Swift Stitch

By: Paul Eres

On: January 11th, 2012

[This is a guest article by Offal, a review/analysis of Sophie Houlden’s Swift Stitch. She’s also the developer of The Linear RPG, BOXGAME, and many others.]

Dissecting Swift☆Stitch

You might be forgiven if at first glance you were to confuse Sophie Houlden’s recently released Swift Stitch for a video game out of another decade.  Utilizing the Unity3D game engine, Sophie has created an ostensibly 2D game, though one that hews closer artistically to the legacy of early vector displays than the more prolific blocky bitmap art that followed.  The slick mathematical aesthetic, the palette of black, white, and bright flickering neons, and the bare-minimum control method may seem otherworldly amongst today’s fare. On deeper examination however, you may discover that Swift Stitch is a game firmly rooted in the present, taking a unique approach in addressing several modern game design paradigms.

In play, Swift Stitch bears significant resemblance to the bit Generations (or more recently, ArtStyle) games. Roughly similar to various entries in the arty Skip Ltd. developed series, Swift Stitch presents the player with minimal visual and aural feedback, tightening the gap between stimulus and player reaction. When successful, this kind of game induces a unique head-space that makes every lesson learned by failure and every small triumph feel sublime.

BOXGAME

By: Brandon McCartin (BMcC)

On: August 10th, 2009

Sophie “GirlFlash” Houlden has released a neat 3D, physics-bending platformer called BOXGAME. Each stage wraps around the sides of a cube, and as you jump between planes the direction of gravity changes, making for some interesting puzzle-platforming action. To be honest, the mechanics are still a little unclear to me. As I played I was often unsure as to why I landed on one platform and not another. But I may just be easily disoriented. Either way, it’s good fun!

Play BOXGAME here. (Requires Unity plugin.)
Forum thread is here.