Drop & Grow

When I tell you that Drop & Grow is a cozy game about cultivating the land, I fear that the first thing you think of is Harvest Moon. This is no farm simulator, but rather an addictive little puzzle game where you water dry ties in order to grow grass, bushes, trees, flowers and more. It’s also a game about upgrading. Lots and lots of upgrading. Maybe too much. Get your rain clouds ready to hydrate the land, because this is my review of Drop & Grow, the debut release from Shane Staller Games.

Everything you need to know about Drop & Grow is right there in the name. This is a game where you use a droplet of water to nourish the dirt and make something grow. At first it’s just a patch of grass, but you’ll eventually grow trees, bushes and other foliage. The trick is that you only have a single in-game day to drop the water and grow the randomly constructed level. Once the sun is down, the day ends and you’ll spend the grass, twigs, apples and even flowers to upgrade your growing abilities.

While the gameplay may be simple, there is some strategy involved. Because your drops are limited (and need to be charged up), you’ll want to target multiple tiles at once. The idea is to turn them green and get things growing on them. Trees, bushes, flowers and other plants grow better when the grass is dark green, so a lot of the juggling comes from filling in the board and turning the light green a little darker.

You’ll also find that some things may take a little extra attention, like trees. That’s one of those plants that will grow slowly, but is ultimately worth the payout in twigs and apples. Don’t forget this is a twig and apple economy we’re talking about, so trees are pretty important. So is using your drops to overflow lakes and rivers, which will hydrate the surrounding land, making your life a lot easier. There are a number of surprises that will pop up as you get deep into the upgrade tree, but I’ll let you find those for yourself.

Now, let’s not just gloss over the upgrades, because this plays an important role in the game. A lot of the upgrade tree will make sense, such as adding the ability to drop more than one drip of water at a time or to extend the length of the day. You’ll also want to upgrade the size of the levels, giving you a lot more room to grow bushes, trees and flowers. By the time you’re done with the game, you’ll have rearranged the rocks, added more lakes and rivers, and even turned your little dropper into a mighty rain cloud.

Of course, the moment you generate bigger levels or collect more twigs and apples, the game will start asking for more and more of your gatherings. What used to cost five or ten pieces of grass is now 500, and you have to throw in a few twigs, for good measure. The goal is to keep up with the increase and upgrade as much as you can between rounds. Once you’ve gathered enough items and upgraded everything there is to upgrade, the game is over and it’s off to the next challenge.

The biggest problem with the game is that it’s a little too cozy. There’s no pushback here; never anything that would get in the way of your progress. Not that I’m looking for enemies to roam the land or anything like that, but it felt far too easy without something (anything) to overcome. Even if it was something as simple as bad weather or maybe a fire getting in the way. Those are the types of challenges that would feel at home in this kind of game, yet there’s nothing like that. The biggest obstacle ended up being the game’s repetition.

It also feels repetitive because you’re essentially doing the same thing in every single level and difficulty. It doesn’t matter which mode you start in; you’re always forced to start with the same slow introduction levels. That means that it may take ten or fifteen minutes just to get to what I would consider the good stuff. That is, the levels where there’s enough time and land to actually have a satisfying outcome. As somebody who went from the demo stage to the default mode to the high-level wetlands, I found that the grind of collecting and leveling up turned into a real slog after a while.

In that sense, Drop & Grow feels incomplete. It’s as if the developer had a good initial idea, but never got around to fleshing it out. When it’s at its best, dropping and growing is surprisingly satisfying. There is a sweet spot where it’s fun to see the grass, branches, flowers and apples fly into your inventory, and there are so many different upgrades and perks you can unlock along the way. All this scratches an itch. Unfortunately, the moment you notice that you’re on a hamster wheel going nowhere, the illusion breaks.

On a more positive note, Drop & Grow looks great. As simple as they are, I really like the pixel graphics. The developer has done a wonderful job animating the bushes and flowers and trees. Good job on the graphics. That goes for the background, too. Something that you’ll likely never even look at. I like the way the sun slowly moves across the mountainous landscape. That’s a smart way to show how much time you have to work with. A lesser developer would have simply added a timer, but Shane Staller goes that extra step.

This is a good debut release for a promising developer. There are things I would add and change, but Shane Staller should be proud of Drop & Grow. There’s certainly an audience for this kind of game, and this game has a lot more going for it than against it. Drop & Grow is fun for a while, but grows repetitive over time, especially if you play through it in one sitting. More than anything else, it makes me hopeful for what the developer comes up with next.