Overview:
The Swapper is a sci-fi puzzle platformer where the core game mechanic involves creating temporary copies of yourself* and swapping places with them. One puzzle elements surrounding this mechanic include red and blue lights which prohibit creating copies of yourself (blue) or swapping with one (red).
*The theme reminds me of a specific movie.
Recommendation:
I'm a fan of puzzle platformers (e.g., Braid and Limbo), and so I definitely enjoyed The Swapper. While I've only played for an hour, I absolutely loved the game's puzzle mechanic and the only reason I haven't spent more time with it is because I've been focusing on exploring my game library.
With that being said, there were a couple of puzzles which required speed rather than strategy. As frustrating as some of these puzzles were (due to the repeated deaths), I enjoyed solving and accomplishing them.
Of course, there's more to The Swapper than just its puzzle mechanic. It's also atmospheric and the game feels like a thriller to me: it's full of mystery and suspense. In particular, I couldn't help but wonder about the morality behind making and eliminating clones.
In summary, I would highly recommend The Swapper, especially if you like puzzle platformers.
20141005:
Having seen trailers for the game prior to acquiring it, I definitely knew I was in for some fun. However, actually playing the game was much more rewarding than watching the trailers.
[20150210]
20150210:
Reviewing the screenshots I took on 20141005, I couldn't help but notice they were fuzzy.
As such, I installed and ran the game from my laptop (no save file) and played a little bit of the beginning of the game (up until the tidbit about having up to four clones).
In any case, upon starting the game, I was surprised to find that the graphics were intentionally fuzzy. I suppose the fuzziness adds to the atmosphere of the game.
[20150210][20220923 Edit]
20211212 Snapshot:
The game doesn't support Steam Cloud, and while I can try and look for a save file, I think I'll just start from scratch. This would not be too bad, considering I previously only played for at most 70 minutes, and I recall it being a fun game.
Steam Game Time: 70 minutes
Last Played: 20150210
20220916:
Wow, I played for almost 5 hours. This was initially surprising, but I made significant progress, so I suppose it makes sense. It is a fun game. At the moment I'm trying to complete all the puzzles - which I'm not entirely sure is necessary - and some of the later puzzles are extremely difficult. It's possible an entire hour went to just one puzzle. I'd say the game has a good balance of difficulty in its puzzles.
Setup: When I first started the game, I had to connect a keyboard (to my Steam Deck via a dock) to enter my name for the profile, because the game wouldn't let me use the Steam Deck's virtual keyboard. During this time, I had switched the controller setting to gamepad with mouse trackpack instead of the default gamepad with joystick trackpad. I then continued playing with this option (even though it didn't solve the need to temporarily attach a physical keyboard.*
Steam Game Time: 5.8 hours (total game time) / 4.6 hours (session game time)
*This is the only time a keyboard is required.
20220917:
I just finished the game. The ending of the game provides the player with two options: stay on the planet or switch. I decided to switch.
I had not unlocked any achievements. I read the no spoiler section of a guide that said these achievements come from hidden rooms.
Steam Game Time: 6.4 hours (total game time) / 0.6 hours (session game time)
The Swapper (PC) (2013)
Relevant Links:
The Swapper Webpage
The Swapper (Wikipedia.org)
The Swapper (Steam Store Page)
The Swapper (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
The Swapper is a sci-fi puzzle platformer where the core game mechanic involves creating temporary copies of yourself* and swapping places with them. One puzzle elements surrounding this mechanic include red and blue lights which prohibit creating copies of yourself (blue) or swapping with one (red).
 |
| Make clones. |
*The theme reminds me of a specific movie.
Recommendation:
I'm a fan of puzzle platformers (e.g., Braid and Limbo), and so I definitely enjoyed The Swapper. While I've only played for an hour, I absolutely loved the game's puzzle mechanic and the only reason I haven't spent more time with it is because I've been focusing on exploring my game library.
With that being said, there were a couple of puzzles which required speed rather than strategy. As frustrating as some of these puzzles were (due to the repeated deaths), I enjoyed solving and accomplishing them.
Of course, there's more to The Swapper than just its puzzle mechanic. It's also atmospheric and the game feels like a thriller to me: it's full of mystery and suspense. In particular, I couldn't help but wonder about the morality behind making and eliminating clones.
In summary, I would highly recommend The Swapper, especially if you like puzzle platformers.
 |
| Make up to four clones. |
20141005:
Having seen trailers for the game prior to acquiring it, I definitely knew I was in for some fun. However, actually playing the game was much more rewarding than watching the trailers.
[20150210]
20150210:
Reviewing the screenshots I took on 20141005, I couldn't help but notice they were fuzzy.
 |
| Is the help of a clone same as you helping yourself? |
As such, I installed and ran the game from my laptop (no save file) and played a little bit of the beginning of the game (up until the tidbit about having up to four clones).
In any case, upon starting the game, I was surprised to find that the graphics were intentionally fuzzy. I suppose the fuzziness adds to the atmosphere of the game.
[20150210][20220923 Edit]
20211212 Snapshot:
The game doesn't support Steam Cloud, and while I can try and look for a save file, I think I'll just start from scratch. This would not be too bad, considering I previously only played for at most 70 minutes, and I recall it being a fun game.
Steam Game Time: 70 minutes
Last Played: 20150210
20220916:
Wow, I played for almost 5 hours. This was initially surprising, but I made significant progress, so I suppose it makes sense. It is a fun game. At the moment I'm trying to complete all the puzzles - which I'm not entirely sure is necessary - and some of the later puzzles are extremely difficult. It's possible an entire hour went to just one puzzle. I'd say the game has a good balance of difficulty in its puzzles.
Setup: When I first started the game, I had to connect a keyboard (to my Steam Deck via a dock) to enter my name for the profile, because the game wouldn't let me use the Steam Deck's virtual keyboard. During this time, I had switched the controller setting to gamepad with mouse trackpack instead of the default gamepad with joystick trackpad. I then continued playing with this option (even though it didn't solve the need to temporarily attach a physical keyboard.*
Steam Game Time: 5.8 hours (total game time) / 4.6 hours (session game time)
*This is the only time a keyboard is required.
20220917:
I just finished the game. The ending of the game provides the player with two options: stay on the planet or switch. I decided to switch.
I had not unlocked any achievements. I read the no spoiler section of a guide that said these achievements come from hidden rooms.
Steam Game Time: 6.4 hours (total game time) / 0.6 hours (session game time)
The Swapper (PC) (2013)
 |
| Uh... Are we going to be okay? |
Relevant Links:
The Swapper Webpage
The Swapper (Wikipedia.org)
The Swapper (Steam Store Page)
The Swapper (PC) (MetaCritic.com)
Date/Time
Sunday, October 5, 2014
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21:18
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