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0 Recently, I received a very interesting email. It was purely titled Days Gone Meets Rust. This piqued my interested as these are both games that I absolutely love. Fast-forward a few days, and I’m getting an invite to a special, exclusive showing of Drop Point. The brainchild of Tiny Indie Studio. A small studio from Hamilton, New Zealand.
Could you read this before I Drop my Point?
Jumping onto a video call, they had an awesome presentation ready to go. I honestly felt the excitement from the start of the call. It also helped that both Mike (Project Manager) and Piripi (Art Lead) from Tiny Indie Studio were absolutely awesome guys to talk to!
Gameplay
Drop Point is a base-building, base raiding, harvesting, crafting, and combat survival game. The game is set on an island where a large and powerful company has built a state-of-the-art hydro-dam. This company, AquaNova, has brought jobs and wealth to the island. But as you quickly discover, it’s also brought something else.
The devs were eager to show off their gameplay loop of Spawn, Survive, Thrive. Which sounds awesome, but just how were they going to reach that goal? Straight out of the gate, you could see what their inspirations were. They love open-world survival games and have spent thousands of hours playing them. So there are elements that will feel familiar, which in the current gaming climate feels good.
As this is a hardcore survival game, you are going to have to manage your hunger and thirst levels. Not only that, but you are going to have to find plenty of supplies to keep you going. With no tutorial or guidance, you wake up on the island, and away you go. Just don’t die, otherwise you might lose everything.
Spawn
You start with very few items: an apple, a bandage and a stone knife. Make use of these items to go and start scavenging for gear. You have to start harvesting straight away, all the while watching out for either AI-controlled enemies or even player-controlled ones. Once you have enough gear, you can start building your very first base.
Using a radial menu for accessing the building elements is a great way to build bases quickly. Your new home will become a reality in no time at all! Once you have all your resources sorted and you feel like it’s time to venture out into the wilderness. Lace up your boots, and away you go!
Survive
The second and quite possibly, most important part of the gameplay loop. I mean, you aren’t going to get anywhere in a survival game if you can’t survive. Firstly, you have to understand that you have multiple dangers going on in any game. The Zombies, yes, I said the Z-word, are everywhere. You can either avoid them or take them down. Just keep an eye out for those other dangers out there.
You have to live off the land by hunting animals for meat, or even harvesting your own crops. However you choose to survive, just be careful as you can lose it all if it isn’t secure! Next up is the recommendation to upgrade your base; after all, you can get raided at any time. Put up walls, maybe traps, and even ensure that your base is comfortable with lights, secure windows and other craftable elements.
Then, when it’s time for you to head out into the Drop Point wilderness. Get some weapons ready, whether you’ve scavenged them around the map or crafted them yourself. Put on your armour and get ready for battle.
Thrive
The final part of the gameplay loop, and possibly the one I’m most looking forward to. There are going to be high-value loot runs, hidden bunkers for you to explore, as well as contested crafting zones. All while looking out for those Zombies. Honestly, I’m excited to get a few friends online at the same time to head out together.
The awesome guys at Tiny Indie have some great plans for this part of the gameplay loop. Having world events where air drops or helicopter crash sites appear gives something different. Imagine all the gamers on a map heading towards these areas, trying to complete objectives while dodging gunfire.
Then, finally, you just need to make sure that your base is kept safe. Stopping other players from looting you and taking your wonderful possessions.
Discover The Truth
Along with all the above is going to be a storyline if you want to discover it on your own or with friends. Find out the truth of what AquaNova are up to on the island. Pushing you to the limits of your survival skills for those unique rewards. Hoping to find answers and help resolve the crisis.
This element is brilliant in my opinion and will help keep Drop Point fresh. I often found myself stopping playing other survival games because once you’ve got a base sorted, there isn’t really much else to do when you are on your own. Hopefully, with these single-player elements, it will keep players coming back for more.
Road Map
The road map that Tiny Indie have set out is pretty comprehensive. They are looking to get early access out to the masses by the third quarter of this year. Which, having seen and played the game, seems like an easily achievable feat. Especially for the size of the studio. Once that’s released, they are committed to providing monthly updates until the full release in 2026. Even post-release, they are looking to do release content updates every 2 months to keep everything fresh.
I’m excited for the full release, having dedicated servers is a massive appeal to me. I would hate to put hours and hours into building my base and scavenging for that top-tier loot. Only for it to all get robbed by a noob and a rocket launcher. Again!
Final Thoughts
Without sounding too keen, I’m super excited to keep an eye on Drop Point and it’s development under Tiny Indie Studios. They are a clearly passionate team that have come together to grow something special. I hope that more people can see the direction that they want the game to go. Without teams like this, pushing the boundaries of what a survival game is, the genre as a whole will start to become stale. Just dominated by the few big titles out there. After all, how many other survival games have come and gone in the genre? There’s something different about Drop Point, though.
We will be keeping a keen eye on Mike and his team and how Drop Point grows into the game I know it can be. For now, join me and go Wishlist the game on Steam!
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