Harmonix, makers of the Rock Band, Dance Central and Amplitude games, has a new rhythm game in the works. Called Dropmix, it’s a game that’s all about mixing up new beats, and it’s due out in September for mobile platforms.
Just like its predecessors, Dropmix requires the use of a unique peripheral. But experience with plastic guitars and Kinect-mediated booty shaking doesn’t apply here. Instead, players who grew up with Yu-Gi-Oh or Pokémon cards will find themselves at home with the Dropmix game board and accompanying app.
That’s because Dropmix isn’t just a mobile version of the rhythm games that made Harmonix famous. Instead, the company is working with Hasbro to create what it called in a press release “the next evolution of musical play.” What that looks like, apparently, is the trendiest tabletop games of the early ‘00s.
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For $99.99, players can pick up the entire Dropmix system, which includes the game board, 60 cards and the app. The game works by inserting vocals, bass, beat or loop cards onto a slot on the game board, which plays the relevant part of the song. Up to five of these can be placed on the board at once, allowing for some original takes on popular songs that could use some extra help, like “All About That Bass” by Meghan Trainor.
Additional cards will be sold for anywhere from $4.99-$14.99, depending on how many are in the pack. That makes this yet another pricy gamble for Harmonix, a game that struck lightning with its Guitar Hero projects and initial Rock Band games before audiences moved on to other, less accessory-laden titles, for the sake of their living rooms.
Most recently, Harmonix announced a crowdfunding campaign to bring Rock Band to PC. That failed to drum up the necessary support, leaving the developer to instead focus on its virtual reality efforts.
Update: Harmonix and Hasbro dropped a trailer, above, to illustrate how this curious remixing game works. Check it out for the first taste of Dropmix in action.
