Switch 'N' Shoot
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android
Calling all pilots: Earth is under alien attack!
Your assistance is required! No experience necessary.
ONE BUTTON:
Piloting an advanced star fighter with just one button is simple: you switch, you shoot. Every shot fired changes your direction, and mastering this is the key to becoming a legend among the stars. Timing is everything!
QUICK. SIMPLE. CHALLENGING:
Don't underestimate its simplicity; this game tests your reflexes like no other! And while your ship might become stardust in a matter of seconds, you can instantly jump back in for "just one more go".
RETRO ARCADE FEEL:
A love letter to arcade classics with crunchy pixel art, chiptune soundtrack, authentic cabinet artwork and compulsive gameplay. Only now you don't need a stack of coins to stand a chance at getting a High Score.
COLOUR PALETTES:
Unlock 64 palettes that completely change the look of everything in the game. Choose from 8-bit favourites or create your own!
PORTRAIT MODE:
At the touch of a button your screen rotates into portrait mode (a.k.a. TATE Mode) for a truly authentic arcade experience. The game supports a wide range of controller setups so how you play is up to you.
This itch.io pack includes:
- Standalone DRM-free versions for Windows, Mac and Linux.
- Ad-free Android version.
- Free Steam key.
Current version: 1.3.5
19th August 2021
Available to Eggs Benedict tier Patrons!
- Become a Patron now!
- Already a Patron? Claim access here.
Purchase
In order to download this game you must purchase it at or above the minimum price of $1.59 USD. Your purchase comes with a Steam key. You will get access to the following files:
Development log
- Version 1.3.5Aug 19, 2021
- New Beta (version 1.3.5)Aug 13, 2021
- Subscribe!!Jun 05, 2020
- Version 1.3.2Sep 26, 2019
- Join my Mailing List!Jul 02, 2019
- Version 1.3: colour unlocks, more languages and lots of improvements!Jun 04, 2019
- Coming to Nintendo Switch!Mar 21, 2019
- โ65% OFF - Weekend Flash Sale!Mar 08, 2019
Comments
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update for android?
Any chance we can get an updated version for android?
I played your game at the National Videogames Museum in Sheffield recently and fell in love with it. It inspired me to use this simple yet engaging mechanic for a game jam entry: Shippy
could you please update the android version :D
Game won't start on android 13... this was pretty much the only thing i played on mobile :(
why is the itch android version a much older version?
Hello! The Windows/Mac/Linux versions got updated alongside the Nintendo Switch release because they're very similar in their menu systems and whatnot. The Android version differs significantly so it would've taken a lot more work to bring it up to date. Unfortunately I simply didn't have the time to do it. I hope to get round to it someday but I can't make any promises.
ah ok just wondering.
Also love your games hope you have a good day take cure of yourself.
Thank you ๐
Is it a specification that the D-pad cannot be used to operate the menu screen? I'm using an Xbox One controller.
Hello! Yes that's right, the D-pad is not supported for menus I'm afraid.
Thanks for the reply. It's a shame.
Hey, you're totally right and I didn't have time to address it in the past. This has been bothering me all week and I didn't want to just leave it as it is, so I've just uploaded a new build to itch (version 1.3.5).
Please try this update and let me know if that works. ๐ I don't have an Xbox One controller myself so I've been unable to test it, but I've had someone else check it for me.
every time i try running it on mac i get "you need admin permission to run this" but 1- i am the admin and 2- i already set the permissions for everyone to have full access. even the right click -> open trick didn't work :/
solved! here's what i did:
"Open Terminal or iTerm and type sudo chmod -R 755, then drag the .app into the window, which will bring the full path into Terminal or iTerm. This worked for me, moving the -R option directly after chmod. It will look like this:
sudo chmod -R 755 Path\ to\ app\ file.appPress return."Hey sorry I'm a bit late to reply to this, but I'm happy to see that you've found a solution already!
Out of interest, what version of OSX are you running? Switch 'N' Shoot was built with Unity 2018 so there may be a few issues with newer operating systems.
yeah mine's updated to big sur, it used to be that i could bypass this kinda stuff without going into the console but apple likes to control literally everything so they took that out
Hey, this looks cool! Do you have any plans to upload the game on Google Play? Iโd prefer to download the game from there if possible
Hello and thank you. ๐ I have decided to drop support for the Google Play version and focus on PC and Nintendo Switch. I was finding that I was struggling with too many stumbling blocks with Google Play and didn't have the time to keep at it.
Hello! Love the game, but is there any chance of the Android version being updated to match the PC versions?
Hi! ๐ Unfortunately I have no plans to do that at the moment. I'm deep in development of my next game (Dungeon Deathball) and as a solo developer I'm afraid I don't have the bandwidth to jump back and forth between projects and platforms too often. Sorry ๐
Hi I bought the game in Steam and I can not play it I only hear SFX and see only black or red (maybe because I have Linux) How do I get the game back?
Here's proof I have the game
Here's another one
Hello! This is an issue that others have experienced on Linux too. Someone posted a solution in this thread which may help you: https://steamcommunity.com/app/498470/discussions/0/1639793203764615006/
Please could you try that and let me know how that goes
Apologies for the inconvenience, and thank you for purchasing the game!
Hello again. I'm not sure if you're still experiencing this issue, but I've just released a potential fix. I'm not entirely sure if it'll work so I'm looking for feedback from Linux users. ๐
Please could you try version 1.3.5, which is now available on itch, and let me know how that goes. If it doesn't work, take a look at the fix I posted in my earlier reply.
WOW THANKS SO MUCH!! I play the game recently on my windows Lap top and its great, I've also left review on steam. But now i can play on my normal computer. thank you for that!
I take it that means it worked? Awesome! Thank you for the review, that really helps a lot!! Glad you're enjoying the game. ๐
But I tried now and it still does not working. But it's okay I can still play it on my old laptop.
Oh nooo ๐ญ I'm so gutted.
Did you see the fix I posted as a reply to your original post a few months ago? Maybe try that then.
I enjoyed Switch 'N' Shoot so much I added it to my Hidden Gems Series :)
Youtube Link
A like/subscribe would be a huge help to continue these. <3 Enjoy your day!
Hooray! Thanks so much for including Switch 'N' Shoot and thanks for sharing the video. ๐ Hopefully this makes it a little less hidden.
You are welcome. Its just a stupidly fun little game. Thanks for making it! :) I wrote you a mail, hope it didnt get swallowed!
Ce shooting game est vรฉritablement addictif. Un gameplay รฉpurรฉ et ultra simple, mais une concentration au max pour scorer.
Bravo!
Merci! ๐
This game is truly just fun. The control scheme is awesome and it gives me that one more try feeling every time. I literally feel like a kid playing one of my PS2 games again, and after 2 hours I found out there's a boss in Sector 4. And more sectors after that? For sure worth checking out.
Thanks so much for the kind words! Glad you're having a blast with the game. ๐
Hey! Trying to play on Linux ( Manjaro 5.8.6 ) but I get a white screen and can't see the game ( I can actually hear the game but everything is white) Any guess?
Heya Klairm, sorry to hear you're having that issue. Not too sure why it's occurring off the top of my head and I'm not a Linux user myself. However, if you're able to locate the log file then that might have some clues. You can find it here:
~/.config/unity3d/Matt Glanville/Switch 'N' Shoot/Player.log
Please send it to [REDACTED] and I'll see if I can help.
Just posting the fix for anyone else who sees this and has the same issue. Klairm was able to resolve the issue by adding the following to the game's launch options:
-force-opengl -force-glcore42 -force-clamped -screen-fullscreen 1 -screen-width 1920 -screen-height 1080
Hope this helps!
Good concept! Had fun playing this game!
No I did not, because it didn't exist at the time. ๐
Thanks! ๐ I tried it but it introduced a lot of scaling issues, so I ended up removing it again. The GUI and screen setup is quite carefully laid out to fit perfectly together, and PPC just messed it all up.
I do use it in some of my recent games though, yes, although Ghost Grab 3000 is the only game with it that I've actually released. I used it with some 3D background elements in that and I really liked the result.
I got this game as my weekly it's NAP time game, and I must say... it's amazing!
Love the game! Definitely gave me "one more round" syndrome due to the super easy to grasp controls and the quick length of the rounds. I only got to Zone 2 but I could defnitely feel myself getting the hang of the gameplay and will absolutely go back to it!
Thanks for sharing the video! Glad you enjoyed the game. I see a lot of people steadily improving the more they play, as they get more of a feel for the game. So stick with it and you'll soon be hitting sector 5 and 6. ๐
This game is amazing, well done! I normally dislike shoot'em up but I tried this one and is veeery addictive I am impressed! My score was 750 =) very happy with that!
My only complainment is that you should give more rewards, or limit the amount of colours you can use in the beginning so that the player that receives the new pallete, when a new level is reached, should feel rewarded! Only then you can switch colours based on the new pallete colours you got! If I could give an indicative of what I am talking about, please see the game "Gato roboto".
In any case, thank you very much for providing this game on the bundle! Amazing!
I also got this with the Racial Bundle for Equality, and it's pretty neat! Simple and challenging at the same time. This game proves that the good old arcade games with "beat the high score"-mechanic are still as addicting as they were back in the days. If this game was made back in the eighties, it would probably have been in every arcade!
Thanks for the kind words! ๐
Fun fact: it may not be the eighties, and Switch 'N' Shoot may not be in every arcade... but it is in SOME arcades! https://www.dsmarcade.com/
Got this with the Racial Bundle for Equality, and Ive got to say I absolutely love it. Great job at nailing the game juice, and it's honestly pretty addicting. Got to an incubator but died with score 319. Will try and go even farther!
Nice! Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying it! And thanks for supporting the good cause.
Cuando en Google play?
No plans right now I'm afraid.
not working on macos catalina :( I want to play it
Ah sorry about that! Any more details you could give would be helpful.
Usually these issues are simply down to Unity, and updating the project to a newer version of Unity will fix them.
I'll give that a try when I have some free time so please keep an eye out for patches in the DevLogs (if you follow me on itch you should see it in your feed).
looks like it's compiled in 32-bit? MacOS Catalina only runs 64-bit
Huh... That's weird. As of version 1.3.1, I changed all builds to be 64-bit.
When you say "looks like it's compiled in 32-bit", is that based on some analysis of the actual build files, or looking at the file name, or something else? I don't have a Mac to test on so I can't verify it myself, but I was fairly sure I'd built for 64-bit. I can make a new build to test if you like.
Hi again! Another OSX player found a solution to what we believe may be the same issue. Please could you try the top-voted solution in this thread? https://apple.stackexchange.com/a/181031
It involves using the terminal to change the app to be executable. Not sure why this is not being set by Unity when I build it but here we are.
I'm fairly certain the game was built for 64-bit OSX too, since 32-bit is deprecated in Unity nowadays.
Please let me know whether or not that works. Thanks, and sorry!
Super addictive highscore game controlled with just one button that steers the ship left and right. If I wouldnt try to play more of these games I would easily fall down this rabbit hole. I wish it had more of everything, even just unlocks for the ship graphics, side panels/skins whatever to fully satiate my neverending highscore hunger, but still a great game. My record is 46, beat me. 4/5
More Racial Justice bundle impressions and ranking: https://itch.io/c/915453/quick-impressions-bundle-for-racial-justice
This game is sooo awesome! I installed it on my phone it's soo cool !
Ah, what a gem! Great find in the big bundle. One question: does the game "loop" after Sector 4? Or is there a bigger badder boss of some sort in a later sector? (I regularly manage to clear Sector 4, but 5+ have thus far been beyond my grasp...)
Thank you, I'm glad you're enjoying it! ๐
The game does loop, yes. The bosses get harder and the regular aliens spawn faster, but apart from that it's the same loop.
Around sector 6 and 7 it gets preeeeetty challenging.
It feels like a arcade game with the design philosophy of Downwell. Love it!
Hello there. I own this game on switch as well, but I had a question. The "tate" mode on pc switches between two different vertical modes, clockwise flip and counterclockwise, however, on switch, theres only clockwise (The one direction that my monitor can't flip to T_T . I can only flip it 180 degrees, meaning that every single degree of rotation makes the game either sideways or upside down.) Is there a reason the switch version only flips clockwise?
Hi!
Originally I designed the TATE Mode on Switch for the FlipGrip addon, which only supports one orientation. I later added support for both modes in a PC-only update.
I've been hoping to release a patch for the Switch version to bring it up to date and add some other improvements, but unfortunately I just haven't had the time since then due to about a billion other commitments.
The code to support both orientations now exists in the project though, so if and when I do get round to updating the Switch version it will be included.
Sorry for the inconvenience there, and thanks for buying the game multiple times!
Thanks for replying so quickly, I didn't expect that. I wasn't aware that that was how it worked. Don't worry about having "inconvenienced" me, cause I was just curious about it. (Also, I didn't technically buy the game multiple times. I bought the game on switch, and the pc version just happened to also be in the "bundle for racial justice and equality.")
Well then thank you for buying it once but playing it twice! ๐
For such a simple, straight-forward concept, this game is very fun and addicting. The action this game provides is complemented by a combination of quality spritework, screenshake, and banger sound. For the experience it aims to accomplish, this product fulfills tenfold.
Thanks for the kind words, much appreciated!
My favorite game from the Racial Equality bundle so far. I can't try other games because I keep coming back to it! High score is only 196 right now but I will get better!
Wow! Thanks so much!! High praise indeed!
Where is the steam key? (Fun game btw)
Thanks!
Did you acquire this game through the Bundle for Racial Justice and Equality? If so, Steam keys aren't included I'm afraid.
Quote from the bundle page:
"Please note: No Steam (or other external keys) will be given for bundle purchases. Only direct downloads will be available on the itch.io page."
I did notice that, I just didn't know those were related (I was tired). Thanks for responding and great job on the game!
I can sympathise with that sentiment. ๐
You're welcome, and thanks! I'm glad you're enjoying it! ๐
Really love this, it's so elegant. I'd love an iOS version at some point (though I know Apple fees are nasty)!
Thank you! I don't have any solid plans at this stage but I'd never say never. Glad you're enjoying it either way! ๐
Thank you for subscribing! I'll be posting some big news pretty soon so keep your eyes peeled. ๐
Loaded on my Pixel 3 no problem, fun game for a few minutes to kill. Quite challenging and exactly what I look for in a game on my phone.
Awesome, glad to hear it! Thanks for the kind words!
This game is awesome! Thanks, you made my day.
Thank you!! I'm happy to hear that you're enjoying it! ๐
Hello! I was looking forward to trying out your game, seeing that it had Linux support. Unfortunately, I ran into a few issues:
1.) Zip files don't preserve file permissions by default with Linux. While not that big of an issue, it means that users have to run "chmod +x" on the game to make the files executable. An easy way around that would be to package the files as a .tar.gz archive, which maintains Linux file permissions :)
2.) The game actually starts as a full-screen white screen on Linux, not running at all! D: While I'm not sure why this happens, I found a Steam thread discussing this issue with a different game. I used their same fix, adding "-screen-fullscreen 0" at the end of my launch command, and now it runs perfectly!
Thank you for supporting Linux gamers, I'm loving the game so far! Can't wait to check out your other games. Keep up the great work!
Hey! Sorry to hear about the issues you had, but I'm glad you found a way to get round them. I'll see if I can implement fixes for the next time I update it (although that might be a little while away right now).
Thanks for all the useful info! I'm glad you're enjoying the game! If you got hold of this game in the mega bundle then you will also have access to one of my other games, Ghost Grab 3000. Enjoy!
Hello again!
Just wanted to revive this old post to let you know that I've uploaded a patch here on itch which hopefully addresses both of these issues. If you have a moment to give it a try I'd really appreciate some feedback.
The new patch is available as a .tar.gz file. I've also updated the project to a much more recent version of Unity which I'm hoping fixes the white screen issue. I can't be certain though since I haven't experienced it myself.
The new version is 1.3.5. The old version is still available too, in case this one breaks anything.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated. Thanks! ๐
Hello. I bought XMAS Itchio Mega Bundle and didn't get a steam key for Switch 'N' Shoot. There are no keys available at this time, try again later. Restoke keys please
Hello! I've just loaded in some more Steam keys so you should be able to claim one now. Sorry about that! And thanks for your support :)
Just been browsing through recent releases on Switch and this game caught my eye.
My lad is playing it right now on Switch, loving it and I thought I'd check out which other platforms it was available on.
So, just HAD to repurchase for PC/Steam.
This is a real gem of a game. Simple design, but perfectly executed. The music is perfect for the game too.
Great work, Matt.
Thank you so much for the double purchase and for your kind words! It really means a lot to me! ๐ And I'm really happy that you and your boy are enjoying the game!!