Drops

Ever wanted to play a game of Tetris that isn't Tetris? Well, you've got thousands of alternatives, some of them good, some of them bad. Drops is just another game to add to the pile - though you can probably drop it in the 'good' pile. Neither extensive nor terribly attractive, Drops is, nevertheless, a damn solid experience.

Concept

There's no story to Drops, as far as I can tell, so let's just skip to the game play. You are a platform, and a dedicated platform, at that, as you've decided to prevent any of the blocks raining down from the heavens (literally) from falling into what is, presumably, an endless abyss below. Unfortunately, squares and rectangles and circles and triangles don't always FIT together, so you need to maneuver yourself in such a way that they all manage to remain more or less upright - and once they've all descended, you need to keep them stable for at least three seconds.

Yep. Drops is a high speed puzzler. You've seen its like before - though to be fair I don't know if I've played a game where you need to balance the blocks rather than eliminating 'em. Points for turning Jenga into a computer game under a different name, after a fashion?

Controls

Couldn't be easier. Left takes the platform left, right takes the platform right. Huzzah!

Graphics

Drops isn't a pretty game, but it's not an ugly game, either. I'd call it the ultimate in basic: it provides more or less the bare minimum necessary (plus some attractive clouds and rocky terrain in the background) to get by. And, in all fairness, it doesn't really need anything else. Thumbs up? Thumbs up.

Sound

Aside from the occasional Egyptian-esque theme when you complete a level and a few extra sound effects for flavour, Drops relies on rainfall and thunder for a soundtrack. I'm totally cool with that, as I love listening to thunderstorms.

Challenge Rating

Drops is a tricky game, but unlike a lot of other dropping puzzlers it's not a play-until-you-canna-play-no-more affair. There are twenty levels, each a little more difficult than the last, and though you'll screw up fairly often they're never so long that starting over is an arduous chore. Irritating, perhaps, but if you screwed up then it's your own damned fault.

I have but two complaints in terms of difficulty:

1.) Most of the later levels are fairly hard, but there are one or two that are stunningly easy. Reshuffle the order a bit, perhaps?

2.) The further you get in the game, the more you'll come across red blocks that will 'explode' upon making contact with another red block. ('Explode' because it's more of a pop and a rejection of each other than an actual explosion.) I'm fine with the mechanic itself, though every now and then the blocks would pop WITHOUT making contact with another red block. A rarity, this, but still aggravating.

Overall? Drops is pretty fair. Puzzlers should enjoy the challenge of wrestling with physics.

Conclusion?

Drops ain't gonna blow anyone out of the water. It will, however, provide a nice, roughly twenty-minute-long diversion, and it's more than good enough to warrant a sequel or two. I approve and recommend.

PLAY DROPS