Game modes
Ribbit Royale has several ways to play. Choose a mode on the right side of the main menu, then pick a map. Bots fill empty places so a match can start straight away, and real players take their places as they join.
Deathmatch
Deathmatch is the classic mode and the best place to start. Up to sixteen frogs share a map, every frog fights every other frog, and when you are taken down you respawn a moment later somewhere away from your attacker. The frog with the most kills when the timer runs out wins the match.
On the team maps, such as Compound and Dune Crossing, deathmatch becomes team deathmatch. Frogs are split into a red team and a blue team, and the team with more kills wins. After you respawn you get three seconds of protection, shown by a shimmering bubble, which ends early the moment you fire or swing.
Battle Royale
Battle royale puts ten frogs on one island with one life each. When the lobby is ready, a countdown starts and every frog begins the match on the ground, spread around the map. A storm then closes in from the edges, and frogs caught outside the safe zone lose health over time. The safe zone keeps shrinking until only a small circle is left.
There are no respawns in battle royale. Once you are out, you can watch the rest of the match as a spectator, following the frogs that are still alive. The last frog standing wins the crown.
Battle royale rewards patience. Pick your fights, keep an eye on the minimap to see where the zone is heading, and save your grappling hook or rockets for the moment you need to escape.
5v5
5v5 is a round-based team mode. Two teams of five frogs start each round in their own base. Every frog has one life per round, and a round ends when one team has no frogs left. The first team to win ten rounds wins the match, and the teams switch sides at half time.
Each round begins with a short countdown while everyone waits in their base. The grappling hook and rocket launcher are not available in 5v5. Instead, every frog carries one grenade per round, chosen in the loadout: a smoke grenade that blocks sight lines, a molly that leaves a pool of fire, a flash that blinds frogs looking at it, or a frag that explodes after a short fuse. Teamwork, timing and smart use of grenades decide most rounds.
1v1
1v1 is a head-to-head duel between two frogs with exactly the same loadout: a sniper rifle, the sword and the grappling hook. Each round both frogs start far apart with one life, and the frog left standing wins the round. The first frog to win ten rounds wins the duel. If a round runs out of time, or both frogs go down together, nobody scores. When a duel is full, new players wait as spectators and the loser of a duel makes way for the next challenger. The 1v1 button appears on the menu when duels are open.
Playing with friends
Add friends from the Friends button on the main menu, then invite them to your party. Everyone in a party joins the same match together, and in team modes they are placed on the same team. Party members stand together on the lily pad in the middle of the home screen while you wait.
Spectating
You can watch a match without playing from the Esc menu. If you are away from your keyboard for a few minutes during a match, the game moves you to spectator mode so you do not hold up a place, and the camera follows a real player. Press F to fly the camera freely around the map.