Swapper: The Rolling Ball Machine, by the Oak Team, is a puzzle game wrapped in a wonderful Victorian steampunk aesthetic. It takes a traditional idea, matching like-colored balls, and through clever controls, ball variations, and overall style becomes one of the most addictive puzzle games on the iPhone.
Swapper Pros:
- Lots of thought put into phenomenal design
- Fast-paced
- 30 levels
- Sounds when gears move are perfect
Swapper Cons:
- So-so music soundtrack
- Difficult to navigate menu
The playing field consists of 6 gears, each of which can hold 4 balls. Colored balls roll down a chute, and your goal is to match up 4 like-colored balls in the 4 slots of a gear. Tap a gear to rotate it, and flippers let you move balls between the gears. You lose if you’re out of room or are too slow in getting balls from the chute.
The general design has a lot of thought put into it. Having only 3 of the gears up front near the chute forces quick decisions about which gear to take balls and which balls need to be moved further back. Games are fast-paced, and individual levels can be completed quickly -- if you’re skilled.
There are special balls that come out occasionally, which can either help or hinder you -- there are balls that shift colors, let you score with just 3 balls in a gear, or lock up a gear completely. These help keep the game challenging and unpredictable.
A Time Attack mode is available, besides the 30 stages. 30 levels may not sound like much, but the difficulty ramps up quickly, and you’ll have to really master the mechanics to beat the last third of the game. Fortunately, Time Attack provides an alternative distraction from the main game and will let you polish your skills.
The art in this puzzle game is phenomenal. The rotating cogs, levers, chutes, and buttons all look like they’re from another era, full of clickety and shiny machinery. The sounds when you move gears are perfect -- though I’m less of a fan of the music. There’s just one track and loops often, though luckily it’s not distracting when you’re scrambling to fill that gear before you’ll lose. One other complaint is the main menu -- it’s difficult to navigate the different options and I often overshoot what I’m trying to select. This is a minor niggle, since during gameplay the control is perfect. Swapper:The Rolling Ball Machine is a fun, fast-paced puzzle game, and comes highly recommended with a 4-Dimple rating.
