Dropmix is a music mixing ("mashup") game developed by Harmonix and published by Hasbro. The game uses a mix of physical cards with chips embedded with near field communication,and a special board with Bluetooth and NFC capabilities.
Each Dropmix card is embedded with an NFC chip that, when played onto the Dropmix board, quickly mixes that card into your song. Cards come in a few varieties/colors: Yellows are lead melodies (usually vocals), reds are lead melodies, blues are drums and rhythms, while greens are bass tracks. Each card must be played into a matching colored slot on the board. Should you want to change a card, you can just play a new card on top of it. There are even a few special cards. The first ones, Wild Cards, are songs that have all four of the colors on them and can be played in any slot. The second ones, SFX Cards (or White Cards), are Sound Effects for your song. They have a different purpose depending on the gamemode. Every card also has a volume level, a one, two, or three.
The Dropmix board is a big slab of black plastic with tapered edges, measuring 2.0 by 20.9 by 8.0 inches (HWD). It has five flat recesses for cards, each surrounded by a clear border that lights up in different colors. A wide Dropmix button sits on the left of the board, while a large slot to hold your phone or tablet sits on the right. A battery compartment on the bottom of the board takes four AA batteries to run everything.
There are four game modes. The first is Freestyle. No rules, no challenges, just play cards and create awesome mixes. You can play any of the cards in the game, in any place, and at any volume.
The second is Clash, A 1v1 or 2v2 competitive game where players construct or use pre-made decks in a race to earn 21 points. You do this by placing new stems, filling empty card types and taking over the full board, while attempting to stop your opponent from doing the same. Players get 2 actions on their turn to add cards or spin the Dropmix wheel to try to remove their opponents cards.
The third is Party. A game mode where an audience asks for requests on your song, such as a new red card or a guitar card. There are 5 rounds in party, and a player can even unlock an encore if they get all of their requests right.
The last game mode is the one-player suited Puzzle Mode. Players must clear blocks with the cards. Like party, the blocks all have requests, like a one volume or a blue, but you can score combos if you knock out an entire row of pieces.
Dropmix was officially discontinued in 2019 through a post on Harmonix’s website.
The Tropes:
- Colour-Coded for Your Convenience: Yellows are vocals, Reds are rhythm, Blues are percussion, and greens are bass.
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Spiritual Successor: With FUSER. They have the same basic concept, combine parts of songs together to make your own, but FUSER doesn't use actual cards and is entirely digital. - Toys-To-Life Game: You place actual cards on a board, and the app recognizes the cards and the songs they represent.
