Quick Look: Hophazard

Designer:  Michael Ott
Publisher: Nanolocity Games
Year Published: On Kickstarter for 24 more hours!! (Link at the bottom of review)

No. of Players: 2

Ages: and 8+

Playing Time: Time to play a round: 10-15minutes

Find more info HERE. 

From the Publisher:

Rules & Setup:

K: the moving the frog from the puddle to the sidewalk, was a bit confusing. it was an easy setup for a small game. I’d prefer, idk if there are other colors, if not i’d enjoy seeing other and a varying of colors.

Theme and Mechanics:

K: Frogs is the theme. The pieces are easy to move around. Easy with how it works, enough for a child to probably play.

TSO: The frogs were very cute I  feel like everyone can enjoy it because its a very simple and small game.

Lake: Like I said before I was especially excited and got the feel of Frogger and Crossy Road.  Due to the lack of obstacles it wasn’t really like either that much. But the frog miniatures and the theme really went together quite swimmingly!

Gameplay: 

K: You pick color of your frogs; take dice and roll. Move said frogs, and try to get to the lillypads. It was easy game.

TSO: You play as frogs trying to reach the other side to get to the pond.

Lake: I really liked the take-that mechanics of the Squish, Squash and the “Hop In Between”. However, being able to work the “Hop In Between” more smoothly might take me a few more play-throughs. All the Squishing & Squashing really paid off for me, however I ended up loosing to both K and TSO. In my game against TSO, I rolled a 10 my first couple of turns and she had a frog on that spot both times which meant I couldn’t move and my frogs had to stay in the stinky stagnate puddle longer than was called for leading to my utter demise. 

Artwork and Components:

K: Needs more colors. Adding real details and making it more realistic would be nice. And if the board (maybe?) could fold. (It appears that Michael has that taken into consideration and in the final production copy of the game it will be a quad fold board that will fit into a smaller than paperback book size.)

TSO: I think more colors would be nice but other than that I can’t think of anything else.

Lake: I as well liked the miniatures and LOVED the board we played it on, but I can see the need for a change. But who needs shelf space when you have an AWESOME GAME, am I not wrong? I think it’d be cool if each player had separate dice that matched their frogs in color.

The Good: 

K: Frogs. Frogs. Frogs.

TSO: I really liked it. It also reminds me of crossy road.

Lake: I really enjoyed playing it, and I’m sure I’ll be bringing it back to the table plenty! Cool miniatures and take-that rules. Plus, I’ve got to beat my girls before I can hang up the gloves!

The Other:

K: IDK. IDK. IDK.

TSO: I don’t think there is anything to complain about!

Lake: My only suggestion would be allowing for more than 2 players, which I had heard my daughters mention as well. I think there’d be room to do it. I might see about using pennies or something so I can try to hold my own against the both of them next time. (Keep me in your prayers 😂!)

Final Thoughts:

K: It was ok… Not as fun if there was a story for your frogs. But it was fine.

TSO: It was very very fun i really enjoyed it.

Lake: It’s not the Atari game I had been hoping for, but it’s definitely earned probably the top spot in my “Games Played in 2025” List! That is if we keep it to the tabletop, otherwise Tetris Forever and Breakout Beyond would have spots 1&2 pushing Hophazard down to #3. So its a keeper!

G: My 20 year old non-verbal son with autism gave it a raving Thumbs Up!

Players Who Like: 

K: How am. I suppose. To know?

TSO: My family and some of my friends would love this game.

After reading Lake and his daughter’s review, if this sounds like a game for you at the time of this posting Hophazard will be live on KICKSTARTER, for only 24 more Hours until Wed, June 4 2025 11:22 PM PDT, and has surpassed its funding goal of $4,500.