The Swapper

An indie puzzle platformer? For me, that's pretty much an instant turn off. That's why I'm happy I didn't ignore Swapper, because it's simply excellent, absolutely unique and does not deserve to be clumped together with all thsoe other indie platformers. Beautiful environments (hand-crafted I believe?), the 'puzzles' which actually make sense, unique mechanics, superbly creepy / semi-horror atmosphere, amazing soundtrack. Even the story is presented in a great way (although it's not all that interesting). You solve the puzzles by cloning yourself. If a clone dies, you can replace it with a new one. It's truly chilling to see a clone silhouette pop up in the corner of the screen... "I just got my clone killed." A true cerbreal sci-fi experience. A must-play really.

I watched a video of this game and thought: "... well this sounds like smt I've heard in a lecture some semesters ago." And so I bought it on a sale and was not dissapointed. It is -in my opinion- a game about an identity-theory and the status of thoughts, which may constitute identity after all. The messages you hear and read from time to time are communications between a certain Dennett and Chalmers (Daniel Dennett, David Chalmers)...so, talking names. And the ships name is Theseus...hmm. But I don't want to spoilt it all for you and establish: - nice graphics! Very unusual style and I liked it. - mind breaking puzzles. While having almost no problems with P² this one gave me headache from time to time. - interesting story... at least for me, a masters student in Philosophy. - a very nice ending (don't spoil it for yerself and look it up in advance) - great atmosphere. I think it is totally worth the money you will throw at it and you will have some entertaining hours with it. Go and grab it!

An amazing experience that just gets better the more you play. The puzzle mechanics are challenging yet intuitive, the difficulty ramping is just right, and the story draws you in without being overbearing. The philosophy-of-mind themes and dialogue will appeal to exactly the type of person who would enjoy these sorts of puzzles, and the music, visuals, and atmosphere are pitch-perfect. Succeeds in basically every way, right through the satisfying ending. No complaints about the length, which I thought was ideal for the game and didn't overstay its welcome.

I wrote a much longer review for Home of the Underdogs which I might as well link here: http://www.homeoftheunderdogs.net/game.php?id=5330 Nutshell: PROS - atmosphere, audio, visuals, puzzles CONS - slightly dodgy narrative to the best of my cognition, have to replay to see both endings (or create backup save)

Strong story, strong æsthetics, strong gameplay. More games like this, please!