How to play Hit-Point’s minimalistic Travel Frog even if you don’t know any Japanese
Help pack your froggy friend's luggage and then watch it go on vacation all over Japan. Without you
You raise a frog. It goes travelling without you. It might bring back a souvenir. If it feels like it. Hit-Point’s Travel Frog (Tabikaeru) has more than 1 million downloads on the Google Play store in Hong Kong, and for good reason. With such a fast pace of life in our hectic city, the simplistic pet simulation has struck a chord with many players of all ages for its low-maintenance play style. And it doesn’t hurt that your frog pal and his many animal friends are UNBELIEVABLY cute.
There’s just one small problem – the game is completely in Japanese. Not to worry, because we’ve put together this handy guide to playing Travel Frog even if you can’t read a single kanji.
Collect the clovers
The only currency in the game is the clover, which you can use to buy the various things your frog will need to go on his travels. There are many ways to get clovers, and the easiest is to pick them from the front yard of the grotto by tapping them. They grow back by themselves, although quite slowly. Sometimes, your frog will bring some back from his trips. There’s also a one-time bonus of 500 clovers the first time you download the game. You can also buy clovers with real money, but it’s not really necessary if you just take it slow.
Time to pack
You’ll need to pack your frog’s suitcase with three categories of items, which you can do by pressing the ‘home’ icon on the bottom right, and then the ‘pack’ button on the bottom left once you’re inside his house. Once in the luggage screen, you have to pack a food item (top left), a charm (top right), and two tools (bottom). You can buy these things from the shop by pressing the shop button at the bottom right of his house (it looks like two shopping bags, one blue and one white).
Wait at home
Once you’re done packing, there’s nothing else you can do. Your frog will decide by himself when to go off on his adventure, and also when to come back. He could be gone for a couple of hours or even a few days, and his destination is also completely random. He may (or may not) send you a postcard of the places he’s been. When he returns, he might also bring a regional souvenir back for you, like strawberries from southern Kyushu or mochi from Tokyo. Maybe. If he feels like it.
Be a host
Sometimes, your frog’s other friends will visit even when he’s not there. Remember to be a good host and give these cute critters something from your souvenir box. If you do, you just may receive a surprise in your mailbox later on.
Bonus: lottery time
There’s also a bonus lottery game in the shop area, denoted by a bell icon at the top right. You need five lottery tickets to enter once, and there are a variety of prizes such as candies and special amulets. You’ll periodically get lottery tickets from your frog or his friends if you’re nice.
And that’s basically it. Have fun caring for your temperamental yet adorable froggy friend, without the need to be always actively checking your phone like other popular mobile games.