🤡 Dropsy Nintendo Switch Review 8/10 "Hug is all you Need" 🤡 @dropsytheclown #IndieGames #GameDev

Sometimes, there’s nothing finer than a graphic adventure with pixel graphics. It’s a genre and style that has worked since the ‘80s, and through tweaks and differing approaches, still has plenty of life left in it - as illustrated here, by Dropsy.

Dropsy was first brought to my attention through the ever-wonderful Walt of Stumpy Frog Records. Quite often he would bring games to my attention that either had an emotional pull or were of artistic vision – he doesn’t mess about. I was initially drawn to Dropsy through the music, which had a jazz sensibility that always causes my trousers to loosen, drop…and then eventually fly off by themselves to begin life anew in another universe, occasionally sending me postcards written in a language devised of powerful, alien emotions.

The game casts you as Dropsy, a clown that lives in a disgraced circus with his father and must work to clear his family name following an accident at a show. As mentioned above, the game interface is purely visually led, with absolutely minimal text in-game. This is great as it not only makes the game comic-book in style - and accessible to all - but also fits with Dropsy’s innocent, childlike view of the world, as he walks around the many in-game locations hugging people and getting his animal friends into various scrapes.

Visually, the game is composed of hand-drawn pixel art and takes you from a circus and the surrounding forest through the town, junkyard and all the graveyards and factories in between. Whilst a lot of the puzzles are inventory-based, Dropsy is soon accompanied by two animal friends that can assist in digging for items, squeezing into small places, and naturally – peeing on fire hydrants.

Dropsy’s soundtrack is also a highlight. Chris Schlarb creates a blend of acoustic instrumentation and electronica that fits together in a weird and wonderful way. Whether it be the squelchy beats of Low Fibre / High Fructose, the sparse acoustic guitar melodies of Last of the Lonely Tumbleweeds, or the snappy percussion and bass of Lee’s Vampire Dub – the soundtrack feels dreamlike and scene-setting, making traipsing around the map a pleasure. These are songs that I would be very happy to hear stretched out to seven or eight times their length on a jam album. Good.

Right, I’m off to give a clown a big hug.