Valentine’s Day has come and gone, but if you’re on the lookout for that one game that will turn your world around, Swaps and Traps is a brutal 2D knight in platforming armour that’s more than willing. TeamTrap’s penchant for twisting the essence of classic platformers reveals itself across over 100 levels of perspective-shifting puzzles, a likeable villain, and Mike, a decent enough hero.
In each level, you need to collect ‘cursed keys’ which activate the exit portal at a cost: the screen splits into different partitions that have been flipped either vertically or horizontally, and as you can imagine, this causes a neck-straining amount of chaotic goodness. There are also plenty of spikes and environmental obstacles driving up the complexity gauge, a bucketload of achievements, and an encouraging background timer that puts speedrunners to the test.
Anyone looking for a challenge romance can pick up Swaps and Traps via Steam (Windows) for $8.99 USD. It’s currently selling at a discounted price and supports a range of gamepads if you’re not a fan of keyboard controls.
