Chaos & Confetti

Number Drop is a roll and write experience that evokes classic tetromino gameplay (think Tetris). With the roll of some dice, players will create number-filled shapes that they will drop into a grid system.  With some careful thought and planning, players will score combols, rack up points, and maybe even set their own high score!    

Player Count: 1 – 6 players

Ages: 10+

Playtime: 20 minutes

GAME PLAY:

Set up is simple.  Players will randomly take five of the ten block tiles and place them on the block board. Then, everyone gets a score sheet and puts down their three letter player name in classic arcade fashion.

Ready to play?

The active player will roll five dice.  Which will give four numbers and a shape.  Players will decide how they want the numbers arranged to form that shape, and if it’s not symmetrical, they can choose how the shape is oriented.  

If an asterisk is present on a die, it represents a wild.  On the pink number dice, it acts as a number between 0 and 9, and on the blue shape die, it can represent any of the five other shapes. Each player can choose for themselves what wilds will represent.

Then, players “drop” their shapes onto their board.  They imagine their decided upon numbers and shape entering the grid from the top and descending straight down until they hit the bottom of the grid or another shape.  Shapes cannot move left or right once they begin moving down.  

This is where the game’s complexity and nuance really comes out. Depending on number placement, once per round, players can choose to earn points for getting identical number or consecutive number combos. This counts numbers adjacent horizontally or diagonally. The more numbers in a row for a combo, the more points it will be worth. The trick here is that each number can only be used in one combo and size of combo can only be used once. Players will have to carefully decide when to claim their points.  

Earned points also have the chance of unlocking attacks on opponents.  The drop blocks placed on the block board become valueless blocks that will hit players’ boards potentially messing up combos and taking up precious space.

Also, if a player ever completely fills in a row on their grid, they earn points that way too.

Once all blocks are placed, the next round continues with more dice rolling fun.

Eventually, someone is going to cross over the “game over” line, and that will end the game.  Everyone will do a little math, using the provided formula on the score sheet, and the player with the highest score wins.

OUR THOUGHTS:

Once everyone has the rules down, Number Drop is a quick and addictive game.  It captures the classic tetris feel while bringing its own identity, perfect for fans of roll and writes and spatial focused games.

One of the best parts is that with gameplay happening simultaneously, everyone should stay engaged and actively playing.  There’s a lot to think about in terms of strategy and block placement, but the game moves quickly and patterns are not hard to recognize.  Even the end game math is easy thanks to the scoring guide’s clear formula. 

For those who prefer deeper theming and less abstract game play, this might not be their jam completely, but even then, it’s hard to deny the game’s simple charm after a few rounds of play.

Number Drop packs a lot of fun into a surprisingly simple to play game.

FINAL RECOMMENDATIONS:

Number Drop is perfect for fans of roll and writes, who want a quick but satisfying experience. Those with great special reasoning with excel the most, but anyone should be able to enjoy this retro-style game that adds competitive strategy to the fun of Tetris.