Luckshot Games has announced Big Hops, a 3D platformer action adventure game where you play as a frog kidnapped from his home. It is planned for release first for PC via Steam, followed later by Switch and Switch 2, then PlayStation and Xbox consoles. A release date was not announced. A demo is available now for PC. A Kickstarter campaign seeking $40,000 to fund the game’s development is also live.
Here is an overview of the game, via its Steam page:
About
Big Hops is a 3D platformer, action adventure with deep movement, fresh frog-tongue gameplay, where you can grow veggies to build paths forward!
You’ll play as Hop, a young frog who’s been kidnapped from home by a trickster spirit called Diss. He has a mysterious, important mission and needs your help, but you just want to get back to your family… After a bit of searching, a wiry old Raccoon offers to build you a way home if you can find a few Airship Parts. To build your Airship, you’ll need to:
- Infiltrate the Gulley Gang’s Hideout at the edge of a vast Red Desert.
- Become a Bucko and save DrillCO’s Rigs Workers out on the Open Ocean.
- Sneak past Haven cultists by spelunking under a Shattered Mountain.
Each World offers a self contained story. You’ll meet a huge cast of characters, learn the conflicts of each world, and hopefully find some way to help. Will that help be altruistic or is it all selfish to get those sweet, sweet Airship Parts? Why did Diss really kidnap you? What’s the purpose behind the Dark Drips he keeps asking you to collect? And if you collect them all, will Diss really let you go home?
You’ll need to play for yourself to answer all these questions, so consider backing to help us finish BIG HOPS strong! Next let’s talk about gameplay.
Character designs by Steven Sugar (background designer for Steven Universe and Owl House).
Frog Parkour
Movement is king in Big Hops and our kit goes deep. You can roll, dive, crouch jump, wall run, free climb, swim, belly slide, walk tightropes, pole swing, grind rails, ride minecarts and more. Everyone knows a great platformer starts with a great player controller and Hops’ stacks up against the best-of-the-best.
You’ll feel inspiration from Mario, Sonic Adventure, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Hat in Time, and more. And that’s all just Hop’s basic moveset—-from there we’ve added a ton of froggy flavor and ways to build your own paths forward.
Tongue Gameplay
The core-mechanic in Big Hops is Hop’s versatile frog tongue! It’s cute, goofy, and adds a surprising amount of freshness to this action-puzzle-platformer
Your tongue is how you interact. Use your tongue to pull items to your hands, hookshot up walls, and tongue-swing your way to ridiculous speeds.
Doors, switches, corks, plungers, flowers, flingers, levers, and lick-picking are all quick work thanks to Hop’s tongue. You’ll keep finding novel, goofy tongue interactions even over 10 hours into your playthrough.
Veggie Creativity
Deep movement and tongue-gameplay give BIG HOPS legs and a fresh flavor, but the real magic is using powerful Veggies to build your own paths through levels
You’ll find new types of Veggies as you explore and each has a unique effect when you throw it down in the world. Let’s look at some examples:
- Mushrooms become bounce pads to help clear hard jumps.
- Acorns can grow vines around walls and ceilings to help you climb farther.
- Balloons make temporary platforms and can stack to get serious height.
- Oil Balls create hookshot points you can bounce off without losing speed.
- Apples let you place your own tongue swinging points anywhere.
- Cacti launch tightropes you can use to cross big gaps.
Since you can only hold one item at a time, Hop has a handy Backpack! As you play, you’ll discover new Veggies and unlock more Backpack Slots to store them. You can open the Backpack any time, and using it in a stressful moment will slow down time so you can plan your next moves.
Collectibles
Collectibles are a genre staple and there are lots in BIG HOPS! We’ve worked hard to give them all gameplay uses, so you never feel like you’re just checking off boxes
- Earn Dark Drips to help with Diss’ mysterious mission and unlock secrets.
- Collect Dark Bits to earn gameplay modifying Trinkets for your backpack.
- Buy Veggies and upgrade your Backpack, Wallet, and more at Drilson’s Depot.
- Buy outfits, hats, and dyes to customize Hop’s look at Odette’s Outfitters.
- Find and Identify real Bugs to fill your collection in Bugsy’s Conservatory.
- Uncover Blueprints to build totally normal and not-at-all busted Gadgets.
- Find Mixtapes to play on in-game on your Boombox or Hop-man.
Equipping Trinkets means decorating your Backpack!
Big Adventure
Something we’re proud of is how many different areas there are in Big Hops. As you explore the four main Worlds (Forest, Desert, Ocean, and Mountain), expect a lot of surprising offshoots like the Boneyard, Bucko Cove, Hydro Plant, and Gulley Gang HQ. All these different places to explore really make it feel like you’re on a grand adventure!
Inspirations
I [Chris Wade] started Big Hops in 2019 (6 years ago!!!) with a single goal of modernizing the 3D platformer genre. The design trend at the time of giving players real freedom and creativity in games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Spelunky, and Rimworld was so inspiring. Selfishly and jealously, I wanted to see emergent gameplay in my favorite genre.
Since then, Big Hops has become a maximalist game and taken on many more ideas and inspirations. Its mechanics, story, vibes, and humor draw on so many games and TV shows stretching back 40 years. Mario (64, Odyssey, Sunshine, and Galaxy) and Zelda (Breath of the Wild, Wind Waker, and Ocarina of Time) have both been huge influences. We also spend a lot of time talking about Sonic Adventure, Spelunky, Kingdom Hearts, Psychonauts, Avatar: The Last Airbender, Spongebob, and Steven Universe.
Watch the announcement trailer below.