''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 A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

developed by American 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 Wil ...

. The game was released on September 10, 2015 for

Microsoft Windows Windows is a Product lining, product line of Proprietary software, proprietary graphical user interface, graphical operating systems developed and marketed by Microsoft. It is grouped into families and subfamilies that cater to particular sec ...

OS X macOS, previously OS X and originally Mac OS X, is a Unix, Unix-based operating system developed and marketed by Apple Inc., Apple since 2001. It is the current operating system for Apple's Mac (computer), Mac computers. With ...

Linux Linux ( ) is a family of open source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an kernel (operating system), operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically package manager, pac ...

. The

iOS Ios, Io or Nio (, ; ; locally Nios, Νιός) is a Greek island in the Cyclades group in the Aegean Sea. Ios is a hilly island with cliffs down to the sea on most sides. It is situated halfway between Naxos and Santorini. It is about long an ...

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

Nintendo Switch The is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released worldwide in most regions on March 3, 2017. Released in the middle of the Eighth generation of video game consoles, eighth generation of home consoles, the Switch succeeded the ...

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) is a 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 (or referee) rather than by a ...

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 platformer (also called a platform game, and sometimes a jump 'n' run game) is a subgenre of action game in which the core objective is to move the player character between points in an environment. Platform games are characterized by levels wi ...

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'', originally released in Japan as is a 1994 role-playing video game, role-playing video game developed by Ape, Inc., Ape Inc. and HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System as the second e ...

'', ''

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 backgro ...

'', and ''

The Neverhood ''The Neverhood'' (released in Japan as ''Klaymen Klaymen: The Mystery of Neverhood'') is a 1996 point-and-click adventure video game developed by The Neverhood, Inc. and published by DreamWorks Interactive for Microsoft Windows. The game follow ...

'' as inspirations for the game. In 2011 a

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

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 assure 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 and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

References

External links

*
''Dropsy'' at Devolver Digital

* {{moby game, id=/dropsy 2015 video games Android (operating system) games Devolver Digital games Fictional clowns Indie games 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