Thanks to the Switch’s touch screen and on-the-go nature, it’s a well-suited system for mobile titles. So it’s no surprise that we’re seeing many games that debuted as mobile games make the jump to console with Switch. Swap This! is one such game. Although, it’s mobile release was a bit shaky and it got eventually pulled down from sale. Two Tribes has decided to revive the title for release on Nintendo Switch at the very friendly price of $1.19.

Swap This! is a simple puzzle matching game where you swap fishes in ice blocks and match the same-colored ones in quantities of at least four together in order to clear them off the board. It doesn’t sound too far away from the many color matching puzzlers out there, but there are a couple unique mechanics. Like, the ability to switch any ice blocks with another from any place on the board. The blocks don’t have to be near each other either. So there’s plenty of possibilities for matches and combos. There is also support for touch screen and for docked play by using a joy-con with motion controls to emulate a pointer.

In the game there are four modes available. In Minute Match, you play a regular game of Swap This! and try to obtain the highest score you can within a minute. Wave Mode has you completing multiple waves by clearing a certain amount of fish within a time limit. Fish Fight will have you battling against a giant monster fish that is trying to reach the water’s surface. You’ll need to continuously clear fish from the board in order to keep it submerged. Then there’s Puzzles mode that has you faced with a preset board and you’ll need to completely clear it of fish within a limited amount of moves. Rounding out the feature list is in-game leader boards that includes high scores done by developers of the game.

THE GOOD: After spending some time with Swap This! I could begin to see how the game has lots of potential in its depth of play. For one, the ability to switch blocks from anywhere, means that you’ll never find yourself truly stuck. It’s easy to set up combos as well if you plan ahead of enough. It’s simple to pick up and play and easy to understand. One thing I’ve managed to learn throughout my playtime is that there’s just enough delay before matched up blocks disappear. During that short delay time, you can still move blocks around to add even more to the pile. Meaning, when you have a set of four blocks matched up, you could continue to switch blocks around that set of four to increase it to five or even more before the blocks disappear. So just like with any puzzler, as you put more time into it, you’ll find yourself getting better and learning new techniques. Even more useful is that you’ll unlock various power-ups as you continue to play the game that will aid you in easily achieving combos and higher scores.

I also appreciate that effort was made to add in docked support to the game. This is still a mobile game, and I will say that using the Switch’s touch screen is the best way to play the game since you can move blocks around at a quicker pace. Not to say that the joy-con motion controls are bad though. I actually think they work very well. I’ve even managed to beat a couple of my high scores with the motion controls over the touch screen. So the ability to choose is appreciated and I like that the game was carried over with the Switch’s hybrid features in mind.

THE BAD: As I’ve mentioned a couple times already, this was originally a mobile title. It certainly looks and feels the part. While not a bad thing, I feel it should be mentioned in order to curb expectations. This is a simple puzzle matching game and it doesn’t do much other than that. So as long as you keep your expectations in check, there really shouldn’t be much here to bother you. Unless the gameplay itself is something that doesn’t appeal to you.

OVERALL THOUGHTS: Swap This! is a simple and easy to get into puzzle game for the Nintendo Switch. Originally a mobile title, it has been carried over to the Switch with the ability to play in handheld or docked mode. It has various modes of play and a good amount of potential depth in its gameplay that help reward players who decide to invest lots of time into it. Perhaps the biggest sell point for this title though is its $1.19 price tag. At that price, it’s easy for me to recommend checking the game out.

*A digital copy of the game was provided to us by the publisher for review purposes.