Long time viewers of Higher Plain Games will know I love a rhythm action game. I don’t even think I can be as objective with this genre as most others because music is life to me. That being said, often rhythm action games can be quite stale at times so I appreciate it when someone tries something new.
Enter Raindrops. A rhythm action game that is minimalist in design, artsy in its execution and also focused on more relaxed music compared to happy hardcore anthems. It is also entirely mouse based. It all wraps up into a neat package that really makes an impact and whilst it is not going to take over your life, it is a great addition to the music game genre.
For each song raindrops fall in from the left and right sides of the screen to a the centre – almost like a mirror image. You play as a pong like paddle in the centre and you’ll use your mouse to move up and down to collect the drops with your paddle. There are three types of raindrops. One kind simply just need collecting whereas others may need a left or right click as they land. Some of those may need to held on a click like a long sustain note. Lastly you may need to use a mouse wheel on a few notes too. Between them all, you’ll be moving up and down whilst clicking away to the melodies quickly. You have a life meter and consecutive misses really tank your meter. You can save it and rebuild it back again quite quickly but it means that if you lost the rhythm for more than a few seconds – its game over instantly.
Like most great rhythm games there are time syncing options to line up sound and visuals and this is key to your set up as Raindrops expects you to aim for perfection. Your scores are percentage based and whilst collecting and hitting things is great, timing is needed for perfection. This gets tricky quickly as each of the 17 songs has two difficulty modes. I struggled on normal mode on the later songs, which unlock as you replay tracks and earn XP. Its not a huge grind thankfully and reminds me of how Muse Dash makes you play all the songs so you can unlock anything new. Later levels also move things to a pong perspective where rain falls from the top of the screen and your paddle is at the bottom collecting the drops. It is a nice switch up that stops things being stale although I’d have loved having that as a starter option, then the centre screen for a second mode and perhaps a four axis third mode too. I’m just a bit greedy.
The other amazing thing with Raindrops is the price. At just over £5, its cheap for what you get and very well put together. I feel like my fat fingers and dodgy PC set up got in the way of me being able to truly master songs as you need space to move your mouse about. Get that, get into the zone and you’ll enjoy Raindrops for some time. Online leaderboards will keep you coming back for more.
Higher Plain Games is part of the Higher Plain Network. If you like what I do, please consider supporting me via Patreon for as little as $1/£1 a month. There are additional perks for supporting me, such as behind-the-scenes content and downloads. You can also share the website or use the affiliate buy now links on reviews. Buying credit from CD Keys using my affiliate link means I get a couple of pence per sale. All your support will enable me to produce better content, more often. Thank you.
