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Superbrothers: Sword&Sworcery

Exploratory Action Adventure

Ratings

Age

13+

Category

Adventure

Languages

English

Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP is a landmark of mobile gaming. Players explore a mythic world, using a sword for combat and evoking sworcery to solve puzzles. With a world-class soundtrack by Jim Guthrie and a unique pixel-art aesthetic, it focuses on poetic storytelling and an immersive, atmospheric experience.

Dinsun Expert Review

Our Expert Score

98/100

Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP is more than just a game; it’s an audiovisual experience that defies easy categorization. It is an exploratory action-adventure that relies heavily on atmosphere, art, and music to tell its mythic tale. You play as the Scythian, a warrior-monk on a quest through a dreamlike realm. The pixel art is some of the most sophisticated ever seen on mobile, and the soundtrack by Jim Guthrie is so integral to the experience that the game is often referred to as an 'EP.'

Combat and puzzle-solving are handled with an elegant simplicity that encourages discovery over explanation. You use your sword for rhythmic battles and evoke 'sworcery' to solve musical mysteries that tie into the phases of the moon. It’s a game meant to be played with headphones in a dark room, allowing yourself to be fully immersed in its poetic storytelling and haunting soundscape. It remains one of the most culturally significant titles in the history of mobile gaming, a masterpiece of style and substance that stays with you long after the final note.

Dinsun reviewed on: Sun May 19 2024

Features

1

Stunning Audiovisual Presentation

2

Original Soundtrack by Jim Guthrie

3

Mythic Exploratory Gameplay

4

Unique Lunar Phase Mechanics

5

Poetic & Poignant Storytelling

Tips & Walkthrough

Gameplays

Screenshot

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Q&A

Headphones are highly recommended to fully appreciate the award-winning sound design and soundtrack.

Ratings & Reviews

Invalid Date

Fixed! I’m so happy
Tue Jun 25 2024 Cat0606

I recently downloaded this game and so far was completely enjoying it, no issues whatsoever and it felt like a unique game environment. Unfortunately, after I updated my iPhone 11 Pro Max to the newest iOS 16, rotating my phone sideways makes the lobby screen turn into a warped stretched version of itself. I am posting this information here in hopes the devs will be made aware of the issue and can resolve it. I’m unable to find or click on any in game link to report the issue due to the nature of the issue itself. I will, of course, update my Star Rating as soon as this can be fixed and the game can be played on my device again. I’m super looking forward to that because it was really interesting and had a dope soundscape I was eager to further explore. Edit: updated my rating to 5 stars after seeing that the devs fixed this problem. I’m so thrilled. Playing it again now. I’m just sorry it took me a year to check back and see that there was an update addressing the issue I had. I love this game

BEST GAME EVER!! Make a second plez😄
Sat Aug 25 2018 sheldondyer

I remember when I was 5, I was trying to get this game but I couldn’t, 1 because I needed to know the password and 2 I didn’t have any money. So last year I looked up the game and I couldn’t believe it It was still here after all these years, so I got it and I was so happy and excited,I couldn’t believe I’d get to play the this game, it’s was literally the number 1 thing on my bucket list to do. So after I finished the game I was like Amazed, the graphics where amazing the music and the sound was amazing and to top it all off best storyline I have ever seen. I was like there needs to be a second one explaining the after life or something like that. This is an old game but it still growing and still great! Make something out of it NOTE! this is not a game with flashing lights and or fighting every second, people who hate this game don’t deserve to write a review or to play this amazing game. This is a game that takes time to finish, this is a game where you explore and there are secrets at every corner. THANK YOU🙏

Very problematic
Tue Feb 18 2020 Star other

The game does not allow simple things like resting or collecting a mushroom when faced with the the first boss. There is no way to use the shield either. And no way to restore a saved game to drop me in front of this challenge. When reading the instructions it tells you how what to do to beat the boss but the avatar doesn't respond as instructed. So very frustrating. And can't collect more than three mushrooms?!? Come on! I don't want to start OVER again and again because my avatar can't rest or let me walk back to the cottage with seating and a hearth. If it doesn't work as described or instructed I will just give up on the game and warn others that it is even not worth 3.99. Why do mobile game versions come out glitchy...always glitchy and stupid. To bad because the world is becoming mobile..laptops may be obsolete soon. The game has potential but not when there are no options to get un stuck. The game settings also don't work. Tried to go there several times but only get a quick blue banner that disappears as quickly as it appears for a fraction of a second. As I said...very glitchy and unreliable.

Meta without meaning
Sat Aug 10 2019 "no comment"

Just completed the game and honestly was unimpressed. Generally, I love adventure games, especially ones with a wink and a nod to their own campy mechanics. This one is overblown in its self-references and unnecessarily pared down to having a single pixel as a face. Like, it took half the game to realize the protagonist uses female gender pronouns. It has style, but seemingly for style's sake. The paper-thin plot is left like a series of archetypal placeholders, Jungian references without fleshed out characters, and yet, there seems to be one character that shines through: the unambitious, possibly stoner college guy voice that took some basic 101 courses on literature and psychology and thinks it sounds pretty rad to work big words into a video game without knowing why or what they mean. Still, walking around a cosmic grotto for a gameplay is ok with me. Kudos for a game about nothing. That's the one thing I actually liked.

Needs to be a classic!! Gimme another!
Sun Oct 07 2018 crispyman101

I am in love with this game. I’ve played through it 3 times throughout the last 4 years, and it has never grown old. Sure, there is not a lot of free exploration, and waiting for moon cycles can be slightly annoying. However, the fantastic story, cute moments, nostalgic art style, and absolutely incredible soundtrack by Jim Guthrie are what really give this game its depth, and truly make it a game I won’t forget. The intertwinement of rhythm and battle also leads to satisfying fights, despite the slight repetitiveness. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who enjoys adventure games, it is worth the price, and will provide a peaceful, fulfilling experience.

Good sound and art, terrible gameplay
Sat Aug 24 2024 MajorMongrel

I wanted to like it so badly, it looks like a lot of love went into it, but it definitely doesn’t feel like it was made with gameplay in mind at all. The controls are buggy even when walking (which takes way too long). The boss fighting is not intuitive or timed correctly, so you basically have to do it a ton of times to get it just right, and every time you die and restart, it plays an unskippable two minute scene at the beginning. The puzzles require you to restart the entire app a couple of times if you’re not in the exact spot when you do the sorcery part (you get stuck and can’t move the screen to click the objective). Not only that, but it is the most random series of walking around, then once you find a spot where the objective is you sit with no instruction or lore hints, and you just spam click around the screen till it works, it’s not a real puzzle. It was such a beautiful and loving design, and I know that it was basically made just for the music, but it’s still a game and that’s the main part we need to focus on getting through in order to even enjoy the music. TLDR: Really horrible-almost unplayable game design, fantastic art and music

No longer works :(
Sat Sep 09 2023 driven2review

Love the game. Love the soundtrack. After listening to the music in the car my 9-year-old wanted to play but every version of the game seems to not work both with iPhone and iPad. Super bummer and hope the glitch gets fixed. Anyway I can get a refund for the mini version I just bought would be appreciated? It’s only $3 but I think on principle it would be nice? That way I can have half the cost to buy the Switch version? Unless there’s help on the way?

I’d rather keep the $2.99 and let the bankers keep it when i die
Sun Apr 14 2019 Firstmidsurname

Horrible control to begin with. Interacting requires double tap, and waking sliiiightly faster needs holding tap except that the screen moves and sometimes zooms in when the character moves making misdirections. Why? Two decades ago nintendo figured out we needed bicycle and running shoes. This game prefers the opposite. On battles we have to rotate for no good reason, yet it only offers a shield and a sword as your options. After tutorial phase, we were brought back to title screen, it says “to rest”, except that it displayed a turntable disc, which i naturally spun, on the bottom a second after it says 17%. So you’d think it one has something to do with another, yes? It progresses no more. Maybe because i stopped? There’s a button that says “start over?” next to it. Sure lemme dj properly this time. Boom, progress reset. Start over means delete your progress in this game apparently Oh and on top of having to zoom in everytime we interact with some things, this game constantly breaks the fourth wall by showing you “tweet this?” on the side. So here’s your shoutout.

Some Youtube Videos found!

News found!

Our 2011 Game of the Year ‘Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP’ Has Just Been Updated With Support for Newer iOS Devices, Steam Deck, New macOS Versions, and More – TouchArcadeOur 2011 Game of the Year ‘Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP’ Has Just Been Updated With Support for Newer iOS Devices, Steam Deck, New macOS Versions, and More – TouchArcade

Our 2011 (!) Game of the Year Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP has had a long journey since we previewed it back in 2011 before launch.

TouchArcade Tue Feb 11 2025

Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP is like re-listening to your favorite albumSuperbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP is like re-listening to your favorite album

As your session ends, you open your eyes. The trance that took you to such a peculiarly memorable place is over. Maybe you can't be cured of...

Epic Games Tue Feb 11 2025

Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP gets a 2023 refresh and Steam Deck VerifiedSuperbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP gets a 2023 refresh and Steam Deck Verified

Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP gets a 2023 refresh and Steam Deck Verified ... Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP, originally released back in...

GamingOnLinux Tue Feb 11 2025

Sword & Sworcery’s Steam Deck Update Makes Its Unique Adventure Better Than EverSword & Sworcery’s Steam Deck Update Makes Its Unique Adventure Better Than Ever

There's simply no other game like Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP. Here's why now is the best time to try this classic adventure.

Inverse Tue Feb 11 2025

Five years of Sword & Sworcery: the history of a weird and beautiful gameFive years of Sword & Sworcery: the history of a weird and beautiful game

Five years ago, Craig D. Adams was riding a Toronto streetcar home after a long day at work, when he looked up from his phone and was...

The Verge Sun Jun 11 2017

A woeful errand through pixels and music in Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EPA woeful errand through pixels and music in Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP

The most notable things about Sword & Sworcery are how it looks, how it feels and how it sounds, and later, as the woeful errand approaches its...

PC Gamer Tue Dec 11 2018

Superbrothers: Sword and Sorcery EP Review - ReviewSuperbrothers: Sword and Sorcery EP Review - Review

While the pixelated style is very cool, it doesn't translate well to a TV screen that is several feet away. Similar to impressionism, details...

Nintendo World Report Wed Mar 11 2020

Wot I Think: Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EPWot I Think: Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP

Wot I Think: Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP ... Let's be prosaic to begin with. Sword & Sworcery EP is the result of a collaboration between...

Rock Paper Shotgun Thu Jul 11 2013

Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP ReviewSuperbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP Review

This is a fantasy. A compilation of unexpected images, ideas, sounds and colours layered on to the back of those that came before it. It may be...

That Shelf Mon Jun 11 2012

Why Sword & Sworcery's Designer Waited 10 Years to Release a New GameWhy Sword & Sworcery's Designer Waited 10 Years to Release a New Game

When most developers release a genuine hit, they step into the spotlight. The release of Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP in 2011 could...

VICE Mon Oct 11 2021

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