Congratulations on being a parent who cares about the games their children play.

Who should play Frog's Princess?

  • Boys and girls aged 9 - 12 years
  • Boys and girls aged 5 - 8 years playing with a parent or carer
  • Reluctant readers
  • People who are practicing English
  • Deaf readers
  • Readers with impaired vision
  • Players taking strong medicine who would like to make bald heroes

Content warnings

  • Fantasy: the setting is Medieval times with out-of-time items like a telescope
  • Magic: the villain is a shape-shifting witch and the hero has golden magic
  • Kisses: there are 3 very polite kisses
  • Violence: this story includes violent magical confrontations but no blood

Epilepsy warning

In Chapter 1 Scene 1 the vines shiver so fast they may potentially trigger seizures for people with photosensitive epilepsy.
In Chapter 9 Scene 5 there are bright flashing lights from the witch attack which may also trigger seizures for people with photosensitive epilepsy.

Motion sickness warning

When players scroll through the pages in the Contents, the pictures move very fast and this can cause motion sickness.
SOLUTION:  keep hold of a page button and move it, rather than flicking it.

How do I help my children play?

To get you started, general game play instructions are on the How To Play page.

Personality design

When a speech balloon shows, it means there are 10 speeches to choose from.  These are based on different personalities.
  • Encourage children to scroll through the different speeches available.
HINT: dialogue between Emma and Francis makes better sense when they have the same character as each other, for example, both being the fourth character along.

Contents

  • Encourage children to click the Contents button to look at the different chapters and scenes in the book.
Gold outlines show which pages have been visited.
Gold frames show which pages players are currently on.

  • Point out that the frog on the left of the top row means that is in the Frog Storyline.
  • Explain we can't see the pages covered by heads because they are in the other storyline.
  • Explain we only see pages where the Storyline character is there and awake.

Sound

Press the Home button, then press Settings.
  • Show children how to change the volumes of the different types of sounds.

Text

  • Voice Text shows what the characters are saying.
  • Sounds Text shows what sound effects are playing.
  • The flag shows which spelling is being shown.  Click the flag to change the spelling.

Buttons

  • The Narrator describes what can be seen happening on the page.
  • The Tutorial gives hints about game play in the first scene of each book.
  • The Buttons button turns off every button except the home button.
  • The Screen Reader is for players with vision impairment.  To get out of it,  navigate back to that button and double tap it or press Enter.  The How To Play page has detailed instructions.

Saving different versions

Children can go to the Library in the Home menu at any time and start a new story, or go back to an old story.

HINT: advise your children to name their book 'Emma' or 'Francis', so they know which storyline it follows.

How can I share this with my child?

Children react to the strong emotional fairy tale elements in Frog's Princess.

Talk about the story

  • Ask your children what was the saddest thing that happened.
  • Ask them what was the funniest thing.
  • Ask if they would do things differently if they were Princess Emma or Prince Francis.
  • Ask them which prince or princess personality they are most like.

Think about family members

There are 10 personality types for the prince and princess.
  • Ask your child personality they think you are most like.
  • Can your child think of a personality for each family member?

Ask relationship questions

  • Do you know anyone as active as Francis?
  • Do you know anyone as sensitive as Emma?
  • Do you ever feel people aren't listening to you like they didn't listen to Emma and Francis?
  • Do you think the King is a good father?
  • How do you think things would have changed if Emma's mother was still alive?

Family values

Talk about gender issues, such as:
  • Why does the first prince think girls should not use strong magic?  Is he right?
  • Why does the second prince think he needs to save a princess?  Do you think Hilda would appreciate being saved?
  • Does the King treat his daughters as if they were his sons?

Ethical questions

No one can tell you what to believe.  You might like to discuss ethical dilemmas with your child.  These are listed in the Joy-Everafter website.

Craft activities

Fan art

  • Encourage your child to create fan art for Frog's Princess.
Put their first name on it, and state/province and country, if you like.
Email the picture, music, or poem to artwork@joy-everafter.com
We will not pay for it.  We may post it on this page and we may take it down at any time.  If we post it, we will take it down if you email us again and ask us to.

Story writing

Origami

  • Make an origami frog for each family member and write their name on it.
  • See who can make their frog jump the furthest.
(The following links take you out of the Frog's Princess website).
http://www.origami-instructions.com/origami-frog.html
http://www.origami-fun.com/origami-jumping-frog.html
http://www.origamiway.com/origami-frog.shtml
We hope you enjoy sharing this story with your children.
We have put a slightly more detailed Parents page on the Joy Everafter website which is more for teachers.

Other games for children

Andy Robertson's Family Video Game Data Base, https://www.taminggaming.com/, gives excellent advice about video games for children.  Andy has also published a book called Taming Gaming for parents which even has recipes for how to play each game! https://www.taminggaming.com/book. For those that don't know, Andy Robertson is a freelance video game journalist who has written for ForbesTech, the BBC and the Guardian.  Andy's Twitter address is @GeekDadGamer.

Ask About Games is another website providing information about video games for children.  https://www.askaboutgames.com/top-family-video-games-2020.
(c) 2019 Kathy Smart Game Design Pty Ltd trading as Joy Everafter Stories ACN 634 356 657 - All Rights Reserved
© Copyright 2019, Kathy Smart Game Design