This game originally showed up on the "related games" page for Jimmy and the Pulsating Mass. After finishing that game and feeling empty inside, I had some trouble getting over the sorrow that game left behind, so I aimlessly found a video of someone playing it online before getting interested enough to try playing it for myself. In short, this game was a perfect pick-me-up after Jimmy -- because it is a game with emotional warmth that demonstrates the power of healing. And of course (this is the part that pumps me up) there are also a lot of "slightly horrifying" subtexts and messages behind it that give Dropsy surprising depth.
Note | The following post contains mild-to-moderate spoilers for Dropsy, potentially disturbing images, as well as screenshots of a clown that might put those with coulrophobia off. Reader discretion is advised?
Additionally, the game itself contains scenes of flashing lights, so those with epilepsy or similar conditions should be extra careful.
Created in Unity, funded by Kickstarter and published by Devolver Digital on September 10th, 2015, Dropsy is a point-and-click adventure game that features absolutely no text. Instead, pictograms and visual cues demonstrate every hint within the game! This makes for an interesting, although sometimes challenging experience in which players have to figure out what "picture speech bubbles" mean.
Our titular character, Dropsy, is a clown who likes giving hugs. However, not all is well within the area he lives -- because of a fire within the circus he worked in, everyone pretty much hates him, as they believe the fire was his fault. (It wasn't, but Dropsy was unable to convince the world of this.) However, Dropsy is by no means discouraged by the hostility aimed towards him. Throughout the game, he eagerly helps many of the people (and animals) in his town/city/area, explores the backdrop he lives in, and figures out some dark secrets about himself and those around him.
Here is some information from the Steam store page:
Dropsy is a non-traditional take on the classic point and click adventure formula starring the game's perpetually carefree namesake clown as he explores a richly detailed world full of colorful characters and sinister secrets, doling out hugs along the way. Rather than lead players on a singular narrative path, players are free to determine which avenues of adventure they want to explore in an open world setting and can piece the puzzles together at their own pace.
First of all, the art is absolutely gorgeous. The world and environments change colour palettes on a day-night cycle and the sunsets look amazing. Dropsy himself has a kind of creepy-but-cute charm as he bounces around exploring, and his signature move -- the Hug -- has unique animations for every other character (bird, mouse, human, or tree).
When a hug succeeds, a success badge pops up to show how happy Dropsy is:
Since there is no recognizable text in this game, it is theorized that Dropsy maybe can't read or the text is gibberish on purpose. However, it has come to my attention that one is actually able to "translate" this gibberish because every symbol corresponds to an alphabet letter. For example, this "word" actually says hugged!
While he wanders around hugging every huggable thing on the planet and solving the problems of various residents along the way, Dropsy's father becomes ill, which prompts him to go look for some sort of medicine to help him out. It is through his search that he meets the owner of a company with the logo "S" on it. This owner offers help for his father if Dropsy helps him out. Apparently, the owner/CEO is looking to start another circus and wants Dropsy to work for him, but not everything is as it seems...
Throughout the game, there will be many puzzles Dropsy can't solve on his own. Good thing he has a little clown dog and animal friends (with whom he can apparently communicate) to help him! Switching perspectives to one of them can help him dig up areas, crawl into little vents, or take things down from high places. None of the puzzles within this adventure seemed especially difficult to solve, although thinking outside the box and backtracking might be required.
Isn't that little mouse adorable?
A secondary objective in this game is for Dropsy's dog to go peeing on every single fire hydrant he can, by the way. Dog also gets a popup showing when he is successful. Bravo, dog.
Although Dropsy seems to be a light-hearted game, occasionally he will have some not-so-happy dreams. Some of the nightmares come back to the circus accident five years ago, in which he lost his mother; others show off a more surreal vibe that can be downright scary at times.
At the end of the dream, Dropsy is always swallowed whole by some sort of weird monster mouth before he wakes up on the ground, disoriented.
These dream sequences, as well as some of the areas discovered within the story, show off a much darker undertone lurking beneath this seemingly cheerful story. There is a lot of stuff going on in this town, as Dropsy discovers on his journey -- and some of it has to do with himself.
I would be remiss if I didn't discuss the excellent soundtrack. As someone who is a big fan of video game music, I am always impressed by how amazing composers are. The soundtrack for Dropsy is delightfully varied and suits the mood of each are perfectly. Give it a listen below:
To conclude, this game is an excellent and overlooked point-and-click adventure that doesn't need text to show just how poignant its story can be. Dropsy shows off the power of kindness and hugs, even in a world that can be hostile and hopeless. Although sometimes the slow (beautiful) animations and movement speed can make areas clunky to navigate, this game is absolutely worth its full price of 10 USD for its delightful creativity.
PS: There is also a fart button on the save menu that you can click unlimited times because it's funny.
Find Dropsy on:
Follow the creators:
Dropsy's official Twitter
Developer/artist Jay Tholen, who also made Hypnospace Outlaw
Thank you for reading this far!
Storm
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