When Hasbro and Harmonix Music Systems described their electronic music game Dropmix in a press release, I have to admit I didn’t get it. And when I watched someone play it for the first time, I was a little lost as well.
But after a hands-on gameplay session at a preview event, I finally started to grasp what was going on. And I must admit it has some clever and unexpected gameplay, with the final result being a a mix of crazy sounds that amount to original music when you put them all together.
Dropmix consists of a hardware board that lights up and makes sounds when you put cards on it. The Dropmix Board comes with a stack of cards from different music genres. And then you use the Dropmix app on a tablet or smartphone as a kind of display for the game. The app will be be free to download on the iOS and Google Play app stores. Hasbro is unveiling ten new songs that will be part of Dropmix today.
The cards feature songs from artists in pop, R&B, dance, indie, country, rock, and hip-hop from around the world. Your job is the player is to get your cards down on the board and to knock out your opponent’s cards. And when you accomplish that, you can blend cards from different genres together. And that triggers music from the sound board in unexpected ways.
The music-mixing game will have songs by Afrojack, Bruno Mars, The Chainsmokers, Ed Sheeran, Fall Out Boy, The Jackson 5, Meghan Trainor, Sam Hunt, Evanescence (as you can see above), and many more.
The game debuts globally this September for $100. The game is a collaboration of Harmonix, maker of Rock Band and Dance Central, and toy maker Hasbro. It uses new technology that enables players to create unique mixes of songs by playing cards on a game board connected to a mobile app.
Dropmix songs include “Take Over Control” by Afrojack (featuring Eva Simons), “24K Magic” by Bruno Mars, “Closer” by The Chainsmokers” (featuring Halsey), “Sing” by Ed Sheeran, “Centuries” by Fall Out Boy, “I Want You Back” by The Jackson 5, “All About That Bass” by Meghan Trainor, and “House Party” by Sam Hunt.
When a player puts a Dropmix card on a Mix Slot, the electronic Dropmix Board immediately starts playing the corresponding part of the song (bass, beat, loop or vocals) noted on the card. The board reads up to five Dropmix cards at time and the software in the app seamlessly combines the music within each card to create a unique mix. The Dropmix cards include near-field communication (NFC) chips; a technology commonly used in smartphones with digital wallets.
In a couple of games, I managed to get close to winning control of the board, but both times my opponent came back and knocked me out entirely.
The Dropmix Music Gaming System, which includes an electronic Dropmix Board and 60 Dropmix cards across multiple music genres, will be available at major retailers and online. In addition to the 60 Dropmix cards in the Music Gaming System, Hasbro will release Playlist Packs with 16 Dropmix cards for the suggested retail price of $15 and Discover Packs with five Dropmix Cards for the suggested retail price of $5.
The additional cards will be released on an ongoing basis throughout 2017 to allow players to collect and curate their own custom decks and create new and unexpected soundtracks each time they play. Three hundred Dropmix cards will be available in 2017.
Dropmix features multiple game modes, including Clash Mode and Party Mode, that allows players to create unique mixes of songs by playing cards on a game board connected to a mobile app. In Clash Mode, two teams battle each other to master the mix. In Party Mode, players work together to fulfill crowd music requests coming from the Dropmix app.
“The Dropmix game featuring Clash Mode and Party Mode offers fans either a competitive or collaborative music mixing experience with friends,” said Samantha Lomow, senior vice president of Hasbro Brands, in a statement. “The multiple modes and all-star line-up of artists across different genres provides a one-of-a-kind experience with unique and unexpected mixes each time you play.”