First Impressions: #IndieSelect: Dropsy (PC)

I received a copy of Dropsy on Steam from Indie Gamer Chick to be played for #IndieSelect.  The game was given and received without expectation of a positive review, only that the game be played and the experience be shared on social media to help spread the word about indie games.  All pictures and words unless otherwise noted are my own from my own playthrough.

Dropsy
Systems: Windows, iOS
Release Date: September 10, 2015
Publisher: Devolver Digital
Developers: Tendershoot, and A Jolly Corpse

Dropsy by Tendershoot and A Jolly Corpse and published by Devolver Digital is a pixel-art love letter of sorts to the point-and-click adventure games of the 1990s, like Maniac Mansion, and the Monkey Island series.  I had originally not planned on doing a First Impressions article but then the game took a turn for the difficulty of the classic point-and-click games and now here we are.  I have access to, at the present, 41+ different screens/areas with various amounts of people who need help with something or at just transition screens and areas that I know I have not yet unlocked and items that I still need to locate.  I had hoped that this might be a little bit easier in terms of not feeling overwhelming especially since there does not seem to be a beautiful hint system like in Thimbleweed Park. So I knew that I was likely not going to be able to finish this in the week that I had thought I might have been able to.  So now we are here with a First Impressions article instead.

While there is no specific hint system, you are able to somewhat decipher what it is that each person wants, or at least have a general idea about what you need to eventually do.  The little girl that is crying over a dying rose would likely want a new rose to bloom in its place.  The houseless fellow panhandling on the street with a thought bubble going between a figure crying in the rain (which just means that someone is sad) and a couple of coins falling into a cup would likely want someone to offer them some money.  The woman shouting in a church about how clowns and heavy metal music will lead you to the devil. . .yeah, I am not sure if you are supposed to help her or just play the Satanic cassette tape to distract her to steal the sandwich to give to the other houseless person who appears to just be hungry but they are blocking a hole in the wall that is currently empty but will likely have something useful later in the game after you do 27 more tasks.  The puzzles do not necessarily seem too obscure in their solutions, but again, it is pretty overwhelming knowing that I have 41+ screens to walk through at four different times of the day to see what changes, especially after you help someone during the day, then their night routine might change.

I keep going back-and-forth about using a walkthrough for when I feel stuck (which is currently often), but with so many screens and just a handful of currently accessible items, I know that I will likely find solutions to different puzzles while trying to figure out how to solve a completely different puzzle.  Like, I know that I am supposed to steal back the tire that the bird (to who I earlier gave a box of generic brand Twinkies to) stole from the guy who works at the circus that Dropsy works/lives at because the tire is also flashing on the overworld map, but how many additional steps do I need to do before I can get back the tire?  And while we are pondering things, what was that fire at the beginning of the game all about, and how/what/why was Dropsy swallowed by a face/mouth on the ground after/during the fire?

So yeah, I will likely continue to play Dropsy, but you will have to forgive me if the full #IndieSelect article takes longer to publish than most of my others if only because I end up being too stubborn to look up a walkthrough because it really is a serotonin burst when I figure out a puzzle/clue on my own.

~JWfW/JDub/The Faceplantman/Jaconian
And I'll Never Be A Poet

P.S.  Oh yeah, and you have your dog companion who can also perform tasks and collect (but not hold onto) objects.  So there is that too.