Pollywog

About

Pollywog is an old-school arcade game for Apple II and Commodore VIC-20 where you nurture a swarm of tadpoles through their life cycle. Your job is to guide 12 eggs to adulthood by steering them toward algae, avoiding dangers, and managing their feeding habits. As they grow, you control when to scatter or group them, balancing survival and growth. Once they become frogs, you direct their reproduction, aiming to hatch a rare prince egg. The game blends simple controls with strategic depth, as each decision impacts survival rates and reproduction success. Released in 1982, it’s a quirky example of early educational gaming, focusing on life cycles with minimal text. Players need patience and timing to balance resources while keeping the swarm healthy. The mechanic of manually controlling tongue movements for egg-laying adds a tactile touch to the otherwise methodical gameplay.