If you’re ready to embark on a colourful cartoon platforming adventure, Big Hops is looking to leave its mark on the genre with exciting movement mechanics.
Inspirations behind Big Hops gameplay include Mario, Sonic Adventure, Zelda: Breath of the Wild, and even RimWorld. However, there are plenty of innovations on show that set it apart from its influences.
Small frog, big world
Big Hops is a 3D platformer and action-adventure where you play as a frog named Hop. After being kidnapped from home by a spirit called Diss, your mission is to get back home to your family, but you’ll meet all kinds of characters and have to complete missions along the way. The game is split into four main worlds: Forest, Desert, Ocean, and Mountain, and each world offers a self-contained story with conflict to be solved.
A core mechanic in Big Hops is your frog’s tongue. Your tongue is how you interact with the world. Use your tongue to pull items to your hands, to lock pick, activate switches, traverse up walls, tongue-swing to reach high speeds, and so much more. Aside from your tongue, other movement mechanics include rolling, diving, crouching, jumping, rail grinding, and the like.
There’s more movement magic to be found through veggies, encountered while exploring and wielding unique effects. Acorns, for example, grow vines around walls and ceilings to help you climb further, and Cacti deploy tightropes that are useful for crossing large gaps.
Big Hops does have collectibles, but they serve gameplay purposes rather than being simply items to locate. Find Mixtapes to play on your in-game Boombox or Hop-man and customize your backpack with trinkets, and more.
The Big Hops demo is now live on Steam. The full game will launch on January 12, 2026, on Steam, Nintendo Switch, and PlayStation 5.
More 3D platforming:
SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide PC review — Sea change |
