushroom Cats and 100 Hidden Frogs and I look forward to playing other games by Anatoliy Loginovskikh.

For more free games, take a look at the following articles:
Three Free Games Short Enough to Play on a Lunch Break! – Three for Free: Thrifty Gaming! – Five Free Short Games on itch.io for Busy Bees!