The Croak reveal arrived on October 20, 2026, when WoodRunner Games unveiled its hand-drawn 2D precision platformer during the ID@Xbox and IGN showcase. According to Xbox Wire, the game is planned for a March 2027 release on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox on PC.
The Frog Prince’s tongue launches him off walls, objects and creatures, and pinball-style bounces carry him across gaps and up walls. The Xbox announcement adds that Croak arrives on Game Pass on its launch day and supports Xbox Play Anywhere. A frog with a grappling tongue needs no explanation, which is more than most showcase reveals can say.
Key Takeaways
- Croak is a hand-drawn 2D precision platformer from WoodRunner Games, planned for a March 2027 release on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox on PC.
- Croak lands on Xbox Game Pass on its launch day and supports Xbox Play Anywhere, so one purchase covers both Xbox and Windows.
- Croak’s tongue grapple and pinball-style bounce combine to deliver speed with enough mid-air control to correct a bad angle, and the Steam demo is the fastest way to check whether that control feels precise.
- Croak’s four hand-painted biomes each add their own traversal ability, most notably the frogcicle, which lets the Frog Prince glide across spikes.
The Frog Prince Tongue Hook Steals the Show
WoodRunner Games revealed Croak during the ID@Xbox and IGN showcase on October 20, 2026. The pitch fits in one sentence: a hand-drawn 2D precision platformer where a Frog Prince flings his tongue at things, then ricochets like a pinball toward the Witch’s Banquet.
The tongue is the headliner. The Steam listing says it propels the frog off walls, objects and creatures. Creatures count as launch points, which means the enemies are also your trampolines. Somebody on the team clearly thought that was funny, and they were right.
Once airborne, the frog bounces like a ball in a pinball machine, and that bounce carries him across gaps and up walls. Think of it as a pinball table where you’re the ball and the flippers are your bad decisions.
The combination is what makes it interesting. The grapple supplies speed, and speed in a precision platformer is useless if you can’t steer it. The bounce supplies control, letting you correct a bad angle mid-air. Grapple alone would make every jump a gamble. Bounce alone would make the game feel sluggish. Together, they’re meant to let you go fast and still land where you aim.
Four Painted Biomes and a Frozen Glide Trick
Croak has four hand-painted biomes, and they aren’t just wallpaper for a frog to hop past. Each one comes with its own traversal ability, so the level design changes how you move, not just how it looks.
The standout is the frogcicle. In one biome, the Frog Prince freezes solid and glides on spikes, turning the thing that would normally kill him into a way across. It’s a neat trick and arguably the most committed hop-to-death gag in the genre. The frog will happily turn into a popsicle to avoid a fall, and somehow that still sounds like a reasonable plan.
The reversal is what makes it work. A hazard that doubles as a runway forces you to rethink what spikes mean in a platformer. That’s the kind of rule change that makes a biome feel like a mechanic instead of a backdrop.
Whether the other three biomes bring tricks this clever is the open question. A nice painting tells you nothing about how a level plays.
Collectibles, Boss Fights and a Speedrun Leaderboard
The Steam listing promises hidden collectibles tucked into the levels, so the tongue has to reach places the main route ignores. If you like poking every wall twice, this is your job.
Then there are challenges to finish levels without dying. When the frog is one bad bounce away from a splat, that’s less a bonus and more a dare.
Croak’s replay layer also includes:
- Hidden collectibles spread through the levels
- Challenges to clear levels without a single death
- Boss fights that test the same movement you use to explore
- An online speedrunning leaderboard
The leaderboard tells you what the developers expect. A game built on grappling and bouncing is a game built for time trials. Every level becomes a route to optimize, and every shortcut you find becomes a bragging right against strangers. Speedrunners will obsess over the bounce physics, and that’s exactly the kind of obsession this design invites.
Xbox Game Pass Day One and Where to Play
Croak is planned for a March 2027 release on Xbox Series X|S and on Xbox on PC. Game Pass subscribers have the easiest way in, because the game arrives in the subscription on its launch day. No separate purchase, and no waiting for a sale.
Croak also supports Xbox Play Anywhere, which matters if you split your time between a console and a PC. A Play Anywhere game is bought once and works on both Xbox and Windows, so you aren’t paying twice to play the same frog.
Steam already offers a demo you can download today. It’s the quickest way to find out whether the tongue feels precise or just floppy. The Steam page lists the same March 2027 target for the full game, so the demo previews the controls without pointing to a different timeline.
Five People, a Lockdown Idea and a Canadian Grant
The Croak concept dates back to the 2020 lockdown, according to WoodRunner Games’ press kit. Plenty of people spent that year baking bread. Someone decided to build a platformer around a grappling frog.
The first prototype was made in 2022. A working version came before any funding was secured, which is a sensible order of operations for a small studio.
In 2023, the project received full funding from the Canada Media Fund. Full funding is rare enough in indie development to be worth noting, and it’s the kind of detail that rarely makes it into the showcase trailer.
The team did not begin at full strength. It grew to five members after the project started, so the Frog Prince was built by a small crew rather than a large studio.
Watch the Demo Before the Hype Cycle Starts
The Croak demo is already available to download on Steam, and it’s the quickest way to find out whether this frog is for you. Don’t just poke around. Spend your time combining the tongue and the bounce, because that’s where the game either works or doesn’t.
Ask one question: does the bounce feel precise or random? If you can correct a bad angle mid-air and land where you aimed, the pinball physics are doing their job. If the frog ricochets off a wall you swore was flat, you’ve found the problem before the hype machine could hide it.
Then keep an eye on the March 2027 date and the Xbox Series X|S and Xbox on PC platform list. Those are the two details most likely to shift before launch. Until they do, treat them as the plan, not a promise.
Grab the Demo and Test the Tongue
Your next step is simple: download the Croak demo on Steam before you read another preview. Skip the menus and head straight for the tongue. Try to grab a creature, then steer yourself mid-air toward a ledge you can barely reach. Keep at it until you land the shot consistently or start cursing at a frog.
If the bounce answers you, mark March 2027 on your calendar and decide where you’ll play. Game Pass subscribers can wait for launch day. Everyone else should decide whether an Xbox Series X|S or a PC is the better home for a frog this twitchy.
If the bounce feels like it’s fighting you, that’s useful information too. Delete the demo, go outside, and touch some grass. The frog will still be there in March, and so will your next favorite pinball table.
