ReDrop | Fabio Salvador

ReDrop is a precision platformer inspired by Super Meat Boy, Celeste, and Spelunky, originally created in a 3-hour jam where it won first place under the theme “Suffering has a purpose.”

Guided by my philosophy: "if you start something, you finish it". We returned two years later to expand the prototype into a full game.

The core twist: every death leaves behind a platform. Players can use these corpses as stepping stones, or traps against themselves, turning failure into both opportunity and obstacle.

Unlike traditional level-based rage games, ReDrop deliberately experiments with an interconnected open map, testing how far the genre can stretch.

After months of development, playtesting at conventions, and gathering community feedback, ReDrop released on Steam on June 26, 2025.

ReDrop is a precision platformer inspired by Super Meat Boy, Celeste, and Spelunky, originally created in a 3-hour jam where it won first place under the theme “Suffering has a purpose.”

Guided by my philosophy: "if you start something, you finish it". We returned two years later to expand the prototype into a full game.

The core twist: every death leaves behind a platform. Players can use these corpses as stepping stones, or traps against themselves, turning failure into both opportunity and obstacle.

Unlike traditional level-based rage games, ReDrop deliberately experiments with an interconnected open map, testing how far the genre can stretch. After months of development, playtesting at conventions, and gathering community feedback, ReDrop released on Steam on June 26, 2025.

Challenge

Solution

Create a movement system strong enough to stand beside the best platformers. It had to feel smooth, fast, and responsive, while avoiding being a copy.

Study Super Meat Boy and Celeste, taking their best elements as inspiration. Combine and refine them into a custom system, less floaty than Super Meat Boy to keep movement tight and unique.

Find a unique core mechanic, because making just another platformer wouldn’t stand out.

We turned death into a tool: each death spawns a platform that can help or hinder, enabling shortcuts, speedruns, or easier play for newcomers.

Competing in an overcrowded genre where clones are easily dismissed.

Break the standard level formula of precision platformers by designing an interconnected open map. Checkpoints and multiple shortcuts highlight the ReDrop mechanic, offering freedom in approach and new layers of challenge.

The main character is bright purple for visibility and personality, with simple yet effective pixel art. Each level features 2–3 Redrop-tied mechanics and a unique color palette, making every stage feel distinct.

Create a clear, recognizable aesthetic where the character always stands out and levels feel unique.

Break the monotony of standard platforming while keeping gameplay fair and engaging.

Add pacing breaks with humor highlighting the player’s “skill issue”, keeping failure fair and tied to player skill. On top of that, we included gimmicks, a boss fight, three endings, achievements, two unlockable game modes, timers for speedrunners, and a “Noob Mode” for newcomers.

Releasing on Steam

Marketing

Every time you die, whether by traps or your own hand (a specific key), a platform spawns in the direction of the fatal blow.

Slightly larger than the player, these platforms provide landing spots for jumps, extra footing, or shielding against hazards. They persist until lives run out and cannot be undone.

Clever use can create safe paths, while careless deaths may block progress or trap the player. Platforms are always traversable from the opposite side, keeping movement fluid and preventing permanent blockages.

Movement in ReDrop is fast, precise, and responsive. Players can walk for careful positioning, sprint, wall jump, and double jump to extend distance and interactions.

Falling is quick for tighter control, while features like coyote time, late jumps, and buffered inputs ensure fairness.

Traps have slightly smaller hitboxes, ledges are larger, and acceleration/deceleration is near-instant for maximum responsiveness.

Even the menu reflects this philosophy, functioning as an interactive space rather than a static screen.

ReDrop Mechanic

Basics

Health & Shortcuts

The health system starts simple: players have 100 lives, with deaths scaling by 1. Checkpoints save progress and restore 20–90% of lives, depending on surrounding particles , ensuring enough health for each area’s size and difficulty (adjusted in Hard Mode).

Collectibles unlock the secret ending, while shortcuts add another layer of choice.

These routes require spending lives, never usable in a deathless run, rewarding skilled players who use the Redrop mechanic strategically.

As one of the two starting areas, the Mine serves as a solid entry point. The first half uses spikes to teach timing, distance, and the Redrop mechanic.

The main gimmick, mine carts with spiked sides, act as moving platforms that test reactions and positioning.

The second half adds bigger jumps, more hazards, and shortcuts, introducing alternate routes and creative Redrop use.

The Mine (Tutorial a)

The Sewers (Tutorial b)

On the left side of the map, the Sewers serve as a harder alternative path for more experienced players. Placing it left encourages exploration and provides a faster but more challenging route.

The level emphasizes verticality, with wall jumps testing timing and control.

Its gimmick is toxic drops in fixed patterns. Redrop platforms can block them and provide footing, making death both a tool and a challenge.

The Lasers

Placed at the center of the map, the Lasers act as both a passage and a test of player skill.

Harder than other areas, it offers a faster route for speedrunners. Redrop changes here: lasers burn platforms, so only self-inflicted deaths create safe spots.

The area’s two gimmicks, permanent or timed lasers that burns the Redrop and conveyor belts, keep movement dynamic, forcing strategic Redrop use and adaptation to a shifting environment.

The Roots

This area divides the map’s easy and hard sections. Players face a steep difficulty spike, signaling entry into tougher ground.

The design emphasizes precision: tight jumps where Redrop platforms can trap careless players. With no gimmicks, the stage includes two major pitfalls that drop players back to the Lasers or the start.

The area tests vertical and horizontal skills, combining everything learned so far. Its open layout means falling can send players back to the start or down into the Mines.

Three gimmicks define it: giant spiked worms as moving platforms, climbable and wall-jumpable but deadly; smaller frontal worms as temporary platforms; and a river that pushes players downward.

The design introduces moving enemies to make the world feel alive and creates a discovery moment: “Oh, cool, I can climb on those worms!”

The Mountain

The Temple is the largest and hardest area, home to the final boss. It presents a sharp difficulty spike and a true challenge leading to the game’s ending.

The level is filled with deadly traps: lances from the ground, fast-flying arrows, burning plates, and frontal flame turrets. At the end, giant statues crush anything in their path. Every hazard spawns a Redrop on death, and moving traps can be stopped by them, making precision and resourcefulness essential for survival.

The Temple

The Clouds

Two gimmicks define it: soft clouds that vanish on touch and respawn after a short delay, leaving no safe landing spots, and electric orbs that chase the player, starting slow then accelerating.

Smart positioning is key: deaths spawn Redrop platforms, orbs generate one when they kill, and they’re destroyed on contact, making failure part of the climb. Falling can send the player back down into the Forest, a small fail zone.

The design also provides a pacing break, an open, fast-moving area with quick dodges that refreshes rhythm while still testing skill.

The MotherShip

The Mothership, the final standard level, also hints at future DLC, showing how the game can stay fresh and avoid monotony.

Two gimmicks define it: inverted gravity, allowing fast, slingshot-like movement but deadly if misused, and plasma bridges that activate on timing, halting gravity briefly.

The design delivers a fun, engaging twist at the climax, breaking pacing to keep players hooked. Bright, energetic colors reinforce this shift. The stage ends with a locked door and a ship, leading to the second ending.

The Moon

Unlocked by collecting all 8 collectibles, the Moon is the secret, true-ending level. The goal is to climb to the top under extreme challenge.

Its main gimmick is explosive platforms that detonate quickly, demanding precise timing and mastery of Cloud-level mechanics. The level builds to a climactic finale, giving a high-stakes, secret-level feel. Reaching the Moon triggers the true-ending cutscene.

Final Boss Fight

The game’s only boss appears at the end of the Temple, leading to the bad ending if defeated. Players must survive and exhaust the boss’s attacks, which always follow a fixed sequence to encourage learning through repetition.

A checkpoint before the fight fully restores health, allowing players to give their best effort. The boss is skippable to access the Clouds level, but skipping forfeits the ending.

The encounter has three phases. The first, the hardest, uses the boss’s strongest attacks upfront, similar to Sans in Undertale, followed by a slower pattern with a final burst.

The second phase introduces platforms and side flames, while the third features a massive red hand that slams the player. Each phase emphasizes pattern recognition, precision, and strategic use of the Redrop mechanic.

The game’s only boss appears at the end of the Temple, leading to the bad ending if defeated. Players must survive and exhaust the boss’s attacks, which always follow a fixed sequence to encourage learning through repetition.

A checkpoint before the fight fully restores health, allowing players to give their best effort. The boss is skippable to access the Clouds level, but skipping forfeits the ending.

The encounter has three phases. The first, the hardest, uses the boss’s strongest attacks upfront, similar to Sans in Undertale, followed by a slower pattern with a final burst.

Additional Info

The three endings reward players by unlocking Hard Mode, Classic Mode, and visual filters.

Every game area features its own original soundtrack, with the boss fight having a unique track for each phase.

The game also includes 22 achievements, covering modes, endings, and speedruns, most of them playful references to other games.

The options include a Noob Mode with unlimited lives, auto-run, and a cosmetic red crown, alongside major language settings for accessibility.

The toughest way to experience the game. Checkpoints restore far less health, traps move faster, and additional hazards appear throughout the map. Even the tutorial is transformed into a trap-filled gauntlet. Completing Hard Mode unlocks a dedicated achievement.

A faithful nod to the original game jam version, preserved with fixes and polish. This mode lets players experience the game as it first existed, flaws intact but corrected for playability.

Hard Mode

Classic Mode

ReDrop is a precision platformer inspired by Super Meat Boy, Celeste, and Spelunky, originally created in a 3-hour jam where it won first place under the theme “Suffering has a purpose.”

Guided by my philosophy: "if you start something, you finish it". We returned two years later to expand the prototype into a full game.

ReDrop is a precision platformer inspired by Super Meat Boy, Celeste, and Spelunky, originally created in a 3-hour jam where it won first place under the theme “Suffering has a purpose.”

Guided by my philosophy: "if you start something, you finish it". We returned two years later to expand the prototype into a full game.

Challenge

Solution

Create a movement system strong enough to stand beside the best platformers. It had to feel smooth, fast, and responsive, while avoiding being a copy.

Study Super Meat Boy and Celeste, taking their best elements as inspiration. Combine and refine them into a custom system, less floaty than Super Meat Boy to keep movement tight and unique.

Find a unique core mechanic, because making just another platformer wouldn’t stand out.

We turned death into a tool: each death spawns a platform that can help or hinder, enabling shortcuts, speedruns, or easier play for newcomers.

Competing in an overcrowded genre where clones are easily dismissed.

Break the standard level formula of precision platformers by designing an interconnected open map. Checkpoints and multiple shortcuts highlight the ReDrop mechanic, offering freedom in approach and new layers of challenge.

The main character is bright purple for visibility and personality, with simple yet effective pixel art. Each level features 2–3 Redrop-tied mechanics and a unique color palette, making every stage feel distinct.

Create a clear, recognizable aesthetic where the character always stands out and levels feel unique.

Break the monotony of standard platforming while keeping gameplay fair and engaging.

Add pacing breaks with humor highlighting the player’s “skill issue”, keeping failure fair and tied to player skill. On top of that, we included gimmicks, a boss fight, three endings, achievements, two unlockable game modes, timers for speedrunners, and a “Noob Mode” for newcomers.

Releasing on Steam

Marketing

Every time you die, whether by traps or your own hand (a specific key), a platform spawns in the direction of the fatal blow.

Slightly larger than the player, these platforms provide landing spots for jumps, extra footing, or shielding against hazards. They persist until lives run out and cannot be undone.

Movement in ReDrop is fast, precise, and responsive. Players can walk for careful positioning, sprint, wall jump, and double jump to extend distance and interactions.

The health system starts simple: players have 100 lives, with deaths scaling by 1. Checkpoints save progress and restore 20–90% of lives, depending on surrounding particles , ensuring enough health for each area’s size and difficulty (adjusted in Hard Mode).

As one of the two starting areas, the Mine serves as a solid entry point. The first half uses spikes to teach timing, distance, and the Redrop mechanic.

On the left side of the map, the Sewers serve as a harder alternative path for more experienced players. Placing it left encourages exploration and provides a faster but more challenging route.

Placed at the center of the map, the Lasers act as both a passage and a test of player skill.

This area divides the map’s easy and hard sections. Players face a steep difficulty spike, signaling entry into tougher ground.

The area tests vertical and horizontal skills, combining everything learned so far. Its open layout means falling can send players back to the start or down into the Mines.

The Temple is the largest and hardest area, home to the final boss. It presents a sharp difficulty spike and a true challenge leading to the game’s ending.

Two gimmicks define it: soft clouds that vanish on touch and respawn after a short delay, leaving no safe landing spots, and electric orbs that chase the player, starting slow then accelerating.

The Mothership, the final standard level, also hints at future DLC, showing how the game can stay fresh and avoid monotony.

Unlocked by collecting all 8 collectibles, the Moon is the secret, true-ending level. The goal is to climb to the top under extreme challenge.

The game’s only boss appears at the end of the Temple, leading to the bad ending if defeated. Players must survive and exhaust the boss’s attacks, which always follow a fixed sequence to encourage learning through repetition.

A checkpoint before the fight fully restores health, allowing players to give their best effort. The boss is skippable to access the Clouds level, but skipping forfeits the ending.

The game’s only boss appears at the end of the Temple, leading to the bad ending if defeated. Players must survive and exhaust the boss’s attacks, which always follow a fixed sequence to encourage learning through repetition.

A checkpoint before the fight fully restores health, allowing players to give their best effort. The boss is skippable to access the Clouds level, but skipping forfeits the ending.

The three endings reward players by unlocking Hard Mode, Classic Mode, and visual filters.

Every game area features its own original soundtrack, with the boss fight having a unique track for each phase.

The game also includes 22 achievements, covering modes, endings, and speedruns, most of them playful references to other games.

The options include a Noob Mode with unlimited lives, auto-run, and a cosmetic red crown, alongside major language settings for accessibility.

The toughest way to experience the game. Checkpoints restore far less health, traps move faster, and additional hazards appear throughout the map. Even the tutorial is transformed into a trap-filled gauntlet. Completing Hard Mode unlocks a dedicated achievement.

A faithful nod to the original game jam version, preserved with fixes and polish. This mode lets players experience the game as it first existed, flaws intact but corrected for playability.

ReDrop OST Playlist