Paper Drop red beads bouncing down a cut-paper peg board
A peg board made of cut paper. A funnel slides along the top and lets go of a red bead about once a second; each one rattles down through the pegs into a numbered pocket, 1000 in the middle. The score runs up by itself, and a click drops a bead of your own.
Free to install. Paper Drop unlocks with Pro, $5.99 a month or $39.99 a year. Cancel anytime.
What you see on every new tab
Paper Drop turns the New Tab page into a drop-ball board that looks cut from coloured paper, with a soft shadow under every piece. A dark scalloped valance runs across the top behind the search bar, with the score on a paper tag beside it. Under the valance a small funnel wanders left and right and drops red beads into a staggered field of pegs, and a row of numbered pockets waits along the bottom.
The board: small pegs in five colours that wobble when a bead hits them, and a few larger ring pegs worth 10 points a hit. Beads bounce off the walls, the pegs and each other, and each hard bounce off a peg is turned a little at random, so no two drops go the same way.
The pockets: an odd number along the bottom, nine on most screens, worth 1000 in the middle and less toward the edges: 500, 250, 100, 50. Each landing pops its points up above the pocket, and a 1000 throws confetti.
Three boards: Coral Hills has two chevron ramps, two X paddles that spin when hit and a starred bonus cup worth 500. Windmill Meadow has clouds, green hills and a row of windmills whose blades spin when hit. Fairground Wheel has a striped tent, bunting and a slowly turning wheel of six cups: a bead that drops into a cup rides over the top and is tipped out for 100.
Levels: every 30,000 points the funnel stops dropping, the beads in play finish, and the board slides away for the next one under a paper Level tag. The three boards take turns and the score carries on.
Nothing is a video. Every bead is a small physics simulation run live in your browser and painted fresh each frame, so no two drops fall the same way.
What it reacts to
Mouse: the funnel follows your cursor from side to side while it moves, and for a few seconds after it stops. Then it goes back to wandering.
Click: click anywhere on the board and a bead drops from the top at that spot, up to fourteen beads in play at once.
Music: nothing. The board keeps its own time.
Night: the page dims after dusk.
Free or Pro?Pro
Ambient New Tab is free to install, with three free themes. Paper Drop is a Pro theme. Pro is $5.99 a month or $39.99 a year, cancel anytime, and it unlocks every Pro theme, music sync, and every new theme as we release it. You can preview Paper Drop full screen before you buy: open the Themes panel and rest your mouse on it. Changed your mind? 14-day refund, no questions.
Open a new tab and click the Themes pill in the bottom-right corner.
Pick Paper Drop. Done.
Paper Drop on a 1280×800 New Tab page.
Questions
Can I play it, or does it play itself?
Both. Left alone, the funnel drops a bead about once a second and the score climbs with no help from you. Move the cursor to aim the funnel, or click to drop a bead where you want it.
Is Paper Drop free?
It is a Pro theme. Pro is $5.99 a month or $39.99 a year. It unlocks every Pro theme, music sync, and every new theme as it is released. Cancel anytime.
Is the score saved?
The score starts from zero in every new tab. Your best score is kept in your browser and shown under the score, and a new tab opens on the board the last one reached.
Does it work on my phone?
No. It's a desktop browser extension for Chrome and Edge on Windows, macOS, Linux and ChromeOS. If you're reading this on a phone, send yourself the link.
