Dropple Review

Platformers just so happen to be the genre that an entire generation of gamers were raised on. Thanks to a certain portly plumber, virtually anyone that has ever picked up a controller understands the concept of getting from point A to point B, without landing in, on, or around point C. The new platformer Dropple uses a variety of different point Cs in order to keep players from finishing each stage. Can this watery-themed romp make a splash on iOS?

Rarely do inane drops of water get the chance to be more than a simple drip of hydration. In Dropple, players aspire to collect other water droplets, in order to build up scoring combos. At the end of each stage the drops are totaled up and changed over into in-game currency, also unlocking the next stage. The goal is collecting as many items as possible in the shortest amount of time. While this may be simple in concept, execution is another thing entirely.

Every renegade droplet is controlled using the tilt controls found in each iOS device. Luckily this is one of the examples of a perfect use of the gyroscopic toolset. All moves seem precise and fluid, with the more extreme the tilt, the more ground being covered per hop. Traversal may be responsive, but the environmental challenges are more than enough to make even the most seasoned gamer grind their teeth in response to the difficulty level.

Once the game has introduced things like reversible gravity, laser beams, parachutes, and much more, there will be little doubt that Dropple has an enough variety to scramble any player’s brain. Mix in power-ups like magnets, shields and the ability to rewind time and there will, as always, prove to me more than one way to skin the proverbial cat. Oh, and did we mention that the base game, which is free, clocks in at a beefy one hundred and seventy levels? That is a lot of bang for no buck.

Thanks to microtransactions that don't hog the spotlight, Dropple may very well be one of the most generous free offerings released in this New Year. When the barrier to entry is this low, there is no excuse not to put the game through its paces. Happy hopping!

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