▲ Recommended
2 hrs
star swapper has a very simple premise: swap stars. levels are constellations (existing ones, apparently) and you have to move everything around until each star is in its correct place. easy-peasy.
not sure how many levels there are (I don't have the patience to do too many of these), but they're divided into 13 chapters, each with 6-12 levels. they have to be unlocked one by one, but the branching nature of the galaxy lets you tackle multiple chapters simultaneously after finishing the first. undo available, as is a cheat sheet for the symbols, which is not really necessary, just match the ones that look the same. selecting a star highlights where it needs to go anyway.
a handy tutorial is also present, always introducing new stuff, but mechanics can be checked in the help section in the main menu as well. unfortunately, there's a timer and move counter and neither can be turned off. I have nothing against optional move and/or time goals, especially the former, but the clock starts as soon as the level loads, not with the first move, and goals are only shown on the level complete screen, really unintuitive. the restart button only becomes active after the first move, so you can't just look at the level, come up with a strategy, then restart with a click to reset the clock, have to move something first. again, really unintuitive.
the game is controlled with the mouse, but esc also brings up the pause menu and backspace works as undo. once pressing space took away a few seconds of my time, it could even go negative, but couldn't reproduce it later. if a star is selected, you can keep moving it, no need to click it every time. such a basic thing, yet many devs can't seem to make it happen.
besides the basic switcheroo, there are single lines that only allow one-way movement, locked pathways to unlock by placing the correct star in the key slot (moving it after won't re-lock the path), and rotating pathways moving after every turn. wormholes act as teleporters (can't step on one end if the other is occupied), red giants are also stars to place, but they can only move 8 times before they explode and cause a fail state (remaining moves are indicated), and big stars (marked differently) passing by black holes also fail the level. neutron stars move on their own and have to be herded with homeless stars. so yeah, space stuff, some of it pretty annoying.
the graphics are really nice for a minimalist space game and the music is fantastic, really sets the mood. the unity launcher provides resolutions and windowed mode, and in the game you'll find separate volume settings and mute buttons, plus a few languages, also while playing. in-game representation of achievements is also a thing.
the concept is really simple, but presented in a pleasant way, even if it could do with a bit more functionality. the price is reasonable too (used to cost more when it first came out), so if you like this puzzle type or just want to space out, this is a good choice (provided you can ignore or embrace the timer and tackle the less relaxing mechanics).
not sure how many levels there are (I don't have the patience to do too many of these), but they're divided into 13 chapters, each with 6-12 levels. they have to be unlocked one by one, but the branching nature of the galaxy lets you tackle multiple chapters simultaneously after finishing the first. undo available, as is a cheat sheet for the symbols, which is not really necessary, just match the ones that look the same. selecting a star highlights where it needs to go anyway.
a handy tutorial is also present, always introducing new stuff, but mechanics can be checked in the help section in the main menu as well. unfortunately, there's a timer and move counter and neither can be turned off. I have nothing against optional move and/or time goals, especially the former, but the clock starts as soon as the level loads, not with the first move, and goals are only shown on the level complete screen, really unintuitive. the restart button only becomes active after the first move, so you can't just look at the level, come up with a strategy, then restart with a click to reset the clock, have to move something first. again, really unintuitive.
the game is controlled with the mouse, but esc also brings up the pause menu and backspace works as undo. once pressing space took away a few seconds of my time, it could even go negative, but couldn't reproduce it later. if a star is selected, you can keep moving it, no need to click it every time. such a basic thing, yet many devs can't seem to make it happen.
besides the basic switcheroo, there are single lines that only allow one-way movement, locked pathways to unlock by placing the correct star in the key slot (moving it after won't re-lock the path), and rotating pathways moving after every turn. wormholes act as teleporters (can't step on one end if the other is occupied), red giants are also stars to place, but they can only move 8 times before they explode and cause a fail state (remaining moves are indicated), and big stars (marked differently) passing by black holes also fail the level. neutron stars move on their own and have to be herded with homeless stars. so yeah, space stuff, some of it pretty annoying.
the graphics are really nice for a minimalist space game and the music is fantastic, really sets the mood. the unity launcher provides resolutions and windowed mode, and in the game you'll find separate volume settings and mute buttons, plus a few languages, also while playing. in-game representation of achievements is also a thing.
the concept is really simple, but presented in a pleasant way, even if it could do with a bit more functionality. the price is reasonable too (used to cost more when it first came out), so if you like this puzzle type or just want to space out, this is a good choice (provided you can ignore or embrace the timer and tackle the less relaxing mechanics).
10 found helpful
Steam ↗
