''Dropsy'' is a 2015

point-and-click adventure An adventure game is a video game genre in which the player assumes the role of a protagonist in an interactive story driven by exploration and/or puzzle-solving. The genre's focus on story allows it to draw heavily from other narrative-based m ...

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

developed by US-based indie developer Tendershoot (pseudonym of Jay Tholen) and indie development studio A Jolly Corpse, and published by

Devolver Digital Devolver Digital, Inc. is an American video game publisher based in Austin, Texas, specializing in the publishing of indie games. The company was founded in June 2009 by Nigel Lowrie, Harry Miller, Graeme Struthers, Rick Stults, and Mike Wilso ...

. The game was released on September 10, 2015 for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for serv ...

OS X macOS (; previously OS X and originally Mac OS X) is a Unix operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc. since 2001. It is the primary operating system for Apple's Mac computers. Within the market of desktop and lapt ...

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which ...

. The

iOS iOS (formerly iPhone OS) is a mobile operating system created and developed by Apple Inc. exclusively for its hardware. It is the operating system that powers many of the company's mobile devices, including the iPhone; the term also includes ...

port of ''Dropsy'' was released on December 17, 2015. The

Nintendo Switch The is a hybrid video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. The console itself is a Tablet computer#Gaming tablet, tablet that can either be docking station, docked for use as a home video ...

version was released on September 29, 2022.

Gameplay and plot

''Dropsy'' is a

centered on a clown named Dropsy. Players control Dropsy while exploring an open world in which they can interact with the environment, solve puzzles, and talk to

non-player character A non-player character (NPC), or non-playable character, is any character in a game that is not controlled by a player. The term originated in traditional tabletop role-playing games where it applies to characters controlled by the gamemaster o ...

s. In the game, Dropsy becomes an outcast after a fire at his family's circus and must work to discover the truth behind it in order to clear his name. The game contains no text, so dialogue is represented by visual icons. The game features over 50 minutes of live music composed and performed by

Chris Schlarb Chris Schlarb (born July 10, 1977) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer, and guitarist. He is best known as the founder and leader of the Psychic Temple cult. Career In 1998, Schlarb co-founded the free improvisation ensemble Cre ...

Development

''Dropsy'' began on the

Something Awful ''Something Awful'' (SA) is an American comedy website hosting content including blog entries, Internet forum, forums, feature articles, digitally edited pictures, and humorous media reviews. It was created by Richard Kyanka, Richard "Lowtax" K ...

forums in 2008 as a choose-your-own adventure game illustrated by Jay Tholen about a clown named Dropsy; forum commentators would suggest what the character would do and the choices would be illustrated and added to the story. The character originated from a

platform game A platform game (often simplified as platformer and sometimes called a jump 'n' run game) is a sub-genre of action video games in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are charac ...

created by Tholen in 2004. Demand for a playable version of the story increased and so Tholen began designing a game based around the story with the help of some members of the forum. Tholen cites games such as ''

EarthBound ''EarthBound'', released in Japan as is a role-playing video game developed by Creatures (company), Ape Inc. and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The second entry in the Mother (video game s ...

'', ''

Grim Fandango ''Grim Fandango'' is a 1998 adventure game directed by Tim Schafer and developed and published by LucasArts for Microsoft Windows. It is the first adventure game by LucasArts to use 3D computer graphics overlaid on pre-rendered static background ...

'', and ''

The Neverhood ''The Neverhood'' (released in Japan as ''Klaymen Klaymen: The Mystery of Neverhood'' and referred to in the English version's intro as ''The Neverhood Chronicles'') is a 1996 point-and-click adventure video game developed by The Neverhood, Inc. a ...

'' as inspirations for the game. In 2011 a

Kickstarter Kickstarter is an American public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative projects to life". As of July 2021, ...

campaign raised $225 USD to fund a software package to help development, followed by another campaign in July 2013 which did not reach its $25,000 USD goal. A third campaign, started in October 2013, asked for $14,000 USD and finished with nearly $25,000 USD raised. On October 31, 2013, Tholen released a short horror-themed side game titled ''Dropsy and the Black Lodge''. In November it was announced that

would be publishing the game, providing

quality assurance Quality assurance (QA) is the term used in both manufacturing and service industries to describe the systematic efforts taken to ensure that the product(s) delivered to customer(s) meet with the contractual and other agreed upon performance, design ...

and marketing, but not directing where the Kickstarter funds would be spent. On September 17, 2014, indie studio A Jolly Corpse joined the team. One year later on September 10, 2015, the game was released for

and

Reception

The PC version received "favorable" reviews, while the Switch version received "average" reviews, according to the

review aggregation A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews of products and services (such as films, books, video games, software, hardware, and cars). This system stores the reviews and uses them for purposes such as supporting a website where users ...

website

Metacritic Metacritic is a website that review aggregator, aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted arithmetic mean, weighted average). M ...

References

External links

*
''Dropsy'' at Devolver Digital

* {{moby game, id=/dropsy 2015 video games Android (operating system) games Devolver Digital games Fictional clowns Internet-based works IOS games Kickstarter-funded video games Linux games MacOS games Nintendo Switch games Point-and-click adventure games Single-player video games Video games about clowns Video games developed in the United States Windows games

Gameplay and plot

Development

Reception

See also

References

External links