iPhone Game of the Week: Drop7
Drop7 is Area/Code’s first foray into the iPhone and iPod Touch gaming territory, and as a freshman release from a small company, Drop7 paves its way as one of the most simple, yet ingenious, puzzle games available on the App Store.
The set up is simple: players are presented with a 7 X 7 grid, with each starting game having a random amount of pieces on the board. Each piece is designated with a number (1 through 7), and those without numbers are gray.
Like other puzzle games, the goal is to get as many points as possible without letting any of the columns fill up past the top of the grid. If that happens, or the entire grid fills up, the game is over.
Each turn has the player dropping one randomly generated piece onto the board. To clear out pieces, the player must drop a numbered piece into a column or row that corresponds with its number. For instance, if you get a #4 piece, it would need to be dropped on top or next to three other pieces (to make four) in order for it to disappear.
This creates an element of strategy when lining up chains. Chains occur when the player drops one piece creating a string of actions eliminating multiple pieces.
Other than the numbered pieces, the player must also contend with the gray pieces. Gray pieces have two layers. In order to chip off one of the layers, the player must eliminate a numbered piece next to a gray one. After chiseling the two layers away, the gray piece changes into a random numbered piece.
Each time the player drops a piece, a dot from the meter below the grid goes away. Once all the dots are gone, the player gains a level and gets a substantial increase in points. However, when a new level is reached, the bottom row of the grid fills up with gray pieces, thus pushing up all the other pieces.
Just recently, the game was updated to add leader boards as well as the ability to link up with the player’s Facebook account and share scores with friends there.
Drop7 is a simple game in concept, but that doesn’t mean it isn’t fun as all get out. With three different modes of play (Normal, Hard and Sequence), there is a lot there for the money.
Get on it.
