Over the last few years, Annapurna Interactive have brought PlayStation classics like Journey and Flower to iOS in addition to new games that are all essentials like Florence, If Found…, and Donut County. Last week, another PlayStation classic hit iOS (and PC) in the form of the Giant Sparrow developed The Unfinished Swan ($4.99).
The Unfinished Swan has you exploring a storybook-like world as Monroe. Monroe’s mother loved to paint but never finished paintings. She left hundreds of paintings behind after her passing but Monroe was only allowed to keep one of them. He picked his mother’s favourite which is The Unfinished Swan. Monroe wakes up and discovers the swan is missing and this is where the story begins. Monroe, a silver paintbrush, and infinite potential await you beyond a new door.
Barring the narration and dialogue in between areas, Monroe can throw paint at letters of the alphabet that appear across levels as well for some more story or dialogue. While there is some platforming and some basic puzzles here, the core mechanic in The Unfinished Swan is throwing paintballs initially. Monroe uses this to discover where to go next because the world is white and all you have is a paintbrush with black ink. As the story progresses, you get a few more things to work with but this is the core mechanic. You even use this to create shapes and move objects in later levels. I had no idea Ben Esposito (Donut County) was a level designer here until I saw ...