This Music Box Puzzle Game Hides a Deeply Emotional Story Inside

I would never have thought that you could so skillfully combine engaging puzzles and a detailed narrative, but the developers of Swan Song, Business Goose Studios, the creators of Sizeable, managed to do it in an elegant and intricate way.

The game is a puzzle inspired by music. It's set entirely in a music box, which reveals charming puzzles where you help a little swan make its way from one side to another. The intricate way to solve puzzles is to place notes in the right place on the staff, while platforms shift as you place the musical signs. At first, you need to find a position for just single notes, but as you progress, the puzzles become more complex.

If you know nothing about music theory and can't read sheet music, it wouldn't be a problem since gameplay doesn't require special knowledge. You only need logic and observation. The game features immersive gameplay as there are no written instructions or tips; you interact with everything by hand, exploring the music box naturally. At first, I had to take a closer look at the music box to figure out what to do when playing, but the game is intuitive, so you will not spend much time on this step and will proceed to the puzzles themselves.

The game is accompanied by the beautiful music of Composer Jamal Green, known for works on projects like Dreaming Whilst Black, G'wed, and more.

As you play and solve puzzles, a personal story unfolds. The music box contains not only platforming challenges but also reveals personal things like letters, tickets, music tapes, and more.

Each piece shares a detail about a personal story, and the deeper you get into it, the more poignant and heartfelt it becomes.

Swan Song is developed using Unity, and its art style immediately captures attention through a high level of detail and a beautifully consistent visual language. The platform animations and sound design feel lifelike and immersive, while every personal detail is crafted as if made by hand.

For example, there's a font that imitates a typewriter, hand-written inscriptions on the tapes, and more. Together, these elements create the feeling that the entire story was told through handmade artifacts.

Swan Song reminded me of Fireproof Games' The Room in terms of mechanics, as it also features intricate puzzles contained within a single box. But its heartfelt story brought to mind Life is Strange and Mixtape, though the comparison may not be immediately obvious, as Swan Song is full of little personal details, as you piece them together to discover a story about people's lives.

Swan Song was released today for Windows and Mac on June 4; you can get the game on Steam.

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