When you hear the name SWAPMEAT, your first thought might be about cooking or grilling. But this upcoming game from One More Game is something completely different – and far stranger than you’d expect.

What is SWAPMEAT?

SWAPMEAT puts players in the role of Meat Scientists working for a mega-corporation called Rangus Meats. Your job? Harvest alien body parts and attach them to yourself for new powers and abilities. It’s a third-person roguelite shooter where every body part you swap completely changes how you play.

The game works around a simple but wild concept: your character is made up of three parts – a head, torso, and legs. Each part comes with its own abilities and health bar. Chop off your legs and replace them with rocket boosters, and suddenly you’re flying across the battlefield. Swap in a turkey head, and you get completely new skills to experiment with.

It’s similar to games like Borderlands, but instead of just finding new weapons, you’re literally rebuilding your body to gain new powers. The combinations are endless, and each one changes your entire approach to combat.

How the Game Works

Each run through SWAPMEAT takes about 45 to 60 minutes. You’ll fight your way across three alien planets before facing a boss. The current version has two complete acts, meaning six planets and two bosses to tackle.

The body part system is surprisingly organized despite its chaotic nature. Heads always give you aiming-based abilities, torsos provide offensive or utility skills, and legs unlock different movement options. This consistency makes it easy to understand what new parts will do, even when they look completely ridiculous.

Combat is fast and responsive, mixing gunplay with melee attacks and your special body part abilities. You can use keyboard and mouse or a controller, and the action never really slows down. Each weapon has active reload mechanics – time your reload right, and you get bonus effects.

The health system adds another layer of strategy. Instead of one health bar, each body part has its own health pool. Take too much damage, and you’ll lose that part along with its ability. Each part also absorbs some incoming damage, which keeps the game from becoming too simple.

Like other roguelite games, you get stronger the more you play. Higher difficulties unlock over time, and enemies come in different types – ice, fire, electricity, slime, and kinetic energy. Combining these can trigger special effects during fights.

Each planet also has a “Threat Level Meter” that goes up as time passes. Complete objectives to lower it, but wait too long and a dangerous Hunter will come after you.

The game supports both solo play and co-op. Friends can join or leave at any time, with enemy difficulty adjusting based on how many players are in the game. The story progression is non-linear, so you can play with friends no matter how far ahead they are in the game.

Behind the Absurdity: Interview with Jamie Stormbreaker

Jamie Stormbreaker, co-founder of One More Game and Game Director of SWAPMEAT, brings nearly two decades of game development experience to this unusual project. The studio has about 13 full-time developers working remotely across the US, Sweden, and Canada. Over the past two years, around 30 different people have contributed to making SWAPMEAT.

The game’s humor draws inspiration from shows like Rick and Morty and Adult Swim programming, but the team is careful about where to draw the line. “Making something absurd is like telling a story in Dungeons & Dragons with your friends,” Stormbreaker explained. “As long as everyone feels safe and the players enjoy it, we’ll push it. If something feels too much, we cut it.”

The story follows a ridiculous premise about a fast-food corporation trying to solve galactic hunger, complete with quirky characters and surreal touches. But when combat starts, all focus shifts to the action. Story moments happen between fights so they don’t interrupt the gameplay.

The game’s items reflect this absurd humor too. Players can find things like the “Hot Wiener” (a Rhode Island specialty) or a literal “Spaghetti Bucket.” These food-inspired items are intentionally nonsensical – because, as Stormbreaker put it, “Why not?”

Learning and Growing

Since body parts change so quickly during gameplay, SWAPMEAT builds its long-term progression around weapons, ultimate abilities, and personal stats instead. Each run teaches players how to better identify and combine body parts, turning it into a game of mastery.

“The reason we’re called One More Game,” Stormbreaker joked, “is because after every failed run, you’ll think: just one more.”

Some of the game’s best features actually came from accidents. A bug with spider legs created an unintended version of rocket jumping, which the team liked so much they kept it as a feature. For Stormbreaker, the joy comes from giving players tools and watching them find new, unexpected ways to use them.

What’s Next

SWAPMEAT is currently in testing, with a new playtest scheduled for September 4th on Steam. The game will be available on Windows, Mac, and Linux, with full support for both controllers and keyboard/mouse controls. While the team isn’t ruling out other platforms in the future, they’re focused on getting the core experience right first.

Stormbreaker ended our conversation with a message for potential players: “This is the only game with this mechanic. It’s wild, it’s risky, and as indie developers, we really hope players will support us. Wishlist us, join our playtest, and help us make something truly special.”

SWAPMEAT promises to be unlike anything else in gaming – a bizarre mix of absurd humor and tactical combat that challenges players to literally rebuild themselves to survive. Whether you’re drawn to its unusual premise or its unique gameplay mechanics, it’s definitely worth keeping an eye on.