Drop It Board Game Review

The name says it all. Or does it? For there’s more to Drop It than meets the eye!

Okay, so you are literally dropping pieces into a plastic frame. That I will give you. But where you drop them, what you drop, and what that does to other pieces already in play is where the fun really lies!

Drop It Like It’s Hot

Sets of 3 different wooden shapes in bright colours and a vertical game board await you. The slot at the top tempts you in as if you are about to play a variant of Connect Four or mutated Tetris. But this isn’t either of those things. Drop It is a game about letting the shapes land where they fall, hopefully scoring some points along the way. Oh and using other player’s pieces to reach the big money areas of course!

Game-play is super straightforward and simple to learn. On your turn, you drop a piece of your choice into the slot at the top and watch it make its way down until it settles on whatever is below it.

Your score is based on the highest level your piece reaches. Plus if it covers any special zones embossed on the clear sides of the game board, you’ll get those bonus points too.

At the end of your turn, you total your points earned that drop, and move your counter along the score track. But, and here’s the kicker; if your chosen piece lands on any other of the same colour or shape, it scores nothing. Plus if it touches a matching colour on either side of the game board, then that’s a Eurovision “nil points” for you too!

Drop It Again Sam

This is a dexterity game through and through. Picking up and dropping the pieces and then waiting for that second to see where they settle (or sometimes bounce and pinball off others) is exciting at any age!

But you have to have eyes on your opponents. Knowing what shapes they have left, and therefore what is likely to be in your landing zone next turn, is a key consideration. And it also means that as the game board fills up with different shapes and colours, being able to score quick points here and there becomes harder. Having bonus areas to aim for is a good strategy, but you’ll likely need to scaffold off existing pieces to reach them. So you’ll have to hope that you have something unique left in your shape and colour arsenal to suit!

Final Thoughts

This is a fun family game that entertains whatever age you are. Assembling the board was the first fun activity – nothing whets my son’s and husband’s gaming appetites than a bit of component DIY!

Our 7 year old gets super excited to see his shape drop down and land in the perfect spot. And knowing the choice he makes is going to make our lives more difficult on subsequent turns is an added bonus!

Avoiding colours on the edge and other matching pieces is also often more tricky than it looks due to the bounce effect. A perfect drop can be spectacularly derailed by a miscalculation as to clearance distances or the fickle mistress that is physics! I did, however, quickly learn to keep a variety of shapes in my arsenal throughout the game. Having only circles when the board has a top layer of circles is a quick ticket to zero-point city!

Luckily, as usual, Kosmos has factored in differing experience and age ranges. And there are variants (including removing the coloured edge sections) as well as jokers to make the game more accessible and/or challenging for players to suit. We went straight in with the advanced variant. But having the option to alter the scoring parameters is a great feature.

Drop It is a game based on colours – primary red, blue, yellow, and a bright green. And as scoring (or not!) depends on the same colours not touching, any gamers with colour sensitivity might need to consider whether this affects them when playing.

With only a few components and simple rules, Drop It is a great choice to bring to the table when you want a fun game that throws everybody straight into the action. And because it is pick-up and play, it doesn’t matter whether they have tried the game before or not. Us big kids did have a few moments where we tabletop-tussled over whether a piece was touching another or not. But it was all in good fun, and nobody left the table without a smile on their face!

Overall, Drop It is a great, fun family dexterity game that will bring out the super-skilled shape-shifter in everyone!