Facepalm Games

Selected Articles

• "...The Swapper has something that’s both beautiful and eerie about it. When you play it – and you’re so going to play this game – take a close look at the graphics. Notice how the shadows move perfectly and even in the 2D there’s something textual about the environment..."
  - Rob Manuel, G4TV
• "...Even in its current form, The Swapper is quite a feat, both of artistic and game design, one that earned Facepalm its status as an IndieCade finalist (and Special Recognition award winner)..."
  - Mike Schramm, Joystiq
• "...Each year, as one of many, many judges, I play a dozen or so good, bad and ugly games. And each year I come across at least one that I fall deeply in love with. This year that game is The Swapper..."
  - Brian Crescente, Kotaku
• "...Unlike most puzzle platformers, The Swapper intensifies the abstraction in its puzzle solving rather than complicating its palette with new mechanics or even enemies. This may even make the game harder, at least initially; with only mind transferring abilities and your clones (limited to four, and who follow your movements in exact unison), it's not uncommon to run across a scenario that seems unsolveable until you try bending your mind in a new direction. One of the simplest examples in the demo is tellingly morbid: about ten minutes into the depths of the Theseus, there's a room whose only exit is a seemingly bottomless pit. You're sent cascading downwards, firing out a clone to a ledge that rushes into view. You can survive the fall, though the first clone's body keeps falling, hitting the floor with a perturbing smack. (Even the spare sound design - the soft crunch of your boots moving across rough terrain and the remote echo of groaning metal or garbled audio transmission - is effective at conveying a sense of psychological distance.)...."
  - Steve Haske, Eurogamer