There are few games that ask the player to answer questions it raises, and even fewer that employ game-mechanics so focused on the narrative. The Swapper succeeds in the former category, but the latter feels not often thought out.

Don't let what I've said turn you away. Sure, it's an artsy kind of platformer with a philosophical undertone, but the story is captivating to unravel for yourself and the gameplay is superb as well to make playing the game equally as challenging.


Unlike many artsy-smartsy platformers with almost zero mechanics, The Swapper will warrant you to play the game for its challenge as a puzzle game. It's undoubtly a game.

In the Swapper, you have the ability to create copies of yourself and to transfer your "soul" to another clone. The game will slow down and you can place your clones with your mouse or right-thumbstick. This comes into play when you have more quick-reaction puzzles.

Sounds simple, right? However, if you move one body it moves all of your clones with every movement. And if your clone dies or combines with yourself, you can make another clone.

The Swapper's sense of challenge comes from this limitation; you have to manage all your copies at once, which would otherwise make the basic idea boring.

For some puzzles with a large room/options, the puzzles can be daunting because of that added challenge. As a result, there always seems to be one--and only one--solution. If you were hoping for some versatility in your puzzles, then you probably won't like this game that much for its puzzles.

The game sticks with its gimmick throughout the whole game, and it adds new puzzles/obstacles to keep things interesting. Colored lights that can disable some of the Swapper's abilities, reverse gravity jump-pads, switches, boxes, All of which use your clones in some way. Sometimes not as obvious as you might think.

You do not need to collect everything in the game. You only need 100 orbs to beat the game. The rest of the rooms are for completionists, which will extend your playthrough for another few hours. But if you only care for the story, you can focus only on finding all the Watchers (althought numbers 20-something to 38 seem repeating dialogue of what you'll hear in the main-game.)

The gameplay itself will make the Swapper become more familiar to you as you experiment with its mechanics, and the story will work off your experimentation to question just what it is your are doing exactly.


"The one called the Swapper -- it manipulates minds by some method that is not persuasion or argument. Is it a weapon?"

These scattered messages and seemingly random characters you encounter are how The Swapper presents its story. You'll be left with more questions than answers often, but you will get some concrete information to ground your answers. Instead of feeling like a cop-out for telling a story, the game knows when to give you information and when to keep the mystery at bay.

That said, you don't need to brush up on your Kiekargaard, Descartes or your ancient Greeks to understand the kind of questions this game raises. It touches on philosophical quandries as timeless as the concept of souls and the perception vs. the reality of your identity.

This method works within the game's narrative and mechanics, and as such they are asked in a more relatable/modern manner. Mostly through messages, conversations with a limited cast of characters and teleopathicconnections. As these are more interpretetitve ideas, the game focuses on raising the questions it wants you to ask of yourself, rather than straight-out giving an answer to everything.

If you are going to do a philosophical game, this approach is definitely what you want to go for. (let the player ask and find their own answers.) However, and what can happen as a result of the storytelling method, the decision you make at the very end can either go over your head or feel kind of shallow if you don't care to figure it out.

The other downside to this type of narrative is sometimes you'll raise questions that weren't meant to be asked.


If that sounds too wordy/convulted of a phrase, then let me rephrase it like this, "Why is that object/mechanic here? What does it do besides play a role in the game? Why would anyone design a space-station this way?"

What breaks the immersion is this "gamey" feel about the game. In most cases, these are things I overlook because it's just a game. Sometimes, like in LISA or Undertale, the gamey-ness aspects are to subvert your expectations or to twist your perception of them.

However, the Swapper does not do anything with its gamey qualities, which is asking for more questions from the player. Many of which I don't think are intended to be asked.

For example, "Why do the lights affect the Swapper? Why do they affect my copies (and why not me)?" On this ship and on the planet below are these multicolored lights that are so precisely place to hide these orbs that unlock doors/systems. "Why do these orbs power everything around here, and why are they put into these rooms like puzzles?" So you can get around the station/planet. "Wait, and you need the Swapper to get around this place, but they banned its usage. So how did everyone get around this place?"

I realize this seems a rather pointless series of questions as most games don't care about how gamey they feel. However, if a game is trying to tie its mechanics so much into its story, and the story establishes some things about the usage of a mechanic, then these questions are going to be asked by the player and break the continuity of the story from the gameplay.

The reason I stress this flaw is because as much harm you hear/read about the Swapper being used, you never really feel like using it comes with consequences.

For example, there isn't a limit on how many times you can copy yourself nor any penalties. And despite the horror in the idea of the Swapper being misused, there's nothing said its effects cannot be undone. It's something the game assumes is a permanent choice, which affects how you interpret the ending.


You might come away thinking this game is nothing but sophistry. Or you might come away thinking you understand the ramifications of the game, and the attrocity of the Swapper itself. Or you might understand and like things about the gameplay and narrative but find that both were not in a happy marriage with each other.

If you're interested in the mechanics or the story alone, buy the game on a sale.

If you're interested in both the narrative and story, buy it whenever you want.

Perhaps when you've been on the other side will you have a clearer mind. Or find yourself in more of a mess than what you began with. (But you'll still be the same, right?)

There are few games that ask the player to answer questions it raises, and even fewer that employ game-mechanics so focused on the narrative. The Swapper succeeds in the former category, but the latter feels not often thought out. Don't let what I've said turn you away. Sure, it's an artsy kind of platformer with a philosophical undertone, but the story is captivating to unravel for yourself and the gameplay is superb as well to make playing the game equally as challenging. [h1]What Makes It So Special?[/h1] Unlike many artsy-smartsy platformers with almost zero mechanics, The Swapper will warrant you to play the game for its challenge as a puzzle game. It's undoubtly a game. In the Swapper, you have the ability to create copies of yourself and to transfer your "soul" to another clone. The game will slow down and you can place your clones with your mouse or right-thumbstick. This comes into play when you have more quick-reaction puzzles. Sounds simple, right? However, if you move one body it moves all of your clones with every movement. And if your clone dies or combines with yourself, you can make another clone. The Swapper's sense of challenge comes from this limitation; you have to manage all your copies at once, which would otherwise make the basic idea boring. For some puzzles with a large room/options, the puzzles can be daunting because of that added challenge. As a result, there always seems to be one--and only one--solution. If you were hoping for some versatility in your puzzles, then you probably won't like this game that much for its puzzles. The game sticks with its gimmick throughout the whole game, and it adds new puzzles/obstacles to keep things interesting. Colored lights that can disable some of the Swapper's abilities, reverse gravity jump-pads, switches, boxes, All of which use your clones in some way. Sometimes not as obvious as you might think. You do not need to collect everything in the game. You only need 100 orbs to beat the game. The rest of the rooms are for completionists, which will extend your playthrough for another few hours. But if you only care for the story, you can focus only on finding all the Watchers (althought numbers 20-something to 38 seem repeating dialogue of what you'll hear in the main-game.) The gameplay itself will make the Swapper become more familiar to you as you experiment with its mechanics, and the story will work off your experimentation to question just what it is your are doing exactly. [h1]Who Am I?[/h1] "[i]The one called the Swapper -- it manipulates minds by some method that is not persuasion or argument. Is it a weapon?[/i]" These scattered messages and seemingly random characters you encounter are how The Swapper presents its story. You'll be left with more questions than answers often, but you will get some concrete information to ground your answers. Instead of feeling like a cop-out for telling a story, the game knows when to give you information and when to keep the mystery at bay. That said, you don't need to brush up on your Kiekargaard, Descartes or your ancient Greeks to understand the kind of questions this game raises. It touches on philosophical quandries as timeless as the concept of souls and the perception vs. the reality of your identity. This method works within the game's narrative and mechanics, and as such they are asked in a more relatable/modern manner. Mostly through messages, conversations with a limited cast of characters and teleopathicconnections. As these are more interpretetitve ideas, the game focuses on raising the questions it wants you to ask of yourself, rather than straight-out giving an answer to everything. If you are going to do a philosophical game, this approach is definitely what you want to go for. (let the player ask and find their own answers.) However, and what can happen as a result of the storytelling method, the decision you make at the very end can either go over your head or feel kind of shallow if you don't care to figure it out. The other downside to this type of narrative is sometimes you'll raise questions that weren't meant to be asked. [h1]What is Gameplay-Narrative Dissonance?[/h1] If that sounds too wordy/convulted of a phrase, then let me rephrase it like this, "Why is that object/mechanic here? What does it do besides play a role in the game? Why would anyone design a space-station this way?" What breaks the immersion is this "gamey" feel about the game. In most cases, these are things I overlook because it's just a game. Sometimes, like in LISA or Undertale, the gamey-ness aspects are to subvert your expectations or to twist your perception of them. However, the Swapper does not do anything with its gamey qualities, which is asking for more questions from the player. Many of which I don't think are intended to be asked. For example, "Why do the lights affect the Swapper? Why do they affect my copies [spoiler](and why not me)?[/spoiler]" On this ship and on the planet below are these multicolored lights that are so precisely place to hide these orbs that unlock doors/systems. "Why do these orbs power everything around here, and why are they put into these rooms like puzzles?" So you can get around the station/planet. "Wait, and you need the Swapper to get around this place, but they banned its usage. So how did everyone get around this place?" I realize this seems a rather pointless series of questions as most games don't care about how gamey they feel. However, if a game is trying to tie its mechanics so much into its story, and the story establishes some things about the usage of a mechanic, then these questions are going to be asked by the player and break the continuity of the story from the gameplay. The reason I stress this flaw is because as much harm you hear/read about the Swapper being used, you never really feel like using it comes with consequences. For example, there isn't a limit on how many times you can copy yourself nor any penalties. And despite the horror in the idea of the Swapper being misused, there's nothing said its effects cannot be undone. It's something the game assumes is a permanent choice, which affects how you interpret the ending. [h1]A Game Full of Questions, Void of Simple Answers[/h1] You might come away thinking this game is nothing but sophistry. Or you might come away thinking you understand the ramifications of the game, and the attrocity of the Swapper itself. Or you might understand and like things about the gameplay and narrative but find that both were not in a happy marriage with each other. If you're interested in the mechanics or the story alone, buy the game on a sale. If you're interested in both the narrative and story, buy it whenever you want. Perhaps when you've been on the other side will you have a clearer mind. Or find yourself in more of a mess than what you began with. (But you'll still be the same, right?)