When I saw that Arkedo has released another Xbox Live Indie Game I was pretty excited because their first game, JUMP!, is a lot of fun. Their second game is titled Arkedo Series – 02 SWAP! Where JUMP! was a take on the classic platformer SWAP! is a version of the classic connect 4 style puzzle game.  Colored blocks slowly rise up the screen and you have to match them to keep them from getting to the top.  Like many matching and connect 4 style games SWAP! starts out slowly with a few colors and as you progress adds bonus coins, chests, and power ups all while getting faster and faster.  The controls are very simple. The left thumb stick moves your cursor, the right thumb stick moves the currently selected block, and any of the bumpers or triggers advance the blocks one line.  The graphical style is a little similar to JUMP in that it has a lot of bright colors but with less of a retro feel. The music is pretty mellow but upbeat enough to keep you from getting too relax and loosing.

The full game, which is $3 (240 Microsoft Points) has three game modes.  Castle Mode is a five level story mode where you play as King Kat and try to get him back to his Castle after a long night of Milk on the Beach.  Arcade mode picks up the pave and lets you go for a high score. Challenge mode unlocks after you complete the Castle mode. In it you have specific goals to complete in addition to staying alive.

I just started playing SWAP! this afternoon and I’m a little over half way through the Castle mode. I’ve been really impressed with the polish and design of the game.  It is very nicely made and I’m looking forward to completing the story and going on to try the challenges.  I don’t know what Arkedo has planned for game #3 in their series of Xbox Live Indie Games but I’m looking forward to trying it out.  If you like puzzle style arcade games you should give SWAP! a try. If you do let me know what you think of it here in the comments or leave a rating for it on XBLIG Ratings.