DROP AS YOU LIKE: DARIUS KAZEMI REMIXES AREA/CODE’S DROP7
An awesome bit of experimentation via Darius Kazemi, who idly wondered why Drop7, and not Drop-any-other-number? and thus set up this entirely flexible web-playable version of the game that runs from drop-3 to drop-14 (or, for the brave of heart, an order of magnitude higher, with drop-49), as well as options to change the number of drops before each new row.
If you’re lost on why this is even an interesting experiment to begin with, you clearly haven’t yet experienced area/code’s brilliant iPhone original — one of Offworld’s first, most-highly-recommended iPhone games — as the middle-ground sliver between Those Who Are Obsessed With Drop7 and Those Who Haven’t Played It Yet is so thin it’s essentially non-existent.
See more posts about: Darius Kazemi, Drop7
FACE-OFF: KEVIN CANCIENNE PITS P1VP2
Unshakably intrigued by the latest sneak peek at Kevin ‘potatojin‘ Cancienne’s P1VP2, a game he’s due to reveal in New York City Thursday evening, at a free Babycastles & The Game Innovation Lab-hosted lecture event where he’ll also discuss “his work, why he thinks it might be time for a 3D revolution in the indie scene, and the benefits of being a mediocre programmer.”
Cancienne — a newly-minted indie formerly of area/code, where he co-designed the super brilliant & essential iOS puzzler Drop7 — has been quiet on what exactly the game will entail, only hinting that its first playtest is “meant mostly to be played over an evening in a party setting.”
Any New York-natives attending the event & willing to bring back first-hand accounts would be eternally appreciated!
See more posts about: Babycastles, Drop7, Kevin Cancienne, New York City, P1VP2
TOUCH ME I’M SLICK (AND FREE): AREA/CODE’S DROP7 LITE
Hopefully, if you’re a regular and iPhone owning reader of Offworld, you will have already downloaded area/code’s phenomenal iPhone puzzle game Drop7, especially with the recent price drop and release of its Facebook-integrating social update.
If you haven’t, and I’m not sure exactly what it is you’re waiting for, a quick recap — the game is the portable version of the studio’s original promotional web game Chain Factor, and works like this:
Numbered discs fall into a 7×7 playfield, and are cleared away if a disc is in a row or column containing that many discs. For instance, in the image above right, the 6s are disappearing because they’re in a row of 6 discs, as well as the 3, as it’s in a 3-high column. The trick? Interspersed with the numbered discs are blank grey discs. In order to clear those, you’ve got to clear adjacent numbered discs twice to “break through” the grey (as is happening under the 3) and reveal the number beneath.
Not fully convinced that it’s seemingly effortlessly one of the most original and addictive puzzle games of the past several years? You’re in luck: a free Lite version of the game has just hit the App Store, and — even better — it’s an essential download even for those that already have the full version.
Rather than simply doing a timed or crippled version of the full game for its demo release, area/code have created a unique ‘Countdown’ mode which has you playing for a high score with a total of 100 discs.
Give the Lite version of the game a go, let us know your high scores via the comments below (my first run’s a tepid 66,574), and soon enough you’ll fully understand the near inescapable and entirely shameful kiss of death represented in that picture to the left (what are you supposed to do in those situations [other than not get yourself into them]?).
Drop7 home [area/code, full version App Store link, Lite version App Store link]
Previously:
See more posts about: area/code, Drop7, Offworld Originals, Touch Me I'm Slick
AREA/CODE IPHONE PUZZLER DROP7 GETS SOCIAL UPDATE, SOUNDTRACK EP
Why does that matter? Apart from the inherent benefits of socializing the game (and seeing where you actually stand against your friends), the game’s third “sequence” mode — which drops an identical pattern of discs each game for every player — now finally makes sense when you can track your score against the world.
If you haven’t yet picked up the game (and I don’t actually say this this urgently about many games, especially on the iPhone) — do not miss out on this one, it truly is one of the platform’s finest.
And! As a side note, flipping through its menus has also brought to my attention that the composer of the game’s fantastic Reich-ian soundtrack loops, Steve Horelick, has just released an EP of music from the game via his website. Even more oddly, that has also just brought to my attention that he’s the composer behind the original Reading Rainbow TV theme, which is my mind blown, just a touch.
Drop7 home [iTunes link, SteveH soundtrack]
Previously:
See more posts about: area/code, Drop7, Offworld Originals
TOUCH ME I’M SLICK AGAIN: AREA/CODE RELAUNCHES DROP7
In mid-December I was delighted to discover that Manhattan developer area/code had stealth released a port of Chain Factor — the Flash puzzler they’d created in partnership with CBS tv drama Numb3rs as part of a promotional alternate reality game — to the iPhone as snap7.
As it turned out, it was a bit too stealth for my own good: just hours after I’d posted it, the app had to be removed from the store. But now, a month later, it has re-emerged under its new name Drop7 at a re-introductory $0.99 price, and comes as very, very highly recommended as it did to start: it’s been one of my most regular smoke-break and long-trip iPhone companions since.
The only downside is — gasp — my high scores have been removed in transition, and I know I’ve had at least one absolutely brilliantly executed Sequence mode run where I scored well higher than my original 87k.
To learn more of what the game’s about read my original writeup, and find the game on the AppStore here.
Drop7 [area/code entertainment, iTunes link]
See more posts about: area/code, Drop7, Offworld Originals, Touch Me I'm Slick
TOUCH ME I’M SLICK: AREA/CODE’S DROP7
Update: Shortly after publishing, snap7 was removed from the App Store, but will be returning after the new year under a new name. Until then, consider this an introduction to Chain Factor and a preview of what’s to come, and I’ll update again when the game’s re-released. As noted via this January post, snap7 has officially been re-released to the App Store as Drop7. Check the updated post for more information!
In my top freeware games of 2007 recap, I noted a then-mysterious TV ad campaign related Flash game called Chain Factor. It was a curious mix of falling-block and number games, and, for me, stood so well on its own that it completely overshadowed the promotional ARG purpose it was supposed to serve.
It was cerebral but accessible, and, as I said at the time, was most surprising for blending the mechanics in a way no one (in this age of casual copycats) had thought of before. And it had that fantastic, circular, rising/falling Steve Reich-ian soundtrack. The ARG ended, the show was picked up for another season, and the masses cleared out, but I still found myself continually coming back for another run.
That’s why I’m so happy, then, to have realized this morning that area/code, the developer behind Chain Factor, have quietly ported the game to the iPhone as Drop7.
Billed now as Tetris meets Sudoku (which hits all the right notes, but check Factor‘s rules page for a better gist), the new version has adopted a much cleaner Helvetica design (which gives me NYC subway nostalgia) but kept — more importantly — that music. It’s also added a new Sequence mode which drops identical discs for all players to compare global high scores, though, so far as I can tell, they’re not charted on the web anywhere quite yet (also: a paltry 87,560 so far, if you’re wondering).
From top web game of 2007 to one of the top iPhone games of 2008’s a very happy progression, and Drop7 comes very highly recommended.
See more posts about: area/code, Drop7, Offworld Originals, Touch Me I'm Slick
