A short action-narrative game that sways on the edge of a dream.

Created for That Game Jam

Through the physics of a swing, you move through a memory-space that gradually blurs and distorts—protecting a friendship. From small everyday troubles to an enormous inner demon, you keep “pushing” back against every force that tries to separate you two.

This is an experience about touch, and about holding on.

There are no clear answers—only a life line that keeps pulsing, connecting the two protagonists.

All game assets were created by the developer.

Design Notes (spoilers)

A story driven by the swing

This is a short narrative game built around the swing as its core interaction. In an abstract space of memory, the player uses physical “push” and “sway” to experience a friendship—one that is continuously reshaped under the pressure of illness.

Theme: holding at the threshold

The inspiration came from the theme image: two hands that are about to touch, yet don’t. I connected that tension to the swing and turned it into the main mechanic—

it follows physics strictly (it must fall back), yet it creates the illusion of breaking through (pushed toward the peak).

This “still-in-progress” state is my metaphor for holding on—like the line on a patient monitor.

World: a blurred theater of memory

The theme image also suggested the world itself: the solid-color background felt like a place with no time and no space. So the game avoids giving a specific setting.

The recurring lifeline motif—and the evolution of enemies from the real (cats) to the symbolic (needles, a giant hand, a dragon)—together form a dreamlike space woven from fragile emotions and medical memories.

Characters

The two girls are each other’s dearest friend. But throughout the game, I often blur who a line belongs to. It could be an echo from the bedside—or a self-dialogue deep inside consciousness.

Through this ambiguity, I wanted different emotions to appear on equal footing: the plea of the one who stays awake, and the struggle of the one who sleeps. I hope this short journey becomes a resonance between two ways of living through the same moment.

Interaction

The mouse cursor UI also comes from the theme image: I shaped it into a “pushing” gesture. Charging a click and releasing it isn’t only gameplay—it’s part of the narrative itself: resisting interference through action, and holding on to those swaying, beautiful moments.

Negative space / leaving it open

The game points clearly to reality only once: the still hospital bed at the end, and the heartbeat line. I don’t give an answer to “whose dream it was” or “what happened after.”

That uncertainty is my way of respecting how unstable memory can be.

Thank you for taking the time to experience Swing.

Audio Credits

Sound effects were sourced from Sound Effect Lab (https://soundeffect-lab.info).

Music was sourced from MusMus (https://musmus.main.jp).