Droplet: States of Matter is a 3D platformer where the player character can change between four states of matter: water, ice, cloud and plasma forms. Each state of matter has its own unique gimmick. For example, ice form can freeze liquids to walk on top of them and cloud form can jump higher and further than the rest. You can play as either Droplet or his sister Molly-QL who each have their own pools of health and ammo. Along the way, you'll meet a cast of colorful characters both friend and foe with names inspired by scientific puns. Perhaps you'll run into the notorious pirate Captain Salty Peter or the devious mad scientist Dr. Ruby Dium!
As Droplet and Molly-QL, you'll be exploring the Noble Gas Kingdom, a sector of space with many different worlds. Each of the 30+ levels are uniquely themed and feature obstacles and environments built around your ability to change states of matter. You might be exploring a frozen cave that puts you in ice form, but next thing you know, you might find yourself in a volcano that suddenly puts you into cloud form. The enemies you face also have their own immunities to certain states of matter so you'll have to find out the best ways to defeat them!
The idea for Droplet: States of Matter goes back a very long way. Ever since I was a child, I always wanted to make games. To be able to make my very own 3D platformer inspired by the likes of Mario 64, Spyro, Banjo-Kazooie and Crash was my ultimate dream goal. At the time I started, however, I didn't have the most powerful hardware on hand. So for awhile, I made smaller 2D games using Multimedia Fusion. It started off as something I did as a pastime, but then I got invited to participate in a game design competition at school. The challenge was to make a short, educational game that was at least five levels long. The game I made was called "Droplet", which was a short 2D sidescroller where the player character could change between water, ice and cloud forms. (I hadn't thought of plasma form yet!) When it won the national championship, I couldn't help but realize that it was time to consider game dev more seriously.
Eventually, I acquired the tools to be able to start development on a potential sequel/reboot to expand upon its ideas. Having only made small browser games up to this point, I also wanted this to be my first feature-length game, so I set myself the benchmark to have as much content as you might expect in a title from the N64/PS1 era. In addition to making my dream game, my goal was to make something that would celebrate simpler, nostalgic times. The game's art style is essentially a translation of the doodles I'd draw as a kid into 3D. And given the first game's origins as an educational school project, it only made sense to take inspiration from 90s/2000s educational programs which at the time really nailed the balance between learning and fun.
