Move over, Discord: FroggieChat is my new messenger of choice

(Image credit: StupidPlusPlus)

Forget Slack, Discord, or (heaven forbid) Skype. It's time we all moved over to FroggieChat, a free throwback to the best chat client of all—the Nintendo DS's built-in Pictochat.

A "faithful remake" of Pictochat for Windows and Android, FroggieChat is developer StupidPlusPlus' nostalgic gut punch for anyone who grew up with the original Nintendo DS. Painstakingly recreating the look and feel of that delightful little client, the dev has added a few new features—from extra drawing colours to a "suggestion" button for generating drawing prompts.

FroggieChat may intentionally only work over local wifi networks—a deliberate decision, considering the original Pictochat's limitations. But with a theoretical limit of 65535 members per chat room and the magic of virtual networks, I reckon some clever folks out there could set up a viable replacement to conventional chat apps.

FroggieChat is available for free over on Itch, though a $1 "Deluxe" edition will grant you extra drawing colours and a little crown over your name. The free version is also available for Android via Google Play, though I found the in-app keyboard a bit too teensy on a phone screen.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm now off to try convince Future's top brass to ditch Slack in favour of a PC Gamer FroggieChat lobby.

20 years ago, Nat played Jet Set Radio Future for the first time, and she's not stopped thinking about games since. Joining PC Gamer in 2020, she comes from three years of freelance reporting at Rock Paper Shotgun, Waypoint, VG247 and more. Embedded in the European indie scene and a part-time game developer herself, Nat is always looking for a new curiosity to scream about—whether it's the next best indie darling, or simply someone modding a Scotmid into Black Mesa. She also unofficially appears in Apex Legends under the pseudonym Horizon.