Something is wrong in Cowboy County. The peaceful townfolks have suddenly found themselves without that most precious of resources: hats. Dangnabbit, there ain’t no cowboy without a cowboy hat. Our hero Frog Detective shall have to keep his wits about him to solve what seems a simple case of theft but hides a much deeper conspiracy. Read on to find out how this new sleuthing adventure is in our Frog Detective 3 review.

Frog Detective is a series originally created by Grace Buxner and Thomas Bowker, what was originally a short 40 minutes game ended up being quite the unexpected success. The endless charm of the simple graphics and the wit in the dialogues created a small cult series, which is now on its third entry. From Frog Detective 3, we can expect that same simple and endearing gameplay we’ve grown to love. Walk around, talk with characters, solve simple fetch puzzles and, in less than a couple of hours, you’ll be at the ending.

So much goes on in Corruption at Cowboy County that this could be almost defined as the “Empire Strikes Back” of the series. It is definitely its darkest chapter so far. I am not going to spoil anything, but there are many surprises. One of them will be a new means of transportation for our frog, a scooter, so he can easily zoom around the dry lands of Cowboy County. At one point, there is even a fake-out ending with a cinematic cowboy song (expertly sung by Grace) to boot!

Any fans of the previous games should stop reading, at this point, and just go play it, Grace and Thom have created another endearing, funny and cozy entry in the Frog Detective series. There are also plenty of little nods to the previous entries, so it does feel like the third entry ties everything together nicely. It is one of those games that with its lightly challenging gameplay makes it perfect to play in the company of your children/nephews, while its honest and irresistible humour make it also ideal for adults.

If you’ve missed any of the previous chapters, Frog Detective 3 might surely be a great starting point, but to fully enjoy it, I would definitely recommend going back to the original. The whole journey is definitely worth that low asking price. Frog Detective always makes me think of chilly autumn days, sitting down in front of a monitor with warm herbal tea, and lightly sweet cookies to solve mysteries with Lobster Cop, MysteryMonkey and the others.

If this game was a physical object, it’d be on my mantelpiece at all times. Not that I have a mantelpiece, but I digress. I am not sure if this will be the final chapter in the little amphibian with a magnifying glass’ journey, but either way, it’s been a pleasure and a delight to spend time together with Frog and all his little friends.

NOW LET’S DO A CELEBRATORY DANCE.

Our Frog Detective 3 review was made possible with a review key made available by the developer. Frog Detective 3 is available on Steam.