Living Like a Frog

"Hey! I've got a baby!", "Oh my little baby went travelling again...", "You know what? My baby comes back!"...

If you open your WeChat and browse the Moments, you will probably find that your friends constantly post about a frog.

A frog? Yes, the little baby is a frog.

The little frog

Travel Frog­, a game invented by a Japanese company HIT-POINT, has a concise setting. The main role is a little frog that lives alone in a stone house. Reading, writing and eating are what it usually does at home. If you think the frog is a homebody, then you are wrong, because it is travelling that occupies most of its time. In this game, you are supposed to collect clovers to buy food, lucky charms and something else it may need on the road. After all the things are ready, the frog will take its bag, wear its lotus leaf hat and leave the house. It will not only surprise you by sending postcards but also by bringing home some local products.

But it is worthy of note that when the frog will go for a trip, when it will return home and where the travel destination is are random. You can't control any of its action, no matter whether it is outside or at home. So it is common that you open the game only to find an empty house waiting for its owner, and several days later, you finally find your little frog reading a book on its little bed.

The frog focusing on the book

Some people think that this kind of games won't arouse much interest because it isn't exciting and lacks interaction. But it does hit the games market. Believe it or not, it is the "boring" way of playing the game — almost doing nothing but waiting — that attracts the younger generation.

Before the boom of Travel Frog, a word "Buddha-style" has been getting more and more popular among young people. People who are labelled with the style are not actually a Buddhist but have a peaceful attitude towards life: no anxiety, no excitement, no anger, no competition... And the game embodies such attitude — there are no rivals forcing you to do anything — just let nature take its course. As a result, Travel Frog soon spreads from one person to countless people.

Furthermore, both the "Buddha-style" and Travel Frog reflect a mentality that objects to the fast rhythm of modern life. Indeed, quick pace offers us enormous and brilliant information and technology, pushing us into a rapid river flowing forward. However, the lightning-speed changes gradually turn one from an active position into a passive position. Some people get tired and feel like slowing down. However, unlike the unfettered frog, most people cannot lead a slow life, for they've already taken roots in the fast-rhythm society. Therefore, they pin their ideal life on the little frog, wishing one day they can live like the frog: read books, write letters and see the world, doing everything the hearts let them do.

Just as one of the game players said — The frog is another me.

The frog travelling with its friend