Time to Beat: 5 Hours
The Swapper:
The Swapper, released by Facepalm Games (a small indie studio), is an atmospheric, sci-fi, 2D puzzler pursuing a philosophical quandary: what is the Mind?
The unnamed
protagonist explores an nearly abandoned space station, the Theseus,
trying to discover the secrets it contains. Upon reflection as I
prepare to write this, I realized I had no clue how the protagonist
even arrived on the Theseus. I knew I wasn't one of the original
crew, because I remembered arriving, with everyone already dead
(almost), and I understand I'm not a member of the rescue team,
because I need to be rescued. After watching the beginning on
YouTube, events clarified, but the order is still uncertain. It
appears as if, the protagonist is forced into an escape pod and fired
from Theseus Station to the surface of the planet it orbits, Chori V.
But after surviving a rough landing, the protagonist travels to a
science station on the planet's surface, and uses a teleporter to
return to Theseus.
Upon
returning to Theseus Station, the protagonist encounters, on this
derelict and haunting space station, the singular survivor aboard
this mausoleum. This lone
communicant and I, are the only people alive, though it's sort of a
three in one package. But she is absent most of the time,
occasionally delivering commands at a distance. The
Swapper is a conflict between
the protagonist and the empty station, as one fights to escape and
the other to maintain its secrets. Exploring Theseus, managing to
convey oneself from place to place is a challenge, but to investigate
its entirety, the protagonist must acquire orbs, macguffins, which
unlock other parts of the station.
Orbs are recovered
in puzzle rooms, which are delineated areas, marked helpfully on the
map.
In
each puzzle room, there is a single orb. To acquire it the player
uses a unique tool the swapper gun. Devised by the scientists of the
station before their demise, it performs two functions: it can create
up to four clones (plus oneself), and it allows the player to swap
between these clones. When a clone is created it functions in a
simple manner. Whatever action the player controlled copy takes, the
clone(s) duplicates. If the player moves right, the clone does too,
if the player jumps the clone will as well. This swapper gun, allows
creation and swapping at a significant distance, but there are limits
to its power. Puzzle rooms contain a variety of obstacles; walls,
switches and doors, but the most significant are colored lights.
There are three different colors. Areas covered in blue light
inhibit the creation of a clone, but the player can create a clone on
the other side of the blue light. Red light prevents the swapping of
the player into a clone. Red light functions like a wall, preventing
all swapping both in the red light, and beyond. Purple light
functions as a combination of blue and red light, preventing clone
creation within, and swapping through.
One of my earliest
reflections on The Swapper was about the difficulty of the
puzzles. Occasionally, I couldn't figure out an answer and after an
attempt or two, would abandon it for the next puzzle. My thought
was, “this is supposedly a metroid-vania
style game, there must be upgrades, and I need one to
complete the puzzle.” But soon the player will discover, there are
no upgrades, therefore all puzzles are solvable when the player
arrives at them. And The Swapper limits the number of
components, so puzzles at the end feel similar to those at the
beginning. Once The Swapper has introduced all three light
colors, switches, and boxes (all within in the first hour), the only
trick unveils later is the gravity pad. Stepping on one reorients
the protagonist (or any clones). Step on one, and you'll be standing
on the ceiling. Step on another, and you'll be back on the solid,
space station ground.
Of the
approximately thirty-five orb puzzles, I abandoned about a third on
the first run through. After completing all the others, I returned
for a second round. Surprisingly, the solution often came
immediately to mind upon a second attempt, as if time had reoriented
my perception of the puzzle. For those which resisted, (especially
the later, gravity puzzles), I drew out the room on a piece of paper,
and flipped it upside down to help with orientation.
There
are a couple complications to the puzzles. First, a clone can not
recover the orb, only you
can. Swapping into a
clone makes it you,
and this sort of swapping is often the key to complete a puzzle. The
player is limited to five versions of the protagonist, the you
and four clones. Some puzzles require the death of a clone (never
oneself) to proceed. Unfortunately, the player is unable to
eliminate clones at will (whoever invented the swapper gun forgot to
include a suicide button). But, Theseus Station thoughtfully
includes an abundance of prepared cliffs to maneuver clones off, and
even short falls are deadly (which is also a frustration when moving
about the station). Replenish your reserve of clones whenever you
can. Clones can also be reabsorbed when they collide with you,
but it's more difficult to be “in the same space” then one would
believe.
A few final
thoughts on the puzzles. First, they are easier, and simpler than
they appear. Almost all puzzles could be completed in fifteen to
twenty seconds if the solution was already known. Assume all lights,
boxes, switches, and even platforms are required to solve. And if
you think after leaving a puzzle, returning half an hour later, and
immediately realizing the solution, “I'm so stupid, the solution
was obvious,” don't worry because that was my normal reaction. The
puzzles in The Swapper can also require absurd positioning
precision, a definite detractor, but this difficult is at least
slightly offset by the swapper gun which slows time when in use.
In a
tradition I don't entirely enjoy, The Swapper
required success on every puzzle to complete the game. And since one
puzzle resisted every attempt of mine, searched the internet for this
single solution. In my defense, it was so difficult, I even had
trouble after watching some one do it, but this experience was
abnormal for The Swapper.
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