Skip to main content

Long read: How TikTok's most intriguing geolocator makes a story out of a game

Where in the world is Josemonkey?

If you click on a link and make a purchase we may receive a small commission. Read our editorial policy.

Notch releases browser-based typing game Drop

The downward spiral.

Minecraft creator Marcus "Notch" Persson was considering about making a game for the 48-hour Ludum Dare game jam, but instead decided to sit it out and made a trippy optical illusion instead that he claimed was inspired by Super Hexagon, the ending of Fez, and his ceiling. Then he decided to turn said optical illusion into a game anyway, and now we have Drop.

Drop is a typing game in which you must write out certain words that rush towards you in a spiral formation as you fall down a never-ending hexagonal corridor. Like Terry Cavanagh's iOS classic, Drop is very difficult and if you're rubbish at typing like I am, you won't last more than a few seconds before being greeted with a game over message like "dead," "scared" or "insecure." You can very briefly pause when you submit words, with bonus points awarded for ones that are more than four letters.

Unfortunately it can be tricky to tell when one word ends and another begins. When asked about making the words different colours, Notch noted, "there's only one word per starting letter, so you can memorise them." Thus a word beginning with "J" will always spell "journey" and "H" always spells "harm."

Drop isn't especially memorable, but it's still an amusing diversion that also serves as good typing practice. Give Drop a go at Notch's site.

Read this next