BIG HOPS Review | A Ribbiting Start To 2026

2026 may be the Year of the Horse, but developer Luckshot Games has a strong case to change it to the Year of the Frog in the action platformer BIG HOPS.

The platformer genre is one that is near and dear to my heart. Like most people my age, their first gaming experiences were of a little Italian plumber going down pipes, collecting coins, and hopping on the heads of turtles and mushrooms to save the beloved princess. As I get older, I still yearn for that magic of mascot platformers and feeling the joy of traversing an in-game world by utilizing various skills to ultimately complete their journey. It’s here in the world of indies that game developers are keeping that feeling alive with their inventive takes on the genre. BIG HOPS is a sign of that movement not slowing down in the slightest.

In BIG HOPS, you play as Hop, a young frog who gets kidnapped from his home by a mysterious entity named Diss. Hop’s ultimate goal is to get back home by collecting airship parts that have been scattered across three unique and mechanically different biomes - Red Desert, Open Ocean, and the Shattered Mountain. While meeting new friends and learning new techniques, Diss has a different purpose in mind for Hop that we learn of during the narrative adventure. 

The biggest praise that I can give to BIG HOPS is how inventive and freeing the frog parkour moveset is. Swinging between platforms with our tongue, running across walls, and diving for extra distance at the last second to ensure that Hop lands safely all feels great. Once you add in the new veggie plants in each biome that have a unique power to them when either eaten or thrown into the world, that is when the moment-to-moment gameplay really starts to shine. Red peppers allow burning down of thick bramble in the desert to allow you to access hidden areas and items, throwing prickly plants will send out a zipline upon landing to help traverse giant chasms or give an added boost of verticality while you rest your stamina, or my personal favorite oil balls that when attached to a surface, allows Hop to use his tongue to slingshot to an out of reach spot without losing speed.

With each new plant, I found myself taking a second to look around the world and experiment with how I am going to use them to get to the map marker. The best part about this is that they aren’t always necessary to complete the section. The freedom to go about it your way allows players from all different types of playstyles to complete it in any way that they would like. There was a section early on in the Red Desert where you have to climb up a big elevator shaft and climbing up the walls was not possible due Hop’s stamina depleting quickly - stamina management is also super important to keep in mind while hopping through the game! The game gives you a plant that, when thrown, spits out orbs that you can use to slingshot yourself to bigger distances. My feeble brain just couldn’t get those to work, so instead, I had some prickly plants stored in my backpack and proceeded to make an impromptu ladder of ziplines that got me up the long and arduous elevator. In each new biome, BIG HOPS regularly allows players to experiment and lets them complete challenges in the way that they want. 

I also want to give the biggest of shout-outs to Luckshot Games for having a fully voiced experience where every single line of dialogue is voiced by SAG talents such as Steve Blum, Ben Diskin, Kat Cressida, and Chester Rushing. Each voiced character shows off such an amazing personality and charm that it elevates the entire experience. The sound design also shines in the different biomes. Running through a cave with high ceilings had the echoes of each step and Hop’s grunts of exertion equally reverberate throughout the walls, which blew me away.

While platforming through these areas, you are collecting tiny purple orbs called Dark Bits to upgrade your backpack with trinkets as well as Dark Drips which act a lot like a traditional star from Super Mario 64. There is a lot to collect in each world that also includes money to use at the shops for even more upgrades that gives players who enjoy the collect-a-thon gameplay of some platformers lots to look forward to. 

Hop’s tongue is not just used for parkouring around either. It is the sole way that Hop interacts with the world. Plucking flower petals to use as dyes for clothing, unplugging corks, flicking switches, opening chests and grabbing food to regain health are a regular occurrence. There are even some wonderful mini games/puzzles that see Hop use his tongue to unlock locked doors and even using it to create graffiti. 

While I did enjoy my time with Hop’s journey home, I do think that the length of the game dragged on a little too long and some puzzles in the later half of the game made me scratch my head thinking it was even possible. As much of a huge plus the freedom of the parkour platforming is, when it comes to certain puzzles and sections of the game, I do wish there was a little bit more of signposting or hints on how to complete it. There is a minecart section in the Shattered Mountain that still stresses me out because it took me triple the time to figure out how to escape from this loop.

Physics can also sometimes be unpredictable to the point of frustration. I noticed it the most while grappling onto floating apples. While swinging from apple to apple, my momentum either would not continue or would be too fast, which would cause Hop to fly over the next landing spot and cause me to lose health and have to start over. The wallrunning also seems to be hit or miss in certain sections that would ruin a long length of platforming by either not activating right away or the speed of the wallrun affecting the distance traveled. 

BIG HOPS is another example of how indie developers just understand what it takes to make a fun and innovative entry to the platforming genre, and it is the first must-play game of the year.

Breakdown

Game Name: BIG HOPS

Developer: Luckshot Games

Publisher: Luckshot Games

Platforms: PC via Steam, Nintendo Switch 1 and 2, PlayStation 5

Game Length: 15+ Hours, depending on how much you explore and try to 100% all of the collectibles.

Accessibility Options: Text Size

Final Thoughts

BIG HOPS is a high-quality platformer that grants the ultimate freedom to players, allowing them to parkour their way through Hop’s journey with super-tight and inventive platforming sections. The characters and world are full of charm, and die-hard fans of the platforming genre will have plenty to love. The game is a tad bit too long, and some of the platforming sections could use some more hints and signposting to help give players some direction in times of confusion and frustration.