FROG POND
The main idea / concept of Frog Pond is quite simple! You control a frog who must try and catch as many insects as possible with its tongue in a race to see how many points you can score. The game subject and total lack of difficulty pretty much guarantee that it was to going to be aimed at small children, much like the developer's (Nick Tuner) previous game Demons to Diamonds.
Frog Pond is an almost exact copy of Frogs and Flies. Nick Turner claimed this was completely coincidence however with neither company knowing what the other had been working on. Nick had even originally wanted to add more options and gameplay to the game, expanding it to 8K. Atari wasn't too keen on spending the extra money on more memory for a children's game (other childrens titles didn't sell well for them), and refused to allocate the extra 4K. Frog Pond was shelved and Nick left Atari shortly afterwards.
The controls are as follows:
Joystick - Move the frog left and right on the screen.
Fire Button - Makes your frog jump into the air and catch bugs with his tongue.
*TIPS*
Time Your Jumps: Since you cannot control the tongue direction, you must time your jumps perfectly so the tongue hits the insect as it passes.
Watch the Insect Patterns: Different flies have varied flight patterns. Study these to know when to jump.
PROTOTYPE PHOTOS
