The Swapper

Facepalm Games - 2013 - PC

Where was this on everybody’s “2013 game of the year” list?? As of this writing, it’s January 2014, so all of the major game websites have put out their “best games of 2013 list”. I've checked most of the major gaming websites, and this game has appeared on precisely none of the “best game” lists, whereas games like Brothers and Bioshock Infinite - both of which I found to be less than favorable - appear all over the place. I don’t understand. Anyway, The Swapper is an indie puzzle game which has taken quite a bit of influence in its art direction from the Metroid games. Actually, this game threw me quite a bit at first. After seeing all of the visual and stylistic references to Metroid, I was expecting a Metroidvania game. The Swapper is very much just a puzzle game and nothing more, but it’s a very good puzzle game.

The main puzzle solving mechanic in the game is the title device, The Swapper. It allows the user to make clones of themselves that will mimic the user’s actions one to one. It also allows the user to transfer their consciousness not only between their clones, but between any living being, which makes for some interesting storytelling. Armed with The Swapper, you’ll explore a derelict space station that has been seemingly mysteriously abandoned. You’ll solve puzzles and read crew logs to try to piece together what happened to the station.

Summary:
The puzzle design in this game was pretty excellent, on par with games like Portal or Braid, where I would just stare at the screen for minutes at a time and try to think through what I needed to do to complete the puzzle. Light plays an important role in this game’s puzzles. Blue light will block The Swapper’s cloning feature where red light will block the “swapping” feature. Purple light will block both. The game’s mechanics are a bit difficult to illustrate verbally, so you may want to check out some gameplay videos to get the idea and see if this interests you. Don’t be thrown by the Metroid references, this isn't that kind of game. But if you enjoy puzzle games, The Swapper is a must-play.