Sword & Sworcery EP is an adventure game for iOS that is both minimalist and cinematic. It's the collective brainchild of designer Craig "Superbrothers" Adams, indie studio Capy (Might and Magic: Clash of Heroes, Critter Crunch), and musician Jim Guthrie.

Adams is a leading patron of cinematic approaches to game design (see Less Talk More Rock). Indeed, EP has been described as being "about unspoken dialogue between itself and the player: responding to your own curiosity and whispering questions rather than shouting demands."1

Phases of the moon will change the game's landscape and reveal secrets

Your adventure through its world will modify itself based on the phases of moon in the real world. Exactly what shape this will take is another secret Superbrothers won't fully divulge, but there are hints that certain rare mushrooms which pepper the game's landscape will only come out under certain circumstances.2

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When Apple's touchtronic machine is held horizontally, The Sword is sheathed and it is possible to explore and observe by tapping, dragging, and pinching the multi-touch display, a style of play referred to internally as "sworcery". In S:S&S EP there is always a clear path to follow although this path will vary depending upon the phase of the moon. There are rarely if ever hard barriers to halt a player's progress, and it is possible to reach an endpoint in a single sitting, however the real experience unfolds upon repeated play-throughs when the player ventures off the beaten track to discover shortcuts, secrets and odd twisting paths that lead to some odd locations and mysterious situations. Occasionally obstacles and dangers will threaten; in order to overcome them it will become necessary to tilt Apple's touchtronic machine vertically to unsheathe The Sword.3

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Sword & Sworcery EP is scheduled to be released in Apple's App Store Q2, 2010.