ode to drop 7 - yes!

personalities? :)) Drop7 is a marvel of videogame evolution. Clearly descended from Tetris – gravity-bound pieces, a growing mound of detritus to clear away before it collides with the top of the screen, the exploitation of our tidying impulse – Area/Code’s numerical spin on the formula exhibits such deft speciation that it would be dishonest to wave it away as mere homage. Some days we flirt with the question of whether Drop7 has surpassed its Russian forebear. At the very least, it’s on a shockingly even par. Good luck finding a more handsome puzzle game. The pleasing symmetry of the 7×7 tile grid. The way the coloured facades of each piece pop from the greyscale background like Dublin’s famous painted doors on a dreary afternoon. The subtle pop-art sensibilities of the extruded typeface. The way the point bonuses float off each shattering piece like souls departing the body. And we haven’t even broached mechanics yet. Descending the mineshaft of tactical possibilities, you realise that Drop7 wants not your reflexes, but your mind. The numbered, circular discs don’t rain down unbidden. Each new arrival waits patiently at the top of the screen for you to decide which column it will be deposited into. These oases of chess-like deliberation make Drop7 the ideal portable companion. If you join a queue at the bank with just one person ahead of you, you’ll squeeze in two or three drops, no question. And the move isn’t set in motion until you lift your finger off the screen. The game tempts you to second-guess, slide your finger across to a neighbouring column, then reluctantly back again if you decide to trust your first impulse.

As the name suggests, there are seven pieces, each with its own number and associated colour. Each numbered piece shatters when the number of consecutive discs in a column or row matches the number stamped on its face. For veteran players, these pieces become distinct characters in a methodically unfolding drama. We imagine them having personalities. The 1 is a loner. He won’t break unless he’s in a column or row by himself, pried apart from his neighbours. If the 1 is claustrophobic, the 7 is a boisterous extrovert, revelling in the camaraderie of packed rows and columns.