IndieGo #36: Spawn, Survive, and Thrive with Drop Point
PvE, PvP, and Being SOL
Set on an island where a seemingly eco-friendly hydro-dam project has gone sideways, Drop Point puts you in the middle of a conflict between two warring factions. What’s left of civilization now struggles to survive in ruins that’s crawling with zombies and resource-hoarding survivors. Awaken on the island with nothing but a few essentials, you’re forced to rummage, craft, and fight for your life. Like most survival-driven titles, threats are ubiquitous, so you you’ll need to get moving.
Developer Tiny Indie Studio describes Drop Point’s core game loop in a three-word creed: Spawn, Survive, Thrive. Drawing on genre peers like DayZ and Rust, the game strives to blend open-world exploration, survival, and military-sim elements, which is an immense undertaking. At present, the developers showed off about 30 minutes of the game, utilizing both a first- and third-person perspective. Pleasingly, that POV is a design decision that lets players select how they experience the island’s dangers. I’m hopeful that the subsequent builds flesh out that philosophy.
Cloudy with a Chance of Dismemberment
Survival is Drop Point is properly unforgiving. Both hunger and thirst require management. Meanwhile, every outing into the wild could mean an encounter with CPU-controlled zombies or hostile players. This tension is fueled by the possibility of losing all your hard-earned loot when killed.
Base building and raiding are essential for progression. After starting with simple tools, you’re able to harvest resources and construct anything from improvised shelters to fortified compounds with the game’s radial menu system. Tiny Indie spoke about a late-game loop that revolves around defending your base from raiders, launching attacks on other bases, and competing for control of crafting zones. Drop Point’s world also features variable events, like helicopter crashes and airdrops. While it’s still early, the devs showed off a dynamic weather system, where snow realistically gathered on the ground. I love those kinds of details.
Eco-Corp Gone Rogue?
What sets Drop Point apart for its survival-driven peers is the game’s sense of intrigue. Unlike many games that downgrade context to little more than a setting, here players are encouraged to learn about the events behind the hydro-dam’s downfall and the island’s subsequent descent into unruliness. From bits of exposition in missions, scattered clues, and environmental effects, Drop Point will gradually expose its secrets. The developers have outlined plans for a full storyline to accompany the game’s 2026 release. Interestingly, they alluded to the inclusion of new factions, endgame missions, and treats like defensive traps.
Extending an ambitious blend of taut survival, absorbing storytelling, and hopefully some engaging gunplay, Drop Point just might be the next breakout title in the indie survival space. Undoubtedly, Tiny Indie Studio is on the right track and hopefully, they’ll make good on their ambitions.
