Game publisher Atlus is best known for taking chances on JRPGs that probably wouldn't see the light of day in North America if not for their efforts. Droplitz isn't typical of their published games, but it's a casual game treat I'm still glad they decided to back. You will suck. You will be frustrated. You'll then, however, suddenly get it, everything will click, and the next thing you know you're addicted and you've just wasted a few hours (in a good way).

Dropping Pipes

Droplitz is a casual game about leading yellow droplets (or Droplitz if you prefer) of liquid from the taps at the top of the screen to the collector segments at the bottom. Stopping you is a board full of randomly placed pipes, which come in one of several different shapes. You've got straight pipes, curved pipes, Y-shaped pipes, etc. It's your job to highlight the circular pipe segments, rotate them in either a clockwise or counter-clockwise fashion, and make it so a solid path stretches from the collectors all the way back to the taps at the top that are spitting out the Droplitz. As the rolling drops hit dead ends, a meter on the side of the board is slowly depleted, and it's game over once they're all gone (you can replenish your supply by making paths). The idea sounds simple, but when your first game isn't stretching beyond the two or three minute mark to begin with, you'll start to realize that Droplitz can be a very difficult game.

As you start playing, you'll start to learn from your mistakes and understand how to play better and maximize your score. When a certain difficult piece drops on top of a container, you learn rather quickly what you need to do to properly use it. You'll also learn about multipliers and combos, which you can reach by linking all your taps and containers in one turn and then by having subsequent pieces drop into play and instantly make a match; it's difficult to do, but when you start turning dials and tweaking them until absolute point rewarding perfection, you really do get addicted to wanting to go that extra step to get that high score.

One thing that's slightly annoying in the beginning is the way in which you unlock new modes and boards, but then you learn it's all for the best since you'd otherwise be too poor a player to appreciate them. Players start with only one board in the game's Classic mode, which is the default "play until the game speeds up to an insanely difficult speed and then you lose." After you earn enough points on the default board, you'll unlock the conjoining boards, which can then unlock other boards they're touching after other requirements are met. The new boards opened up are mostly different because of the larger board sizes and various difficulties.

Hot Coffee Droplitz Style

Besides the Classic mode, Droplitz features three other modes with various idiosyncrasies making them unique. The first new mode you'll unlock is the Zendurance mode, which plays much like the Classic mode, though there is no constantly increasing speed; the default speed is slightly faster than normal, but at least it doesn't get any harder (think of it as a Survival mode more than anything). The second unlockable mode is the Power-Up mode, which is like the regular Classic mode, but now the occasional specially colored drops will fall, which give you one of several power-ups whenever a path is made. Power-ups include area bombs, board clearing bombs, the ability to slow time down, and freeze board pieces. The final mode is Infection and has pieces of the board getting gunked up with goo, which causes them to turn slower, and if not quickly removed can spread and infect other pipe pieces too.

Graphically the game is simple, but pleasing. You won't be wowed at the spectacle, but they're nice enough so that they'll lull you into a sense of tranquility, as the game can be rather meditative and zen as you really get involved. The sound and music works much in the same way, as the techno songs chosen are more trance oriented than the heavy bass and boom of a dance club. As the gameplay spellbinds you, the visuals and music lull you in, and you really do start to zone out on things taking place outside the game.

If you're a fan of casual arcade games that challenge you to test yourself on constantly getting a new high score, Droplitz is an easy recommendation. I'd say I'm surprised at how fun and well-done the game is, but Atlus does seems to know how to pick them, so I shouldn't have been surprised as to why they chose to pick this game up in the first place.

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