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2017 · What Pumpkin Studios · Adventure · Indie

Hiveswap

Hiveswap is a hand-drawn tribute to '90s point-and-click adventure games. Play as Joey Claire, a puzzle-solving teen snatched out of her time (1994) and place (Earth) and stranded on a hostile alien planet on the brink of rebellion.

Released: 2017
Platforms: Linux Windows macOS
Genres: Adventure Indie Point-and-click adventure Puzzle Role-playing
Developers: What Pumpkin Studios
Publishers: What Pumpkin Studios
Series: Homestuck
Modes: Single-player
Perspective: Third person
Country: United States
Age ratings: ESRB E10+
Languages: English
Time to beat: 2.5hmain story5hcompletionist
Composers: Toby Fox, James Roach

About

Hiveswap is a episodic adventure game developed by What Pumpkin Games and overseen by Andrew Hussie and Cohen Edenfield. Based in the universe of Hussie's MS Paint Adventures webcomic Homestuck, it focuses on a girl, Joey Claire, who is accidentally transported to the planet of Alternia—home of the troll species seen in Homestuck.

The game was the subject of a crowdfunding campaign on Kickstarter, raising over US$2.4 million in funding. While development initially began with developers The Odd Gentlemen, it was eventually moved back in-house under What Pumpkin's own newly formed game development studio.

Players say

Media

The articlegameplay, story, development, reception

Story

Hiveswap tells the story of a human girl named Joey Claire, who gets swapped with a troll boy named Dammek from the planet Alternia, as she tries to get back to Earth. A second game, Hauntswitch, will feature Dammek's adventures on Earth. While set in the same universe as the Homestuck comic, Hiveswap and the sequel exist in a separate storyline with only "loose relation" to the comic, and involve a new cast of characters.

Development

Despite strong initial successes, the development of Hiveswap experienced numerous logistical, chronological, and financial setbacks.

On September 4, 2012, Andrew Hussie announced a Kickstarter to raise funds for a video game based on his MS Paint Adventures webcomic Homestuck. Development was to begin in 2013, with the finished product expected in 2014. Kotaku noted that the project had raised "more than $275,000 in hours". More than 80% of the $700,000 goal was pledged in the first day.

Reception

Reviewing Hiveswap: Act 1, Polygon gave the game a score of 8 out of 10, citing minor bugs, a "convoluted UI", and its short length of about two hours as issues but praising the game's humor as "hilarious", its art as "gorgeous", and the setting as "a treasure trove [...] for players to explore."

Hiveswap: Act 2 would be released to mixed reception, with reviewers calling the writing bloated and gameplay tedious.