Description by James Matheson
Written by the developer, not by AppBrain. Click to read.
Swan Road is a two-player abstract strategy board game you can learn in five minutes. Play against the computer at four levels, a friend across the table or in the same room, or anyone online through Game Center.
Five pearls lie in an oyster bed on the middle row, between the two shores. Each turn you place, step or lift one anchor. Every anchor pulls the pearls in its row and column: strongly when it is close, weakly from three squares away. After each turn the pearls drift one square toward the stronger pull. Equal pulls cancel, so a well-placed anchor can hold a pearl still. Pull three pearls onto your shore before your opponent does.
A game lasts at most sixty turns. From turn 41 the tide rises and both shores grow deeper, and it rises early if the board goes still. If the turns run out, more pearls wins, and a tie goes to the second player.
Six starting layouts for the 7×7 board, each played even by the engine over hundreds of games: the row, the quincunx, and four more, one with a reef the pearls drift around.
Free:
• Play against the computer at four levels, from a gentle first opponent to an expert that thinks for four seconds a move.
• Two players on one device, or on two devices in the same room over Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, with no account.
• Online play through Game Center: invite a friend or automatch, one move at a time, with a notification when it is your turn.
• Today's daily game: the same setup for everyone, one try, with a Game Center leaderboard.
• A ten-lesson tutorial and the first chapter of the campaign.
• Today's puzzle, plus the first ten in the archive.
• Game Center achievements and leaderboards.
• Undo, pull-strength numbers and a drift preview before you confirm a move.
Swan Road Complete, a one-time purchase, adds:
• The 9×9 board: seven pearls, first to four.
• Campaign chapters two and three, twenty more levels.
• The full puzzle archive, eighty puzzles.
• Two more looks for the board, Nautical chart and Minimal, also sold singly.
• Game review: step through any finished game with the engine's view of each move.
• Streaks and breakdowns by level, board and opponent.
• Handicaps, so unequal players can have a fair game.
No ads, no subscription, no account. Your games, stats and puzzle progress stay on your device; the app sends only anonymous counts of games played, which you can turn off in Settings.
Swan Road supports VoiceOver, Dynamic Type and Reduce Motion, and plays the same on iPhone and iPad. It runs natively on iPhone Duo. Closed, the game fits the outer screen in one column. Open, the board sits on the left, with the controls, tide bar and player rows on the right, in portrait and landscape.
Have an idea for a new feature, an add-on or a board design? We'd love to hear it, along with any other positive or constructive feedback: swanroad.app/support.
