Swordship is a unique roguelike dodge ’em up that is unlike any arcade shooter you’ve played before. Brought to you by Thunderful and Digital Kingdom, Swordship requires that you use your enemies’ attacks against themselves. That’s because your ship has no weapons. This is what makes Swordship so challenging and unique and definitely a game that you should pick up if you want something different.

Swordship is set in an unforgiving post-apocalyptic world where the consequences of global warming have forced the vast majority of humanity to take refuge in three gigantic underwater cities. The megacities exchange millions of containers loaded with goods every day while those on the outside scrape what they can together in order to survive. You play as one of the small number of inhabitants prepared to steal those precious containers to deliver vital supplies to those that have been banished to the outside.

Gameplay for Swordship seems easy to master but it’s far from that. The game plays from an almost head-on view where the camera is facing the front of the ship. It’s an odd perspective for a shooter but Swordship is not your typical shooter. The game developers use the term “dodge ’em up” which accurately describes the gameplay. You have full freedom of motion around the play area that you can see. Enemies come from the front, rear, and even below the surface of the water and unlike your ship, they have a full arsenal at their disposal. You’re not completely helpless though as your ship is high maneuverable and can also dive below the surface of the water.

Combat is what takes center stage though. Enemies will constantly try to attack you and you need to use those attacks to your advantage. When an enemy is about to attack, a red line or spot will appear that shows you where the enemy is targeting. Use these to bait their attacks against their own units and that’s how you level the playing field. Move or dive out of the way just as they are firing their weapons and destroy their unintended targets. The game is very fast-paced though so baiting their fire isn’t as easy as it sounds.

To help you along the way, you can also pick up containers that you are supposed to deliver as part of your goal when reaching the end of a level. however, you can choose to either bank those containers for higher scores, or use whatever power-ups they contain to give you an advantage against your enemies. Regardless of what you choose, Swordship is brutally difficult but so fun to play.

I should also mention that all the levels are procedurally generated which means that you’ll never really play the same level twice. That’s a huge plus when it comes to replayability.

Aside from the gameplay, the presentation of the game is really good. I love that they’ve captured this feeling of speed and danger while also creating a game that looks really good. not only that, but the soundtrack on Swordship is also really good and goes well wit the fast-paced nature of the game.

So should you pick up Swordship? I would have to say yes. This is a really fun little indie game that’s not only fun, but challenging as well. The devs did a great job creating what seems like a simple game at first, but one that is truly unique and different. Everything about this game was enjoyable, and on the Nintendo Switch, its a fun game to just pick up and play when you have the time.

Swordship is available now on the Nintendo eShop as well as on PC, PlayStation, and Xbox.

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Disclaimer: Received game from developer and/or publisher for coverage purposes.

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