Frogger has been a widely debated game in most communities. It has a variety of theories and interpretations and I truly don’t think any of them are wrong. However, in my opinion, you shouldn’t be looking for a surface story with Frogger. If you ask me, Frogger is not a game with any true story, but instead, a game of ideas and themes. Reach and you’ll find a large handful of interesting and thought provoking metaphors and symbolism. My favorite symbolism is easily that of the bagua kind and frogger delivers in spades. The normal player may not truly grasp the bagua symbolism but I’ll give an easy, almost surface level explanation of its appearance in frogger. Bagua, in the simplest terms, is 8 symbols (earth, water, fire, wind, heaven, thunder, water, lake) represented by the Ying Yang symbol which is used to represent opposite forces. These opposite forces are represented by black and white, complete opposite colors. In Frogger, there are 2 main colors playing against each other, green for the frog and leaves and blue for the water. These 2 colors fight against each other in the screen and if the frog jumps in the opposite color or force, it dies out, just as if the balance of Ying Yang would be broken, the world as we know it would collapse. The frog’s true goal is not just to cross a river, but it’s instead a truly bleak and almost nihilistic uphill struggle to maintain the good in the world. As for the 8 symbols, Frogger is a very nature-filled game which covers a lot of the symbols, but it’s not that simple. Heaven is used to represent a strong and undivided force. Obviously, this would be the river, a strong unbeatable force that can kill on touch. The only thing you can really do is avoid it. Earth is used to represent something open to nature. In a meta sense, this can very well represent the player. You open yourself to frogger and let it’s nature and gameplay flow through you. A very clever breaking of the fourth wall. Thunder represents fast movement. This can represent the strong, powerful currents of the river that can so easily kill the frog, who I will further discuss later. Water represents challenges and deep meaning. In another meta theme, this represents not only the game, but the frog’s (Ying) arc and battle against the river. (Yang) In a meta sense, the game itself is a challenge, as most games are, with further deep meaning, the things we’re discussing at this very moment. In a frog sense, the frog’s battle against the river or evil is a monumental challenge. It’s almost pointless in the sense that this is a high score sense, the frog can never truly beat the river. However, through this challenge, the frog can find deep meaning within himself. This isn’t clearly stated in the game, you’ll have to look close for it, but eventually, the frog accepts the fact that he will never defeat the river. He will never defeat evil. However, he finds meaning within the struggle. It is a brilliant parallel to the story of Sisyphus. The mountain represents knowledge and the wise. You may not see this at first, but to me it is very clear that this represents the leaves. The leaves are not wise in a normal sense, but wise in the way that it protects the frog through the struggle. They’re his only protection against Yang. Wise lies in the ones who’ll uphold good. Wind represents the wealth and prosperity. What wind represents in frogger is not clear inside of the game but you’ll have to look at the real world implications of frogger. The frog must traverse through this river, who through context clues you can infer is not a river, but a flood. I mean, it’s endless! It’s an endless pool of Yang, evil, and while the frog, Ying, has to fight through it, the wealthy prosper and live high up. The frog will never reach them, the frog will never defeat the flood, the frog just lives. This leads me to the conclusion that frogger is a communist game through and through. Fire represents reputation, which in my opinion is the creators almost predicting the future. Frogger, itself, had a strong reputation. Most people know it and it’s one of the most popular arcade games of all time. Lake represents joy, which is found by the frog through the absurdity of the challenge presented to him! This game is positively brilliant and an easy ten on ten in my eyes!