If you ever wondered what happens when you combine space pirates, amphibians, and deck-building mechanics, Aska Studios has an answer. Gang of Frogs opens its Steam Playtest on December 5, 2025, running through December 12, giving players a chance to command a crew of cloned mercenary frogs battling monstrous bugs across the galaxy. This is not a sentence anyone expected to write, yet here we are.
The game comes from Aska Studios, a relatively fresh Icelandic developer based in ReykjavÃk working in a remote-first environment. They announced Gang of Frogs back in October 2024 and have spent the last two years developing what they call a genre-bending blend of roguelite shooter and deckbuilding mechanics set in an 18th century cyberpunk universe. Yes, you read that correctly. Historical Cyberpunk is now a thing.
What Gang of Frogs Actually Is
At its core, Gang of Frogs is a 1-4 player co-op third-person shooter with roguelite structure and deckbuilding mechanics managing your progression. You play as cloned mercenary frogs serving under your creator, employer, and captain named Hank, who runs the SS Leviathan spaceship. Your job is taking on contracts to destroy monsters, upgrading your frogs between runs, and trying to survive long enough to collect payment.
The deckbuilding system is where things get interesting. Throughout each run, you manage your economy to purchase cards representing upgrades, modifiers, weapons, and abilities. The deck you build determines your experience completely. You could become a DPS machine wielding a damage-boosted minigun, or pivot to explosive specialist with grenades and airstrikes at your disposal. Aska Studios claims the game offers over 100 billion build combinations at launch, plus permanent upgrades that carry between runs.
This means no two playthroughs should feel identical. The roguelite structure provides randomized elements each run, while deckbuilding gives players agency in choosing their path and build every time they play. Add in the co-op element where four players can coordinate complementary builds, and the tactical possibilities expand significantly beyond typical shooters.
The Historical Cyberpunk Setting
Historical Cyberpunk sounds like a contradiction, and maybe that’s the point. Gang of Frogs takes 18th century aesthetics – think Age of Sail piracy, sailing ships, naval warfare – and mashes them with futuristic technology, space travel, and cyberpunk sensibilities. The result is outlaw frogs sailing a spaceship that resembles a galleon, fighting bugs with high-tech weaponry while maintaining that period atmosphere.
The SS Leviathan serves as your mobile base between missions. You sail through the galaxy taking contracts, plundering loot, eating flies (because you’re frogs), and fighting through hordes of monstrous bugs and space crabs. The enemies specifically mentioned include bugs and crustaceans, suggesting an insectoid/arthropod theme for the opposition rather than typical sci-fi alien designs.
This weird genre fusion creates a distinct visual identity that separates Gang of Frogs from the crowded co-op shooter market. Where most games choose either historical or futuristic settings, Aska Studios smashed them together and added amphibious mercenaries for good measure. It’s ridiculous in the best possible way.
How the Gameplay Loop Works
Based on what Aska Studios revealed, each run follows a roguelite structure where you take contracts, complete objectives, collect resources, and try to survive. Death is permanent for that run, but you retain some progression elements that make subsequent attempts easier. The deckbuilding happens during runs as you earn currency to purchase new cards that modify your abilities, weapons, and stats.
The game can appeal to different player types equally. Hardcore players who want to grind endgame content can chase optimal builds and maximize efficiency. Casual players just wanting quick action to unwind can jump in for shorter sessions without feeling overwhelmed by complexity. This balance between accessibility and depth is crucial for co-op games where friend groups often have mixed skill levels.
Weapon variety appears substantial, with options ranging from miniguns to explosive ordnance. The trailer showed frogs using assault rifles, grenade launchers, and coordinated firepower against swarms of enemies. The third-person perspective gives you spatial awareness for positioning during chaotic firefights while maintaining that action-oriented feel.
Why Deckbuilding in a Shooter
Combining deckbuilding with shooting mechanics might sound unusual, but several games proved the formula works. Risk of Rain 2, Roboquest, and Gunfire Reborn all blend roguelite shooters with build customization that creates unique synergies. Gang of Frogs takes this further by making the progression explicitly card-based rather than random item drops.
This gives players more control over builds. Instead of hoping the right items drop, you can strategically purchase cards that complement your chosen playstyle. If you commit to an explosive build early, you can actively search for and buy cards that boost blast damage, add more grenades, or create chain reactions. The deck becomes your loadout, and managing it effectively determines success.
The 100 billion build combinations claim sounds like marketing hyperbole until you consider the math. With numerous cards, multiple upgrade paths per card, different weapon types, abilities, and modifiers that interact with each other, the permutations genuinely expand exponentially. Whether players actually experience that variety depends on balancing, but the potential exists.
About Aska Studios
Aska Studios operates out of ReykjavÃk, Iceland, joining a small but growing Icelandic game development scene. The studio works remote-first, allowing them to collaborate with talent beyond Iceland’s borders while maintaining headquarters in the capital. Gang of Frogs represents their debut title after two years of development.
According to developer interviews from mid-2025, early playtests produced promising results. Most players who tried the game said it was fun and wanted to play more, which is the best feedback any developer can receive during testing. The studio emphasizes creating immersive experiences inspired by styles and narratives they personally love, rather than chasing trends.
The humor-laden narrative and interactions represent a conscious design choice. Gang of Frogs doesn’t take itself seriously despite the depth of its systems. You’re frogs in space shooting bugs while your captain Hank manages performance reviews and threatens to make underperforming frogs walk the plank. That tonal balance between mechanical depth and comedic presentation could be what makes the game memorable beyond its core gameplay.
The Steam Playtest Details
The Steam Playtest runs from December 5 through December 12, 2025, giving players a full week to experience the game before it disappears. You can sign up directly through the Steam page, and if selected, you’ll get access to download and play during that window. Playtests are free and serve as Aska Studios’ method for gathering feedback and stress-testing servers before full release.
No full release date has been announced yet, so this playtest represents the best opportunity to try Gang of Frogs until the studio shares more timeline details. Based on typical development cycles, having a public playtest suggests the game is far enough along that core systems are functional and stable, though plenty of polish and content creation likely remains.
The playtest will presumably include a limited portion of content rather than the full game. Expect access to early missions, a subset of the available cards, and enough gameplay to understand core mechanics while leaving plenty of content locked for release. This approach lets developers gather feedback on specific systems without spoiling the complete experience.
Co-op Considerations
The 1-4 player structure means you can play solo or bring up to three friends. Co-op games live or die based on how well they handle different party sizes, so hopefully Aska Studios balanced enemy counts, difficulty scaling, and objectives to remain fun whether you’re playing alone or with a full squad.
Deckbuilding in co-op creates interesting dynamics where players can specialize into complementary roles. One player focuses on tanking damage while another handles crowd control, a third maximizes single-target DPS, and the fourth provides support. Coordinating deck purchases to create synergistic team compositions adds strategic depth beyond individual builds.
The roguelite structure also means failed runs don’t waste too much time. If your team wipes, you start over with retained permanent upgrades rather than replaying long campaign missions. This makes Gang of Frogs suitable for shorter gaming sessions where you can complete runs in reasonable timeframes, which is important for multiplayer games where coordinating schedules already poses challenges.
FAQs
When does the Gang of Frogs Steam Playtest start?
The Gang of Frogs Steam Playtest runs from December 5 through December 12, 2025. You can sign up for access directly through the game’s Steam page at any time before the playtest begins.
Is Gang of Frogs free to play?
The Steam Playtest is completely free for anyone selected after signing up. The full release pricing hasn’t been announced yet, but playtests don’t require purchasing anything.
What genre is Gang of Frogs?
Gang of Frogs is a genre-bending mix of roguelite shooter, deckbuilding mechanics, and third-person co-op gameplay. It combines elements from multiple genres rather than fitting neatly into one category.
How many players can play Gang of Frogs together?
Gang of Frogs supports 1-4 players in co-op. You can play solo or bring up to three friends for squad-based gameplay with coordinated builds and strategies.
Who develops Gang of Frogs?
Aska Studios, an Icelandic game developer based in ReykjavÃk, develops and publishes Gang of Frogs. The studio operates with a remote-first work environment and has been working on the game for approximately two years.
What does Historical Cyberpunk mean?
Historical Cyberpunk in Gang of Frogs refers to the fusion of 18th century Age of Sail aesthetics with futuristic cyberpunk technology. Think pirate ships in space with advanced weapons and cyber-enhanced frogs.
How many build combinations does Gang of Frogs have?
Aska Studios claims over 100 billion build combinations at launch through the deckbuilding system. Cards represent upgrades, weapons, abilities, and modifiers that interact to create vastly different playstyles.
When does Gang of Frogs fully release?
No full release date has been announced yet. The December 2025 playtest suggests development is progressing, but Aska Studios hasn’t shared specific launch timing beyond confirming it will be available on PC.
Conclusion
Gang of Frogs represents exactly the kind of weird creativity that makes indie gaming exciting. A small Icelandic studio took frogs, space piracy, 18th century aesthetics, cyberpunk technology, deckbuilding mechanics, and co-op shooting, then somehow made it all work together into something genuinely interesting. The Steam Playtest from December 5-12 gives players a free chance to experience what Aska Studios has been building for two years and decide if outlaw amphibians fighting space bugs is their kind of absurd. With over 100 billion potential build combinations, roguelite structure that rewards experimentation, and co-op that encourages coordinated team strategies, Gang of Frogs has the mechanical foundation to back up its ridiculous premise. Whether it ultimately succeeds depends on execution, but the ambition and creativity are undeniable. Sign up for the playtest, grab some friends, and prepare to sail the SS Leviathan through space while shooting bugs as a mercenary frog. It’s 2025, and that’s apparently a normal sentence now.