Swapperoo

a less conventional matching game from the guys behind the fantastic quell series. move tiles mostly by clicking arrows that understandibly only move in one direction. breakable circles to make way, squares are just innocent bystanders, doing whatever the other shapes dictate, unless they're fixed. skulls have to be matched before their timer runs out, power-ups come in the form of cards, charged incredibly slowly with different shapes. then there are portals, drills, etc.
normal and endless modes are available from the start. 25 levels, each with different goals, unlocked one at a time, but level skip becomes an option after a few failed attempts. and fail you will, there are a few stinkers in the second half ('s', 'u', 'w' and 'y' for me). gauntlet (the whole thing with one life) and timed gauntlet modes are also ready to go, hard mode with 13 fuck-off levels and 75 puzzle challenges only after some progression. the latter comes in 3 packs, unlocked 3 at a time. move limit that can sometimes be beaten, but also undo (doesn't work after a reset) and a solution if you're hopelessly stuck (limited amount, get more by completing the challenge packs). I prefer clever few-move ones to 15-20+ steps and luckily most are the former here. 22/25 to unlock the next batch is way too high a requirement though, half or so should be enough, though I managed all of them except 73.
weirdly enough, the next level only unlocks on hard mode level select after a skip, normal ones can't be replayed until the skipped one is solved. skipping the last normal level simply crashes the game without unlocking hard mode, despite the notification, and unsolved hard mode stages get locked again next session, though with level skip available if it was before. make your mind up, game.
nice, clean presentation, jazzy music (negative for me), windowed mode, resolutions, color blind mode, hint and instructions toggles and repeatable tutorial. only separate toggles for audio, no volumes (the power-up jingle is really fucking loud), and the achievements button only brings up the steam overlay, lazy. plus one of my nitpicks, score is shown as 123456 instead of 123,456.
I thought it was great initially, almost finished normal mode in one sitting, but more and more annoyances popped up. literally, what with too many simultaneous restrictions and timers, the same issue anagrams had after a while, destroying all the fun. here it only affects a handful of normal levels and hard mode with the clue in its name, though hard and whatever this ridiculousness is are not the same. good stuff otherwise, liked the challenges too, but it could've been even better. dial back on skulls and some goals, charge power-ups faster, increase the delay power-up, fix level skip, add volume settings, done.

Steam User 5

Reviewed last year

a less conventional matching game from the guys behind the fantastic quell series. move tiles mostly by clicking arrows that understandibly only move in one direction. breakable circles to make way, squares are just innocent bystanders, doing whatever the other shapes dictate, unless they're fixed. skulls have to be matched before their timer runs out, power-ups come in the form of cards, charged incredibly slowly with different shapes. then there are portals, drills, etc.
normal and endless modes are available from the start. 25 levels, each with different goals, unlocked one at a time, but level skip becomes an option after a few failed attempts. and fail you will, there are a few stinkers in the second half ('s', 'u', 'w' and 'y' for me). gauntlet (the whole thing with one life) and timed gauntlet modes are also ready to go, hard mode with 13 fuck-off levels and 75 puzzle challenges only after some progression. the latter comes in 3 packs, unlocked 3 at a time. move limit that can sometimes be beaten, but also undo (doesn't work after a reset) and a solution if you're hopelessly stuck (limited amount, get more by completing the challenge packs). I prefer clever few-move ones to 15-20+ steps and luckily most are the former here. 22/25 to unlock the next batch is way too high a requirement though, half or so should be enough, though I managed all of them except 73.
weirdly enough, the next level only unlocks on hard mode level select after a skip, normal ones can't be replayed until the skipped one is solved. skipping the last normal level simply crashes the game without unlocking hard mode, despite the notification, and unsolved hard mode stages get locked again next session, though with level skip available if it was before. make your mind up, game.
nice, clean presentation, jazzy music (negative for me), windowed mode, resolutions, color blind mode, hint and instructions toggles and repeatable tutorial. only separate toggles for audio, no volumes (the power-up jingle is really fucking loud), and the achievements button only brings up the steam overlay, lazy. plus one of my nitpicks, score is shown as 123456 instead of 123,456.
I thought it was great initially, almost finished normal mode in one sitting, but more and more annoyances popped up. literally, what with too many simultaneous restrictions and timers, the same issue anagrams had after a while, destroying all the fun. here it only affects a handful of normal levels and hard mode with the clue in its name, though hard and whatever this ridiculousness is are not the same. good stuff otherwise, liked the challenges too, but it could've been even better. dial back on skulls and some goals, charge power-ups faster, increase the delay power-up, fix level skip, add volume settings, done.
Steam User 0

Reviewed last year

gotta be the best match 3 puzzle game ever for sure

Swapperoo

Game Discussion

Anonymous

Steam User 5

Steam User 0