Cubes drop from the top of the window, and your goal is to stack and line them up. Line them up vertically, horizontally, and diagonally. When you line up the correct amount (4,5 or 6, depending on the level you are on) the cubes vanish and your score increases. A drop can result in two or more lines vanishing at once, you'll get a bonus if you can do that.
Initially, Dropper's control keys are set to [J] for left movement, [L] for right, and [space] to drop the cube. You can change these keys to what you want by selecting 'Set Keys' under the Game menu.
Your score varies by the difficulty of the stack,the level and stage.
You also get bonus points at the end of a level for each horizontal or diagonal line you make.
It's relatively easy to go through Dropper making only vertical stacks, but you'll never get an impressive score that way. Challenge yourself, go for horizontal and diagonals, and go for the multiple line bonuses!
The stage value also changes the speed at which the cubes drop, the higher the stage the faster the drop. At even higher levels, some cubes will already be in place on the playing field when you start a level.
The 'Pause' button allows you some thinking time, click and hold the mouse cursor on the 'Pause' button to delay the current drop. You can press the movement keys while paused to guide the current cube into the spot you want, when you release the pause button the cube will move to the position your keystrokes directed.
But remember, you only have limited pause time per step, use it wisely!
There is also a 'Preview' option under the Game menu that shows you the next cube.
However, if you use Preview at any time during a stage, your score is halved! But only for the stage that Preview is used in, if you turn Preview off, the next (and subsequent) stages scores will not be halved.
Dropper will also happily play in the background under MultiFinder, so you can't escape that way.
