The Swapper is an indie game that got a lot of praise when it released. But does this indie darling deserve the praise it’s getting? Read our review and find out.
The Swapper is a puzzle game made by Facepalm games and while on the surface the game looks like a simple fun puzzle game it’s much more than that. Atmospheric, smart puzzles and beautiful clay designed area’s are just the tip of the iceberg. The Swapper has an interesting story to tell and asks some deep question that no other games before asked.

The choice…is the same…as before. You can die here, or you can do…what you have to to go on.

In the plot of The Swapper the player is trapped on a derelict spaceship called the Theseus. On the ship are rocks called Watchers which show signs of intelligence and are probably the cause of the deaths of all crew-members. The unnamed player has to escape the station to avoid the same fate as the rest of the crew. While the plot seems really simple at first the story, revelations and questions asked by the game are anything but simple. The Swapper asks question no game before it asked, for instance: what is a soul, does it exist or is there a more scientific explanation for it, when can something be called sentient or is individuality better than collectivity. Most of these question are of course left unanswered and leave the player thinking about such things. These questions while mostly done through ship logs and some slight but very well done dialogue, but most of these questions also come trough the gameplay aspects as you make some rather uncomfortable decisions.

It Manipulates minds by some method that is not persuasion or argument.

The Swapper is a puzzle game in which you create up to four clones of yourself, in order to finish puzzles. Control can also be taken of another clone by shooting the main characters supposed soul into another clone. Puzzles start of easy but nearing the end-game they can get rather challenging. So much so that the last puzzles might leave players wondering for hours or look up a guide online. Clones move exactly as you do so clone placement is important, and soul swapping can only be done when you can actually aim at the clone. In order to make thing more difficult the game has several extra gameplay elements like panels that swap gravity and lights that make it impossible to either place clones or take control of them in specific spots. What perhaps most interesting is that clones are disposable; at first you might feel bad or slightly uncomfortable but in the later game you might use clones and swap souls mid-air while the empty vessels fall to their inevitable death without even thinking anything of it. And this is where The Swapper asks its questions trough gameplay. Are clones just disposable, when are you, you.

Dark, desolate and mostly done in clay.

The art assets of The Swapper consist of mostly clay that is made on a desk or workplace and then scanned in by the computer. As such the game look great with the lighting especially looking really good. the areas are mostly dark and do feel very deserted. and while most of the game look blue, the colors for objects were chosen expertly with important objects popping out the environment. The music is mostly very haunting and minimalistic you would swear it’s just the ship making the noises. But sometimes the game takes a more depressing tone with its soundtrack and makes the station feel even emptier than it is. these two elements compliment the story with excellence.

The Swapper is an amazing puzzle game. It has smart puzzles and asks some very intelligent questions. Puzzles can get really difficult nearing the end and makes the player wonder if their action justify their means. Computer logs and the Watchers themselves explain what’s going on in mysterious and disturbing ways. This game is an absolute masterpiece and anyone who wants to get philosophical with its games should definitely check out this haunting adventure through an abandoned space station.

10/10

Tested on PlayStation 4