The puzzle genre seems to have declined in popularity over the years for consoles but it is now encountering a Renaissance on mobile platforms. Sure, puzzle games usually are hit or miss area for most gamers. Sometimes regarded as childish or simply as time wasters. But weren't we all children and some point and what is wrong with wasting time once in a while?

Drop7 is a wonderfully addictive puzzle game for the Android platform (and iPhone/iPod Touch)



Drop7 is a mathematical puzzle game that plays similarly to Tetris. Gameplay takes place on a 7x7 grid where you are given a random disc to drop onto the grid. The discs are either labeled with a number (1-7) or it is blank. Whenever the number on a disc matches the amount of discs in its row or column it disappears, if a disc disappears next to blank disc the blank disc will crack and after it cracks twice a numbered disc will replace it. After dropping a disc your drop counter increases and once it fills then you will go to the next level. When you go to a new level then everything is shifted up and the bottom row is filled with blank discs. You get bonus points for creating chain reactions and for completely clearing the grid. There is no goal to the game, other than to create the highest score possible before losing.


Example of a break

There are 3 modes of gameplay: Normal, Hardcore and Sequence. Hardcore is like normal mode except the drop counter takes less to fill. Sequence is like normal but you are not given random discs, everyone who plays this mode will be given the same discs every time it is played. Sequence is a nice challenge because you can compete with everyone else in the world.

A nice feature is that your top 10 scores are tracked for each mode and you are given an average score for each mode. Additionally the top 100 scores are tracked globally so you can see where you stand against everyone else.

Generally I always play Normal mode. I don't really care for Hardcore or Sequence mode since I generally like to sit back and relax when I play. I'll generally play idly when I'm watching TV, on car trips (and I'm not driving of course) or when I'm using the bathroom for extended periods of time.


Pros:
- Simplistically addictive gameplay
- Tons of replay value
- Beautiful minimalist graphics

Cons:
- Big install (8.7 MB)
- Sometimes gameplay slows down
- Every so often the game crashes

I would definitely give this game a 9/10

I recommend this game to anyone with an Android device(or iPhone/iPod Touch). Since the Android Market gives you a 24 hour period to get a refund there is no reason to not give it a try.

Drop7 is available on the Android Market for $2.99 USD


Use a Barcode Scanner on your phone to go directly to Drop7 in the Market or just search the Market for "Drop7"

Androlib.com profile

Developers Page


This review was done on a Verizon Motorola Droid, running stock Android 2.1 (without root)