Game of Drones

Game of Drones is a Futurama puzzle  developed by German-based video-game developer  and the second Futurama video game, after 2003's self-titled console game. It was announced on 8 July 2015. The title was revealed on 23 November 2015.

Gameplay
The app is a puzzle game that plays in the same way as , where drones (coloured icons) on a tiled board must be matched via color by four or more to remove them from the screen. Special super drones can appear that give the player an advantage, such as the ability to destroy an entire row of drones, or to explode all of the drones in a specific radius. Each character also has a special ability that is charged up and can be used to clear the board of many drones. Later levels include challenges such as boxes that must be destroyed by removing drones next to them, and pizza boxes that must reach the bottom of the screen. Levels are completed when the player removes a certain number of specific drones, destroys all the boxes onscreen, succeeds in getting all of the pizza boxes to the bottom of the screen or a combination of the three.

Players are only given a certain number of moves per level. If they run out of moves, they must either give up and lose a life or use in-game currency to gain a few more moves and keep trying. A maximum of 5 lives are permitted at once, and it takes 30 minutes to regain a single life. A free life can be quickly gained by watching a 30-second-long ad.

Boosters are also eventually made available to the player, which must be bought using in-game currency. In-game currency can be purchased using real world money. An alternate way of gaining in-game currency is by spinning the Wheel of Robots (which requires the player to watch a 30-second-long ad), which can reward the player between 1 to 5 units of currency. Other bonuses include unlimited lives for either 5, 10 or 15 minutes. The wheel can only be spun once every 10 minutes.

Plot


The game's story is told through a series of interactive comic book pages, which are unlocked by progressing further into the game.

In 3015 at the Planet Express headquarters, Professor Farnsworth reveals to the crew that he has invented delivery drones due to negative customer feedback. The professor then teaches them how to deliver the drones, which requires matching them up via colour (this is because they "tend to wander off unless they're in a group"), then sends them on a delivery to Luna Park. Meanwhile, Mom spots the drones and becomes suspicious, so she sends out a MomCorp spy drone to investigate.

After the crew defeats the spy drone, Mom decides to initiate "Operation Unfair Competition", and sends out an army of box-carrying drones that work under a new program known as "", which comes with "free shipping that you pay for". Realising that this could put Planet Express out-of-business, the professor decides that they'll compete by including food-grade pizzas with their deliveries. Whilst on the moon, the crew stop at the hydroponic farm at the request of Bender, who quickly tries to come up with an excuse for why he wants to go there. Once at the farm, Bender purchases illegal moon ferrets from the hydroponic farmer.

After making drone deliveries across the moon, the crew must battle Zapp Brannigan. Upon defeat, Zapp boards the Planet Express ship (whilst Bender desperately tries to hide his moon ferrets) and requests that they deliver him to the DOOP headquarters, which has been taken over by Neutrals. The Neutral President claims that they came to power lawfully when the vote resulted in an exact tie. Zapp battles with the President, resulting in the HQ activating its self-destruct mechanism. The headquarters are destroyed, and Zapp flees the scene in an escape pod. Leela suggests the crew should lay low for a while, so Bender decides they should go to Mars Vegas.

Whilst exploring the casinos, the crew come across the Robot Mafia. The mafia demand a cut of any business the crew do there, threatening to harm them if they do not pay up. Bender ends up keeping one of the drones as a pet, naming it Rusty, and meets up with Joey Mousepad to sell him his moon ferrets. Since this qualifies as business within Mars Vegas, the mafia demand their cut of the profits, despite Bender selling the ferrets to one of the mafia's own members. Bender explains that he already spent the money on a sweater for Rusty and offers it to them, however, they tell him to get their money within five levels (levels being Martian hours), otherwise, he will be clamped. Failing to pay up, Bender then battles and defeats Clamps.

The Donbot considers their debt forgiven, but warns them to leave at once. Unbeknowst to the crew, Clamps removes the ship's brakes. Still on the run after accidentally destroying the DOOP headquarters, the professor buys the crew new identities: Fedgewick (Leela), Thrundle (Bender) and Crotchmonitor (Fry). Later, the ship approaches the Planet Express hangar back on Earth, but as a result of the sabotaged brakes, it crashes straight through the floor and into the New New York sewers. Leela notices that there are no mutants anywhere, when suddenly Leg Mutant thuds agains the windscreen of the ship. Leg Mutant tells them that Mom has forced all the mutants into labor at the Momazon Primo warehouse. Enraged, Leela announces that she is going to save her parents (and maybe the other mutants, too).

After word of Mom's mutant sweatshops is leaked to the media, she pretends to have been unaware of the slavery, and vows to punish anyone responsible. However, she also argues that the sewer unemployment rate is now 0%. Behind the scenes, it is revealed that Mom is using brain slugs to keep the mutants under her control. The crew capture all of Mom's drones in a huge net and crash it directly into the Momazon Primo warehouse, freeing her parents and the rest of the mutants. Trying to figure out a way to get rid of all of the drones in the net, Fry suggests they dump them in Robot Hell. With the ship's brakes still damaged, the gang enter Robot Hell and crash directly into a soundproof seal which contains Calculon.

Meanwhile, the Robot Devil isn't pleased about the pile of MomCorp drones dumped everywhere. After calling the MomCorp helpline and attempting to cash them for a deposit, Mom tells him that the Planet Express gang are responsible for making the mess and that all of their drones have robot souls. Calculon suggests that the crew go to Malfunctioning Eddie's rocket repair (now located in Robot Hell) to get their brakes replaced. Upon arrival, the gang are greeted by Eddie and a fembot that looks strikingly similar to the Planet Express ship (and also identifies the ship as "Aunt Agnes"). Eddie explodes upon hearing the ship has no brakes (due to how expensive the repair job will be), and the fembot replaces them.

After several failed attempts to obtain the crew's drones, the Robot Devil gives up trying to negotiate and battles with Calculon. Upon the Devil's defeat, the crew throw Calculon out of the ship and return to Planet Express. Leela is disappointed that she can't cash her paycheck due to it being made out to her new identity, so Hermes suggests that he can expunge their death sentence records from the Central Bureaucracy (conveniently where they are due to make their next deliveries). At the Bureaucracy, the gang go to the Court of Criminal Innocence, where Roberto works as a Level 27 Bureaucrat (to help clear his criminal record). Hermes explains that he is trying to file a Form 929, but is missing some of the paperwork. Roberto tells him that without the completed form, he isn't getting past his "Form 929 Approval Knife". Hermes brandishes an even bigger knife, and the pair fight, resulting in Roberto's defeat.

Two hours after getting their original identities back, the crew are banished from Earth, due to Hermes having wiped everything from their records clean, including their Earth citizenship. They decide to return to Mars to visit Amy at Mars University where they can also acquire student visas.

To be completed...

Trivia



 * The game features its own built-in Twitcher page, which lets the player view "twits" from characters in the show.
 * The game's title is a reference to the series Game of Thrones.
 * Drones were previously referenced in The Beast with a Billion Backs and "Fun on a Bun".
 * In The Beast with a Billion Backs, asks if  can't send a ic drone into the anomaly.
 * In "Fun on a Bun", controls "a revolutionary  of unmanned drones" (with men in them).
 * In "Simpsorama", which aired roughly eight months before the game's announcement,, while in 2014, tells , , and Bender to find out why people in this time period would ever pay for.
 * The drone prototypes were made using part of Fry's brain.
 * According to the hydroponic farmer, cuteness is a crime on the moon.
 * Fry has a copy of a book titled "Poker Book System", written by Borax Kid.
 * The Compulseez booster is a new addition to the products of the Futurama universe. According to the product's Twitcher page, it is unknown whether Compulseez are candy or medication; and they are produced by the same company who make Def-Con Owl Traps.
 * The game's opening title screen contains several alternating captions, most of which are based on those from the show.
 * There is shown to be a tunnel known as Handbasket Road that connects the New New York sewers directly to Robot Hell.
 * The Court of Criminal Innocence is shown to be located inside the Central Bureaucracy.
 * The infamous sketch of Walter White aka Heisenberg from  can be seen on the blackboard in Mars University.

Continuity

 * The bio on Fry's Twitcher profile lists him as "Clippy winner, emperor of Trisol (retired), tentacle pope of the world".

Twitcher

 * The following usernames are used by the show's characters, businesses and products on the game's Twitcher app:
 * Fry - @pfry837902
 * Leela - @turangaleela
 * Bender - @IPFreely
 * Professor Farnsworth - @proff
 * Amy - @TheRightWong
 * Hermes - @limbomaniac
 * Zoidberg - @FishLiver
 * Zapp - @gladiator45
 * Cubert - @karthagthebold
 * Dwight - @MightyDwight
 * Calculon - @TheRealCalculon
 * Robot Devil - @soulowner
 * Roberto - @rob
 * Joey Mousepad - @robomofo
 * Wernstrom - @featherdaddy
 * Hydroponic farmer - @MFProduce
 * Leg Mutant - @kickinit
 * Neutral President - @username
 * Slurm - @Slurm
 * MomCorp - @MomCorp
 * Channel √2 - @chroot2
 * Fishy Joe's - @FishyJoeHimself
 * Malfunctioning Eddie's - @repair2die
 * Mars University - @UMars
 * Compulseez - @Compulseez

Levels
The game's levels are broken into different locations taken from the show. The following locations are used in this order:


 * New New York (Professor Farnsworth)
 * Moon
 * DOOP HQ
 * Mars Vegas
 * Mutant Sewers
 * Robot Hell
 * Central Bureaucracy
 * Mars University
 * Decapod 10
 * Omicron Persei 8
 * Near-Death Star
 * New New York (Cubert)
 * New New York (Nibbler)
 * Monument Beach
 * Atlanta
 * Mexico
 * San Francisco
 * Internet
 * Osiris 4

Boosters
Boosters that aid the player are eventually made available. There are 2 types of boosters, some that are activated before starting a level and some that can be activated during a level.


 * Pre-game boosters:
 * Fishy Meal - Begins a level with one each of a Line, Bomb, and Prism Super Drone.
 * Super Slurm - Begins the level with a fully charged character power.
 * Compulseez - Organizes Drones by color at the start of the level.


 * In-game boosters:
 * Doomba - Automatically cleans and vaporizes 4 areas of the board, targeting level objectives.
 * Special Doomlivery - Immediately places 5 Line Drones on the board for maximum doom convenience.
 * Spheroboom - Brings localized doom to a tiny, hexagonal area of space.

Character Abilities
The player assumes the role of one of several characters from the show in each area of the game. Each character has his or her own special ability.


 * Fry: Tapping on a drone will remove all drones of the same color from the board.
 * Zapp: Tapping on a drone will make Zapp fire his blaster at that section of the board, removing normal drones and weakening enhanced obstacles.
 * Bender: Tapping on a drone will gather all drones of that color together.
 * Leela: Tapping on a drone will change all drones of that color into the type of drone shown at the bottom of the screen.
 * Calculon: Tapping on a drone will cause a triple-dipple drone effect and blast three rows at once.
 * Hermes: Tapping on a drone will change all drones below it to the same color.
 * Amy: Tapping on a drone will hit all drones and obstacles in six directions.
 * Zoidberg: Tapping on a drone will completely remove all drones and obstacles around it.
 * Lrrr: Tapping on a drone will blast multiple rows around it, bypassing even metal plates.
 * Professor Farnsworth: Tapping on a drone will remove drones and obstacles in a random path.
 * Cubert: Tapping on a drone will change all drones around it to that color.
 * Nibbler: Activating Nibbler will send a Nibblonian who eats drones and obstacles after each move. Nibbler can summon several Nibblonians on one level and they will stay on the board until the end.
 * Rusty: Activating Rusty will exchange a drone of the player's choice (and any adjacent drones) for a super drone (either a line or bomb drone).

Card collections
An update to the game allows players to collect virtual trading cards through completing levels (regardless of if the player wins or loses). Once a full set of cards has been completed, the player is rewarded with in-game goods, such as boosters, currency, unlimited lives for a short period of time, more cards, or a new Planet Express ship to use in the 3D map screen. Up to 5 cards can be earned per day through play; it is possible to get additional cards by spinning the Wheel of Robots after watching an ad. Alternatively, additional cards can be purchased using in-game currency (a regular pack is 100 bucks & a premium pack is 1000 bucks).

Planet Express ship skins
Another update to the game allows the player to unlock different Planet Express ships taken from across the show to equip and use in the 3D map screen. The ships only provide a cosmetic change. The following ships are currently available:


 * Hot Rod Ship (as seen in "2-D Blacktop") - a free reward for logging into Facebook through the game.
 * Yellow Submarine Ship (as seen in Bender's Game) - unlocked by completing the Starships card collection.
 * Fire Truck Ship (as seen in "The Inhuman Torch") - unlocked by completing the Firefighters card collection.
 * Feminista Ship (as seen in Into the Wild Green Yonder) - unlocked by completing the Feministas card collection.