The object of the game is to direct five frogs to their homes by dodging traffic on a busy road, then crossing a river by jumping on floating logs and alligators.

The frog starts at the bottom of the screen, which contains a horizontal road occupied by speeding vehicles such as race cars, dune buggies, trucks, and bulldozers.

The player must guide the frog between opposing lanes of traffic to avoid becoming roadkill and losing a life.

The upper half consists of a river with logs, alligators, and turtles, all moving horizontally across the screen in opposite directions.

By jumping on swiftly moving logs and the backs of alligators and turtles, the player can guide the frog to safety.

In 1982, Softline stated that "Frogger has earned the ominous distinction of being 'the arcade game with the most ways to die'.

"[8] There are many different ways to lose a life (illustrated by a skull and crossbones symbol where the frog was), including being run over by a road vehicle; jumping into the river; running into snakes, otters, or an alligator's jaws; sinking while on top of a diving turtle; riding a log, alligator, or turtle off the side of the screen; jumping into a home already occupied by a frog or alligator; jumping into the side of a home or the bush; or running out of time.

The opening tune is the first verse of a Japanese children's song called "Inu No Omawarisan" ("The Dog Policeman").

Other Japanese tunes include the themes to the anime series Hana no Ko Lunlun and Rascal the Raccoon.

A prototype was playtested in a San Diego bar and was so successful that distributors agreed to resell the game based on the test alone.

Several platforms such as the Commodore 64 support both ROM cartridges and magnetic media, so they received multiple versions of the game.

[15] Coleco released stand-alone Mini-Arcade tabletop versions of Frogger, which, along with Pac-Man, Galaxian, and Donkey Kong, had three million sales combined.

Reporting on Gordon's claim that Frogger's appeal lacked barriers of age or sex, Cashbox in October 1981 said "watch for it".

[27] Distributors reportedly found that Gordon's statement was accurate, with women enjoying its "non-aggressive yet challenging" gameplay.

[15] It became the company's most successful first-year product, beating the sales and revenues of its previous best-seller, Merlin.

[21] In his 1982 book Video Invaders, Steve Bloom described Frogger as a "climbing game" along with Space Panic (1980) and Nintendo's Donkey Kong (1981).

He said the "graphics are cute and detailed, the sound effects are crisp and clear, and the controls are sharp and responsive".

[19] Arcade Express reviewed the Atari VCS version in 1982, calling it "a highly authentic translation of the coin-op hit" that combines "great graphics with sophisticated play action".

It also proves that Atari isn't the only one making home versions of the major arcade games for the VCS.

"[26] Danny Goodman of Creative Computing Video & Arcade Games wrote in 1983 that the Atari 2600 version "is one of the most detailed translations I have seen", noting the addition of the wraparound screen.

[24] InfoWorld's Essential Guide to Atari Computers cited the Sierra version as an entertaining arcade game.

[35] In 1997, Hasbro Interactive released Frogger, a vastly expanded remake of the original for Windows and the PlayStation.

[54][55] On December 1, 2006, John Cunningham offered $250 for exceeding the same fictitious world record of 860,630 points by February 28, 2007.