As I’ve said plenty of times before, one of the things I appreciate the most about the indie gaming scene is that there are so often unexpected surprises that pop up in the eShop pretty well unannounced. While you’d normally hear about mainstream or AAA titles well in advance of their launch, your typical indie game usually receives little fanfare, so that makes it easy for them to sneak up on you, making it all the more fun when they’re a breath of fresh air. That’s very much the case with Seafrog, a side-scrolling mix of platforming, skateboard-style tricks, and a steady stream of varying challenges backed by a cavalcade of unusual characters and a variety of surprises.

At its core the game is simple enough, with you going around to repair a number of run-down ships while looking for the master gears that you’ll need to ultimately complete your quest. Riding on your rocket-powered wrench, you’ll be trying to reach gears that you can tighten, as well as collectables, powering yourself up by doing a variety of tricks as you go. You could never accuse the game of being ordinary or predictable, and honestly you’ll be too busy having fun, but perhaps gritting your teeth a bit as you try to complete some challenge that you’ve stumbled into.

While the spirit of the game is pretty light and fun, I’ll admit that there are some areas you’ll get into that less dexterous people may struggle with. It isn’t so much that fundamentally pulling off tricks or dealing with enemies is difficult, most people should be able to get the hang of much of it relatively quickly. The hard part is simply putting it all together when you’re being timed, or are in an area with a lot going on. There’s normally a path or two you’ll find in a room that will help you get your tricks going, but trying to get your skills and timing down to make things happen may be a stretch for less seasoned gamers. Still, it’s a great example of an indie title simply having its own ideas on gameplay, cobbling together a few different ideas into one package, and making it work surprisingly well.