Swapmeat Is A Crazy Roguelike I Can't Put Down - Playtest Preview

If you haven't yet, follow us on X (Twitter), Mastodon, or Bluesky to know when we post new articles, and join our Reddit or Subscribe to us on YouTube to check out our content and interact with our awesome community. Thank you for supporting us!

I have played many weird games over the last few years, and even more roguelikes, so when I saw Swapmeat, I had a feeling I would be in for a good time. It looks like one of the weirdest, craziest third-person roguelikes, and it revolves around meat. Recently, I was invited to the playtest for the game, which is continually testing and refining the game ahead of its full release. After playing it, I am so glad I got an email to check the game out because I see myself coming back to it more than I expected.

If you have played Risk of Rain 2, the general gameplay will be quite familiar. It's a third-person shooter where you will run around an open area, using your guns to shoot at monsters that are flying and running towards you. You can walk, dash, and jump around to dodge their attacks, and killing them grants you experience to level up and unlock new stat boosts. It's a great loop and feels wonderful, but Swapmeat puts a slightly different spin on abilities that I love.

Instead of figuring out your ability before battle or choosing a character that fits your playstyle, you will essentially build your character as you play. Killing monsters drops new heads, torsos, or legs to replace yours with, and each has its special abilities to help you destroy all the meat monsters in front of you. As long as the part is in front of you, you can instantly switch it out and utilize its abilities, which can make you run faster, shoot a missle to follow and shock enemies, and so much more.

While it can be beneficial to swap out your body parts for abilities, it's also your way of staying alive. Each of the three parts has its own health, so when a part is getting low, you can find a new one to stay alive. It's an awesome system, and it makes the entire game feel so much more unique in a pool of games that all feel very similar to each other. Otherwise, the entire gameplay loop feels solid and easy to control.

Outside of combat, there are still some roguelite elements, like researching and upgrading your weapons and researching new tech using the materials you get from killing off enemies. The full game looks like it will be fleshed out even more, but from what is in the playtest so far, it is awesome.

This being a playtest, I could tell that the UI wasn't the greatest, especially with reloading weapons faster, but the core parts are all there and feel great. It also runs on the Steam Deck and is pretty decent already. It can hit above 30 FPS with solid-looking visuals, and that's all I can ask for with a playtest or demo. Developer One More Game plans to make it Steam Deck Verified for its launch, and with how it's performing now, I would say this will most likely be an awesome experience on the go.

Swapmeat can now be wishlisted on Steam ahead of its release.

If you enjoyed this article, check out the rest of the content on SteamDeckHQ! We have a wide variety of game reviews and news that will help your gaming experience. Whether you're looking for news, tips and tutorials, game settings and reviews, or just want to stay up-to-date on the latest trends, we've got you covered!