Switch 'N' Shoot (Nintendo Switch)

The past few weeks I’ve moved back to Australia and whenever I take a flight I love to have my Nintendo Switch on hand to take up some of the time. Flying from the UK to Australia is not something that’s going to go by quickly unless you can sleep for a long time. Unfortunately I really cannot sleep on flights so I thought I’d spend some time playing a bunch of Switch games I’d had sitting on the console for a while.

One of these games and arguably the one I put the most time into on the flight was Switch ‘N’ Shoot, an arcade style Shoot Em' Up in which you press only one button to control your spacecraft with the aim of getting the highest score possible. The game was made solely by Indie Developer Matt Glanville and is also available on Steam, and for Android devices. I really enjoyed my time with the game and wished to briefly touch upon why that was.

As soon as you boot the game up you are welcomed by some gorgeous border art by Paul Duffield (who interestingly currently works out of my home county of Northamptonshire, UK) that would not be out of place on something like a classic Space Invaders arcade cabinet. This artwork is in place for the entirety of the game and really helps sell the feeling that you’re about to play something inspired by the classics.

The game itself is very simplistic as you would expect with a game where you only really need to press a single button but this is something that allows the title to stand out and really helps with the addictive nature of the gameplay. I found myself absolutely terrible at the game at first because every time you shoot you also move left or right with each subsequent shot but over time I improved!

Your enemies remain the same so you don’t have to worry about how to deal with new enemy attack patterns and interestingly you don’t even have to worry about shooting every single enemy. However what I like about this game is if you do happen to miss an enemy they will stay almost level with your spaceship for a few seconds and then explode, meaning you have less space to manoeuvre and therefore have to press your single button a lot quicker.

This really ramps up the stakes and keeps you on your toes. Another great feature is that you can upgrade your craft if you collect enough pickups along the way. However should you miss any then your weapons will revert back to their previous level. I really enjoyed this as I really had to think did I want better weapons but risk hitting an enemy along the way? Or did I want to try playing it safe with a more basic weapon but not gain points as quickly and potentially be overrun with enemies?

It’s great that although you can upgrade yourself you never feel too overpowered compared to the enemies and the game will actually introduce a new challenge if you get the highest possible upgrade. That added challenge comes in the form of two beams that stop you being able to scroll out of one side of the screen and appear on the opposite side. On the one hand you’re insanely powerful but on the other you’ve got a much smaller window to move in.

Usually I find myself losing shortly after I obtain this upgrade because I’m just not quick enough to move back and forth before hitting those beams. Yet this game is just so addictive that I jump right back in for another 10 minutes or so. I think it’s a real challenge to make a game that’s not frustrating in that kind of situation so I applaud Matt for this.

A feature I found quite funny even after every time I died was that your pilot would have a unique name every single time. I’ve played countless times now and have never had the same name twice. You even get a nice message every time you die from your commander; I loved this little attention to detail and hope to see more of this sort of thing in other games in the future.

As an aside Switch ‘n’ Shoot actually reminded me of the game Downwell which I reviewed a few years ago. This was not only due to its pixilated style or the ability to unlock new palettes as you progress, it was the addictive nature of the game. In my ignorance I actually believed this was developed by the same person as Downwell and I do wonder if there was any inspiration on the developers part.

I really do not have anything bad to say about this game because there is not much to it and what it does have it does well. I generally struggle to find a fault with the game but would perhaps like to see different ship designs and enemy designs as further unlocks along the way and perhaps even different borders as the art is just so nice it would be lovely to see what else Paul Duffield could come up with.

All in all I think Switch ‘n’ Shoot Is a fantastic affordable and short title that is absolutely perfect for those on the go or those who want a brief but addicting game to pass a short amount of time. Do I think I will keep coming back to this game for years to come? No. However for now it’s a nice little way for me to eat up time on a lunch break or on the Train home from work.

This game would not be out of place in an actual Arcade and I really like that aspect of it, in fact while researching the game and the developer I found that Switch ‘n’ Shoot does have an arcade cabinet available for purchase thanks to the guys at DSM Arcade. Now do I love the game enough to buy one? No. But If I saw one in the wild I’d definitely have a few rounds.

I think Matt Glanville has made something special here and would love to see what else he comes up with in time.

Subsurface Circular (Nintendo Switch: 2018)

A few months ago I played a really short game on my Nintendo Switch and I loved it. It's called Subsurface Circular and was ported to the Switch in early 2018. I saw it on sale for under £4.00 and thought I would give it a shot based purely on the synopsis of the game and the designs of its robots.
I had no idea it was made by Mike Bithell and his company Mike Bithell Games who made another short Indie game hit Thomas Was Alone (Which I would also highly recommend). I think if I'd have known it was made by him I'd have likely picked it up sooner than I did.

The game is a text based adventure game in which you play as a Robot Detective in the not too distant future who is tasked with solving a case in which many other Robots are going missing. In order to do this you as the player are confined to the underground rail network and have to talk to a number of other worker robots and solve short puzzles in order to crack the case.

The gameplay is entirely simplistic and the perfect sort of game to play on the Switch in tablet mode (Or on an Ios device). The game is presented as a question and answer scenario with the odd puzzle placed here and there but this is more of a quick look at the rail map or a decision on who to talk to first and which questions to ask that will open up answers to other passengers questions. I enjoy that the game never really goes too far above that in terms of the gameplay because it allows the focus to be on its narrative.

I adore the Robot designs in the game for a few reasons. They stick to a more or less humanoid form and keep a simplistic approach to their colour schemes and facial designs. I feel as though they are the 'right' amount of futuristic as they don't look too much like humans yet and I feel they would not be too out of places in a movie like Blade Runner. It is a shame we did not see much of the world above ground but I do like the focus the game puts on where it wants you to be and why.




To speak more about this I enjoyed that the game could do a lot of world building purely by the conversations you have rather than have you explore as you are only confined to a single train car. It's interesting to see what could happen in our future with the advancements in robotics and perhaps we too would have humanoid robots replace us in many aspects much like this game.

It's interesting to wonder would we give them as much or little freedom as is afforded to them in this game. It was quite harrowing in some ways to see what would happen to a certain unit once you had removed the limiters it was constricted in to by its creators by inputting a certain phrase. It was totally surreal to see a Robot feel some form of 'freedom' for the short time it was on the train with you and it was kind of heart warming to see some of them thank you for it.

I do wonder will there be a point where there will be rights for machines and Robots who are more or less also constricted by us to serve a certain purpose.

The final chapter of the game and its lead up are absolutely fantastic. I will try not to go too much into it as I don't wish to spoil the game for people who have yet to try it however it deals with a dilemma of do you upset the status quo and hope that a new future works itself out or do you keep with the status quo and not risk a terrible unchangeable  outcome but still be stuck with the parts of the your present 'life' that really are not that great.

To have one simple enough case lead up to a moral question such as this really shows how well Mike Bithell and the team are at weaving a great narrative. I am generally excited to see what they come out with next and only hope it can match this game or surpass it.

If I did have to try and critique an aspect of the game I would say it does feel a lot more like a visual novel at times as I feel I can't really lose. There is not a time limit to find the answer to questions in a chapter or anything like that so you really can just go at your leisure. There also is not an incentive to replay the game at any point other than perhaps the last chapter just to see the outcome of the other decision you make. However if you are into directors commentary you do unlock this for every chapter once you beat the game.

Overall Subsurface Circular is a great short game to play on a rainy afternoon or on your commute. It may also be a great title to start of with if you are looking to get in to the genre. I would highly recommend picking this title up on the Switch the next time you're heading to the Eshop!