Number Drop Review

And finally, the last game from my AEG GenCon haul is a little game called Number Drop. It combines roll-and-writes with a Tetris-type of gameplay that makes for a nice and fast game with a sprinkle of strategy. I’ll be totally upfront that Number Drop surprised me in a good way!

Disclaimer: We were provided with a copy of Number Drop for the purposes of this review. What you see pictured below is a finalized production copy of the game. – L

Number Drop is a roll-and-write in which players are ‘dropping’ Tetris-like blocks onto their grids in attempts to create groups of identical numbers or consecutive numbers. Each turn, dice are rolled and will dictate which numbers and shapes players must use on this turn. Once the game end is triggered, players will count up their scores and the player with the highest score is the winner! To setup for a game, give each player a scoresheet and pencil. Place the Block Board in the center of the table, and randomly place 5 of the Block Tiles into the empty slots. Select a starting player and give them the 5 dice. The first player will then write a 1 anywhere in the bottom row of their scoresheet, the 2nd player will write a 2, and so on until all players have a number on their grid. The game is now ready to begin! Pictured below is the setup for a 2-player game.

Over a series of rounds, players will be rolling the dice and ‘dropping’ the corresponding shapes/numbers into their grids while trying to complete runs of consecutive numbers or groups of identical numbers. Each round is broken down into 5 phases: Roll Dice, Drop Blocks, Drop Shapes, Circle Combo, and Round End. To start a round, the active player will Roll Dice – 4 of the dice have numbers and 1 die has shapes. Based on the dice results, players will decide how to drop the shape onto their grid. Players must use the shape indicated by the Shape die, but the shape itself can be rotated/flipped like in OG Tetris. Players must also use all 4 of the numbers shown on the Number dice, and the numbers can be placed in the shape in any order they so choose. A Star (asterisk) symbol on the Number dice is a Wild, and players can choose any number 0-9 to use in their shape. A Star (asterisk) symbol on the Shape die is also a Wild, and players can choose to use any of the 5 Shapes available in the game.

I’m going to briefly skip over the second phase (Drop Blocks) as it only happens in certain instances, and move onto phase 3: Drop Shapes. When dropping a shape, you do so like in Tetris – from the top to the bottom. The shapes drop down in a straight line and they go down as far as they can before landing on the bottom of the grid or on top of another shape. Shapes cannot slide to move under already-placed shapes! Once the shape has been ‘dropped,’ write the numbers onto your grid in the appropriate location/shape. Next comes Circle Combo. As I mentioned earlier, players are trying to create runs of consecutive numbers or groups of identical numbers, and this phase is where you will mark them. If, after dropping your shape this round, you have created a combo of 3-7 identical or consecutive numbers, you may Circle the Combo. To do so, create a box around the corresponding numbers in your grid, and circle the appropriate combo on the score track column. Combos can be created with any numbers that are orthogonally adjacent to each other – they do not have to have all been dropped this round! Once you use a number from your grid in a combo, though, you cannot use it again this game to score another combo. So think carefully about which numbers/combos to circle when! Players can only circle one combo per round, and all combos can only be circled once per game. If at any point during the game, you have circled both combos of the same value (3 identical numbers and 3 consecutive numbers, etc.), circle the corresponding Drop Letter on the score track column. Drop Letters come into play during phase 2….

So now, jumping back, phase 2 is Drop Blocks. At the start of the round, after the dice are rolled, if any of the dice show the Wild symbol, the Drop Blocks phase may happen. If no players have any circled Drop Letters, this phase is skipped and the game moves to the Drop Shapes phase. If any players have a circled Drop Letter on their score track column, the Drop Blocks phase is resolved. If multiple players have different Drop Letters circled, only the highest letter alphabetically is resolved. To do so, all players who do not have the Drop Letter circled must drop a Block onto their grid. Any players who do have the Drop Letter circled are safe and do not have to drop a Block. This Block is a penalty shape meant to hinder. The specific shape that is dropped corresponds to the Block Tiles on the Block Board – each Letter has a Tile placed randomly at game setup. Players take the shape of the appropriate Drop Letter and drop it onto their grid, following the rules described above. This shape is then marked out with X’s, and the Drop Letter is crossed out on all players’ score trackers. The Block Tile is flipped facedown, and this Drop Letter cannot be activated again during this game. The round then moves to the final phase. So when a Drop Blocks phase happens, the round immediately ends afterwards.

The final phase of the round, Round End, is a sort of checkpoint to see if the game ends or continues to another round. First, all players check to see if they have filled any rows in their grid completely, circling the +2 bonus on their sheet if they have. Next, if any players have crossed the Game Over line on their grid, they circle the -5 penalty points as needed, and the game end is triggered. If no players have crossed the Game Over line, pass the dice to the next player and a new round begins. If any players have crossed the line, the game ends. Players count up their points for completed combos and for filling in rows on their grid. The player with the highest score is the winner!

Whew. Even writing that was quite a feat. I know that seems like a ton of stuff going on, maybe even an overwhelming amount of information, but I promise that the gameplay is so intuitive to learn and play. It really is simple when you think about basic mechanics. Roll dice, draw a shape on your grid, circle any sets/runs, and then a new round starts. Really, the only element not encompassed in that last sentence is the Drop Blocks phase. And in all actuality, that phase only happens a couple of times during an entire game, as it is dependent on players having circled Drop Letters. In all of my games that I’ve played thus far, nobody has even circled a Drop Letter until probably at least round 5 or 6! Since you only circle Drop Letters when you have completed both combos of the same value, it can take a bit of time for any player to accomplish that. At first the idea of it may seem a bit complicated, until you realize that it happens only a handful of times each game.

That being said, the game stands up well on its own. It’s a crunchy little game that gets your brain burning, but is not so heavy that it’ll take all night to play. You have to think carefully about how to use the rolled numbers in the required shape so that it’ll benefit you the most. Can you rotate the shape in such a way that, with these new numbers, you’ll be able to complete a high-valued combo? Or can you work the numbers in a way to set yourself up to score big next round? Depending on if the dice roll in your favor, of course. The strategic options are vast, but not unlimited, and I think that’s part of what I really like about this game. Having too many options or choices can really be overwhelming in a game. But with Number Drop, you have limited grid space, and have to use the rolled numbers and shape. It takes some of the pressure off since you really only have 2 choices to make each turn – where to drop the shape, and how to orient the numbers. Yes, there needs to be strategy involved, as you’re trying to set yourself up over several turns, but the ‘limits’ of the game make it feel more manageable overall. As someone who suffers from AP (I think I’m getting better though!), having fewer options each turn is a big plus for me.

To touch on components briefly – there aren’t a lot, but they are high quality. The Block Tiles are cool little bakelite tiles, and the dice are chunky with neat colors. The game comes with a giant pad of grid sheets for players, but no pencils so make sure you’ve got some on hand. AEG has yet to let me down when it comes to production quality, and Number Drop does not disappoint.

Like I mentioned in my intro, Number Drop surprised me. After my initial read-through of the rules, I was a little apprehensive. But after walking through my first game slowly, with the rules on hand for reference, I found it to be not nearly as troublesome as I was first expecting. And now, having many plays under my belt, it really is a piece of cake. So I know that the rules explanation can seem like quite a mouthful, I promise that it’s not as complicated as it may appear. It’s strategic, yet quick to play, and it’ll keep you engaged the entire game. I don’t think it’ll break into my Top 10 anytime soon, but it’s a unique kind of roll-and-write that I will definitely be keeping in my collection. If you’re on the fence about this one, like I was initially, I encourage you to play it! At least once! You’ll hopefully see that it’s not as complicated as it may originally seem. With that said, Purple Phoenix Games gives this one a calculating 5/6.