Ophelia Payne

When I first saw the trailer for Swan Song, I was taken by the beautiful art style. A ‘simple’ music box filled with puzzles was a game that spoke to me. I love a puzzle game, and this looked like something I’d truly enjoy. Little did I know, though, that Business Goose Studios was about to take me on an emotional journey that I wasn’t prepared for.

In hindsight, maybe I should have expected it to be an emotional story. By definition, a Swan Song is an idiom for a final performance, effort, or achievement before leaving a role, retirement, or death. My naïve brain had thought this was going to be a cozy game, and maybe the swan was a character.  In this case, a beautiful old music box, filled with memories and artifacts, is the ‘swan song’ of the creator, lovingly created for his family.

Spoiler:  This game deals with themes of terminal illness and death.

Now that part is out of the way, let’s talk about the puzzle component. Each puzzle is a piece of music that you need to assemble. Drag a key into the box, wind it up… A drawer will pop out with sheet music. You have musical notes of different shapes and sizes to program a music box to move the swan from start to finish through each puzzle. Their placement determines which platform activates when the melody plays. The platforms can move up/down, left/right, and some rotate. The swan moves along at a steady pace with the music. Time things right, and the swan makes it to the exit; make a mistake, and they fall to their doom and the box snaps shut. Often, 2 or more platforms will have the same colour and determining the order to duplicate can cause some head-scratching moments.

There are 108 puzzles across 9 chapters, with increasing difficulty levels. The introduction of fragile tiles and even hunters are unusual additions that make you think even harder.  You are not limited to how many attempts you get for each puzzle, thankfully, as some of them were a true case of trial and error.  There is no star system or punishment for failure.

There will also be an upcoming free update that includes a level editor, where you will be able to build your own levels and share them on the Steam Workshop!

Between chapters, you uncover fragments of the family’s emotional story. The intro says that Swan Song is “based on a true story… a story familiar to far too many.”

Inside the music box are letters, photographs, cassette tapes, and other items left by its creator. The theme of swan song isn’t just the music, the box itself is a tribute shaped by grief, regret and remembrance by the person who created it. As the clues come together, the sad story of a father (Tristan), mother (Amber) and daughter (Edith) takes shape. I am trying not to spoil the story and am leaving out a lot of the “who” here. Seasons change, you can hear rain in some scenes, the lighting changes, wilted flowers, and packing peanuts from a move. The room, surroundings, and the narrative all work together to create a bigger story than just what you are finding in the music box. The emotional story is accompanied by the beautiful soundtrack composed by Jamal Green.

While the narrative can be heavy, it leaves a lot to interpretation rather than direct explanation. Context gathered fills in spaces over the duration of 4-5 hours I spent with the game. While some people might find this style too vague, I loved that Business Goose Studio trusted the players to connect the dots themselves in some cases.

Graphically, the warm low-poly style leaned into the handcrafted feel of the game. They did a fantastic job avoiding the sterile and empty feel that can happen a lot in games that are focused on puzzles and confined to a smaller space. I could almost smell the wood carving and hear the metal gears whirring. The animation is beautiful in its style and simplicity.  

I am an emotional person, and games like this stick with me. Personal experiences were playing out on the screen in front of me. Tears were present. A lot of this I attribute to the wonderful voice acting of the cast. Many of whom were first timers, I believe. They brought an emotional and beautiful reality to this everyday family.

Swan Song is a wonderful combination of puzzle and narrative. Its story is simple, heartbreaking, beautiful and real. I was moved, and this is an easy recommendation from me if you are okay with dealing with some difficult topics in your story.

Until next time…be good to yourself and be good to each other.

**Special Thanks to Pirate PR and Business Goose Studio for the review code**