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Trailer
Reviews
Taming Gaming website
Reviewed on the Family Video Game Database
PowerUp! review
The lovely Lauren Harradine of Powerup! interviewed Kathy at AVCon 2019 and reported on the state of the game at the time. We love her analysis of Frog's Princess: “There are many wonderfully useful life skills that videogames teach children; critical thinking, perseverance, planning, and communication, for a start. But it’s harder to find games that really delve into the emotional lives of children and present them with ways to navigate their way through in a really empowering, compelling way.” https://powerup-gaming.com/2019/09/05/kathy-smart-on-fairy-tales-self-empowerment-and-developing-frogs-princess/
The Game
Frog's Princess is a movie-length voiced children's 2D storybook for children aged 9-11 with voice acting, music, sound effects, text, and visual effects. It is sold as a premium game (meaning there are no ads and no in-app purchases), on GooglePlay, the AppStore, and Steam, currently in Oceania and North America.
* Accessible to players with vision impairment
* Accessible to players with hearing impairment
* Character customisation to make diverse heroes
* Cancer battlers can create bald heroes
* Neurodiverse hero has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
* Supported by educational material on the Joy-Everafter website
* Serves as a bridge from videos to reading for 5-6-year-old boys
* Accessible to players with vision impairment
* Accessible to players with hearing impairment
* Character customisation to make diverse heroes
* Cancer battlers can create bald heroes
* Neurodiverse hero has Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD)
* Supported by educational material on the Joy-Everafter website
* Serves as a bridge from videos to reading for 5-6-year-old boys
The Studio
Kathy Smart Game Design won several design awards. The studio published the innovative Subtractive Synthesis in conjunction with Birdrun in 2017, to benefit homeless people in Adelaide, South Australia.
The studio has now incorporated, and trades as Joy Everafter Stories.
The studio has now incorporated, and trades as Joy Everafter Stories.
The Story
Building on the Grimm Brothers’ fairy tale The Frog King & Iron Henry first printed in Germany in 1812, Frog’s Princess explains who Iron Henry was, how the prince got turned into a frog, what Golden Orb was so important, and why the princess broke her promise. Never giving up, the frog is transformed back to a prince but danger looms as the thwarted witch attacks the kingdom and only the prince and princess remain to defend it.
Filled with humour, strong characters, ethical questions, poignant moments and beautiful evocative music, Frog's Princess is a story children love following with their family.
BE THE HERO YOU WANT TO BE
Should your heroes be cool? Kind? Smart? Heroic? Fun? Laid back? Players colour their heroes and give them unique personalities by choosing out of 10 different moods each time they speak.
GIRL POWER AND BOY SENSITIVITY
Princess Emma’s sisters are kind and clever, brave and beautiful. They tell Emma she is helpless to save the kingdom, so Emma begins the story by dressing up in her mother's clothes and calling for help. Prince Francis believes he will never live up to his noble father, so he plays around and throws himself and Henry into the witch’s power. The prince and princess gradually get to know each other and give each other confidence. Emma must defy her family to save her kingdom herself. Francis must rely on intuition to heal the injured Emma and her devastated kingdom.
Filled with humour, strong characters, ethical questions, poignant moments and beautiful evocative music, Frog's Princess is a story children love following with their family.
BE THE HERO YOU WANT TO BE
Should your heroes be cool? Kind? Smart? Heroic? Fun? Laid back? Players colour their heroes and give them unique personalities by choosing out of 10 different moods each time they speak.
GIRL POWER AND BOY SENSITIVITY
Princess Emma’s sisters are kind and clever, brave and beautiful. They tell Emma she is helpless to save the kingdom, so Emma begins the story by dressing up in her mother's clothes and calling for help. Prince Francis believes he will never live up to his noble father, so he plays around and throws himself and Henry into the witch’s power. The prince and princess gradually get to know each other and give each other confidence. Emma must defy her family to save her kingdom herself. Francis must rely on intuition to heal the injured Emma and her devastated kingdom.
Replay value
Moderate.
Most players rush through to find out what happens in the story, then replay the story from the other point of view to see the scenes they missed.
A few continually experiment with prince and princess dialogue to create their perfect storybooks.
Most players rush through to find out what happens in the story, then replay the story from the other point of view to see the scenes they missed.
A few continually experiment with prince and princess dialogue to create their perfect storybooks.
More reviews
GamesKeys' Under The Radar Games On Android in 2021
We were delighted to be listed by Gabriel Price in the annual Game Keys Under the Radar edition for games with high quality graphics and addictive gameplay. https://gameskeys.net/under-the-radar-games-on-android-in-2021/
Prize for unfinished novel "Frog's Princess'
After Frog's Princess was co-winner of the Buzzwords Magazine prize for best Middle Grade First Chapter in 2018, an excerpt from the novel was published on the Buzzwords Books website on 26 July 2018 http://www.buzzwordsmagazine.com/2018/07/the-frogs-princess.html.
SCBWI Australia
The publication of Frog's Princess was announced in the Society for Children's Book Writers and Illustrators newsletter 25 January 2021 and the launch into US on 25 April 2021.
scbwiaustralianz.squarespace.com/our-blog/2021/1/25/new-digital-app-for-kathy-smart
www.scbwiaustralianz.com/our-blog/2021/4/25/launch-of-voiced-storybook-by-kathy-smart
scbwiaustralianz.squarespace.com/our-blog/2021/1/25/new-digital-app-for-kathy-smart
www.scbwiaustralianz.com/our-blog/2021/4/25/launch-of-voiced-storybook-by-kathy-smart
Conference successes
Games For Change Asia-Pacific 2021: Kathy demonstrated Frog's Princess as an inclusive, diverse, accessible game.
Australian Fairy Tale Society conference 2021: Kathy showed how visual novels can be made accessible to people with vision impairment and people who are hard of hearing, and can represent neurodivergent heroes and heroes of every ethnicity.
GCAP 2020: Spoof of how dialogue was recorded for Frog's Princess used to show game developers the pitfalls of recording dialogue for games.
Australian Fairy Tale Society conference 2020: Kathy demonstrated Frog’ Princess as a new way of re-telling fairy tales.
AVCon 2019: Frog’s Princess was a hit with children at the Indie Games Room at AVCon 2019. Parents had to literally pull their children away. It was one of only six games invited into the Obscure Games Room there.
Resilient Kids conference 2019: Frog’s Princess garnered interest from parents and chaplains at the Resilient Kids conference in June 2019.
Melbourne Playground 2018: Frog’s Princess had its first public testing at the Melbourne Playground at ACMI on 28 October 2018. One man called out, ‘You’ll fry, Frog-boy!’ to the delight of the crowd. Families became highly engaged, so much that four children cried when they had to leave.
ACM CHI PLAY conference 2018: Frog’s Princess was announced as the world's first full length, fully interactive, fully voiced English children's storybook. Caveats:
1. Brave Rock Games had already made their excellent Alice in Wonderland but it only has 2 choices for readers.
2. Most storybook choices result in branching storylines, so that readers choose what happens. In Frog's Princess, readers choose not what heroes do, but what they say, designing their heroes' personalities.
Australian Fairy Tale Society conference 2021: Kathy showed how visual novels can be made accessible to people with vision impairment and people who are hard of hearing, and can represent neurodivergent heroes and heroes of every ethnicity.
GCAP 2020: Spoof of how dialogue was recorded for Frog's Princess used to show game developers the pitfalls of recording dialogue for games.
Australian Fairy Tale Society conference 2020: Kathy demonstrated Frog’ Princess as a new way of re-telling fairy tales.
AVCon 2019: Frog’s Princess was a hit with children at the Indie Games Room at AVCon 2019. Parents had to literally pull their children away. It was one of only six games invited into the Obscure Games Room there.
Resilient Kids conference 2019: Frog’s Princess garnered interest from parents and chaplains at the Resilient Kids conference in June 2019.
Melbourne Playground 2018: Frog’s Princess had its first public testing at the Melbourne Playground at ACMI on 28 October 2018. One man called out, ‘You’ll fry, Frog-boy!’ to the delight of the crowd. Families became highly engaged, so much that four children cried when they had to leave.
ACM CHI PLAY conference 2018: Frog’s Princess was announced as the world's first full length, fully interactive, fully voiced English children's storybook. Caveats:
1. Brave Rock Games had already made their excellent Alice in Wonderland but it only has 2 choices for readers.
2. Most storybook choices result in branching storylines, so that readers choose what happens. In Frog's Princess, readers choose not what heroes do, but what they say, designing their heroes' personalities.
Publications
Frog’s Princess: Making a diverse, inclusive and accessible visual novel was accepted for publication in the proceedings of the 2021 Games For Change Asia-Pacific conference. Details of publication will be available soon.
The Frog’s Princess Interactive Storybook was accepted for publication in the Proceedings of the 2018 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3270316.3270595. This is an extended abstract about making a game with strong ethical elements.
“Recording Dialogue” video was shown at GCAP 2020, giving advice about how to record dialogue for video games, using Frog’s Princess as the example. https://youtu.be/Vdd4_8tkxk4.
The Frog’s Princess Interactive Storybook was accepted for publication in the Proceedings of the 2018 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play dl.acm.org/doi/abs/10.1145/3270316.3270595. This is an extended abstract about making a game with strong ethical elements.
“Recording Dialogue” video was shown at GCAP 2020, giving advice about how to record dialogue for video games, using Frog’s Princess as the example. https://youtu.be/Vdd4_8tkxk4.
Factsheet
Developer:
Kathy Smart Game Design Pty Ltd trading as Joy Everafter Stories, Adelaide, South Australia
Founding date:
2017
Websites:
https://frogsprincess.com/index.html
https://joy-everafter.com/
Release date:
Australia 9 December 2020
North America 4 April 2021
United Kingdom 12 August 2021
Classification:
IARC Content Rating E Everyone, Mild Fantasy Violence
Press / Business contact:
Kathy Smart
Publications:
The Frog’s Princess Interactive Storybook, Proceedings of the 2018 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KathySmartGameDesigner
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KathyGameDesign
Giphy (over 1M gif views): https://giphy.com/joyeverafterstories
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com.au/joyeverafter716/
YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCWG7RVh7CmYkzMnhAP-wT0g/playlists
Address:
Kathy Smart Game Design
U 15 206-208 North East Road
Klemzig SA 5087
Australia
Phone:
+61871222055
Email:
press@joy-everafter.com
Kathy Smart Game Design Pty Ltd trading as Joy Everafter Stories, Adelaide, South Australia
Founding date:
2017
Websites:
https://frogsprincess.com/index.html
https://joy-everafter.com/
Release date:
Australia 9 December 2020
North America 4 April 2021
United Kingdom 12 August 2021
Classification:
IARC Content Rating E Everyone, Mild Fantasy Violence
Press / Business contact:
Kathy Smart
Publications:
The Frog’s Princess Interactive Storybook, Proceedings of the 2018 Annual Symposium on Computer-Human Interaction in Play
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/KathySmartGameDesigner
Twitter: https://twitter.com/KathyGameDesign
Giphy (over 1M gif views): https://giphy.com/joyeverafterstories
Pinterest: https://www.pinterest.com.au/joyeverafter716/
YouTube: www.youtube.com/channel/UCWG7RVh7CmYkzMnhAP-wT0g/playlists
Address:
Kathy Smart Game Design
U 15 206-208 North East Road
Klemzig SA 5087
Australia
Phone:
+61871222055
Email:
press@joy-everafter.com
Logos
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Game images
Music
Short videos showcase Christian Paterson's 10 beautiful themes.
They were recorded when the game was unfinished. We are making new videos.
Emma’s Theme https://vimeo.com/294887275
Emma’s Theme slow https://vimeo.com/294887988
Francis’s Theme https://vimeo.com/294888471
Frog Theme https://vimeo.com/294888733
Lorelei Theme https://vimeo.com/294905972
Iron Henry’s Theme https://vimeo.com/430703683
The King’s Theme https://vimeo.com/430269355
Ramona’s Theme https://vimeo.com/430277736
Hilda’s Theme https://vimeo.com/430262629
Spooky Woods Theme https://vimeo.com/294906896
Battle Music https://vimeo.com/294886984
They were recorded when the game was unfinished. We are making new videos.
Emma’s Theme https://vimeo.com/294887275
Emma’s Theme slow https://vimeo.com/294887988
Francis’s Theme https://vimeo.com/294888471
Frog Theme https://vimeo.com/294888733
Lorelei Theme https://vimeo.com/294905972
Iron Henry’s Theme https://vimeo.com/430703683
The King’s Theme https://vimeo.com/430269355
Ramona’s Theme https://vimeo.com/430277736
Hilda’s Theme https://vimeo.com/430262629
Spooky Woods Theme https://vimeo.com/294906896
Battle Music https://vimeo.com/294886984
Team
Producer, designer Kathy Smart http://frogsprincess.com/design-and-production.html
Programmer Scott Purcival http://frogsprincess.com/programming.html
2D Character Art Christy Butt http://frogsprincess.com/2d-art.html
3D Environmental Artist Riley Hanlin http://frogsprincess.com/3d-art.html
3D Technical Artist John Costello http://frogsprincess.com/technical-art.html
UI and Creature Artist Vicki Borthwick https://frogsprincess.com/ui.html; https://frogsprincess.com/2d-art.html
UI Artist Frances Purcival https://frogsprincess.com/ui.html
Level Design Adam Klappers https://frogsprincess.com/design-and-production.html
Level Design Max Winzar https://frogsprincess.com/design-and-production.html
Dialogue recorded at Solarus Records https://www.solarus.net.au/
Recording studio head Kyle Krishnappa http://frogsprincess.com/sound-engineering.html
Female voices Lisa Fanto http://frogsprincess.com/voice-acting.html
Male voices Gabriel Allani http://frogsprincess.com/voice-acting.html
Quality Assurance lead Anne Smith http://frogsprincess.com/testing.html
Quality Assurance, UI Phillip Cook http://frogsprincess.com/testing.html
QA, accessibility David Francis http://frogsprincess.com/testing.html
QA, general Louise Lawrence
Composer Chris Paterson http://frogsprincess.com/music.html
Programmer Scott Purcival http://frogsprincess.com/programming.html
2D Character Art Christy Butt http://frogsprincess.com/2d-art.html
3D Environmental Artist Riley Hanlin http://frogsprincess.com/3d-art.html
3D Technical Artist John Costello http://frogsprincess.com/technical-art.html
UI and Creature Artist Vicki Borthwick https://frogsprincess.com/ui.html; https://frogsprincess.com/2d-art.html
UI Artist Frances Purcival https://frogsprincess.com/ui.html
Level Design Adam Klappers https://frogsprincess.com/design-and-production.html
Level Design Max Winzar https://frogsprincess.com/design-and-production.html
Dialogue recorded at Solarus Records https://www.solarus.net.au/
Recording studio head Kyle Krishnappa http://frogsprincess.com/sound-engineering.html
Female voices Lisa Fanto http://frogsprincess.com/voice-acting.html
Male voices Gabriel Allani http://frogsprincess.com/voice-acting.html
Quality Assurance lead Anne Smith http://frogsprincess.com/testing.html
Quality Assurance, UI Phillip Cook http://frogsprincess.com/testing.html
QA, accessibility David Francis http://frogsprincess.com/testing.html
QA, general Louise Lawrence
Composer Chris Paterson http://frogsprincess.com/music.html
Contact
Kathy Smart Game Design Pty Ltd ACN 634 356 657 trading as Joy Everafter Stories
Director Kathy Smart
Email kathy12345@iinet.net.au
Designer website http://kathysmartgamedesigner.com/games-made.html
Game website https://www.frogsprincess.com/index.html
Website for parents and teachers https://joy-everafter.com/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/KathySmartGameDesigner
LinkedIn https://au.linkedin.com/in/kathygamedesigner/
Twitter https://twitter.com/KathyGameDesign
Director Kathy Smart
Email kathy12345@iinet.net.au
Designer website http://kathysmartgamedesigner.com/games-made.html
Game website https://www.frogsprincess.com/index.html
Website for parents and teachers https://joy-everafter.com/
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/KathySmartGameDesigner
LinkedIn https://au.linkedin.com/in/kathygamedesigner/
Twitter https://twitter.com/KathyGameDesign