In 2016, Andrew Webster aka @awebster wrote a retrospective to mark five years since S:S&S EP's launch for The Verge.
In 2015, Anita Sarkeesian & Carolyn Petit put out a positive clip about The Scythian & S:S&S EP for Feminist Frequence, via Polygon.
In 2011, Rob Dubbin - formerly of the Colbert Report & The Late Show - wrote a spectacular review of S:S&S EP for Kill Screen Magazine which was then re-posted to Kotaku & Gizmodo. Note: Mr. Dubbin's score is subject to change at next moon.
It manages, with reverent deftness, to evoke and honour the influences of its creators, while simultaneously providing a multisensory experience that feels novel and groundbreaking today. A landmark achievement, it raises the bar for independent game design much as the Washington Monument did for independent obelisk design.
In 2011 Lev Grossman at Time Magazine put S:S&S EP on a top 10 list alongside Skyrim & Dark Souls for the publication's top 10 videogames of 2011.
You, a hero, have come to this lush, overcast, pointillist world in order to solve puzzles, liberate sylvan sprites, kill something every once in a while and generally bask in the powerfully calm atmosphere of a game unlike anything else on the iOS platform. You have to take it at its own pace: it's a zero-adrenaline ride. Just groove on the spacey vibe and the smart writing and the post-Impressionist gorgeousness of the world — if Georges Seurat made a fantasy RPG, it would be Sword & Sworcery.
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More clippings from 2010-2011...
If Roy Lichtenstein were weaned on things like 8-bit games, "Kid A" and the iPhone, these would probably be his Benday dots. Yes, in the end, "Sword & Sworcery" is just a game, but in its own meta way it's also a kind of pop art for the digital age.
Carla: Are video games your ultimate muse?
Jim: No, but they occupy the same place in my mind and heart as any album, movie, painting or delicious sandwich does.
Winda Benedetti aka @windabenedetti wrote a positive review at MSNBC calling S:S&S EP 'arty as hell in all the best ways' & makes the case that the experience of playing is both 'magical & revolutionary':
Steve Jobs may have promised all you Apple fans some magic ... but it's the Superbrothers and company who are delivering it.
Danel Kascor at The National Post transcribed part one of a lengthy interview with the creators of S:S&S EP and & he took the time to discuss with staff writer Matt Braga:
Daniel: And speaking of Jim Guthrie, his music kind of knocked me on my ass. Did you buy the album?
Matt: There’s once particular segment in-game where you’re sitting in a forest with Guthrie, and he plays a little song. And you get to jam with him. That, without a doubt, was one of my favourite gaming experiences in recent memory. It’s not just a soundtrack, but a musical experience that’s entirely dependent on user interaction, something I can totally dig. A big part of Sworcery’s mood and atmosphere is entirely owed to Guthrie’s socre — something that stands on its own extremely well — which pretty much made Ballad of the Space Babies a day one purchase for me. The LP should be familiar territory for anyone who’s followed Guthrie’s previous electronic and synthesized diversions.
Eli Hodapp review at Touch Arcade had this to say:
I totally recommend checking it out, if for no reason other than to experience how well great pixel art and amazing music can meld together to create something really cool and at times, entirely unexpected.
Levi Buchanan's review at IGN scored the project a 9.5 and had this to say:
This point-and-click adventure is a near-perfect polyamorous marriage of brilliant 8-bit visuals, clever puzzle-solving, and an unforgettable soundtrack.
Julian "Rabbit" Murdoch spoke to a Superbrothers representative & had this to say in a sharp write-up at Gamers With Jobs:
Yes, #sworcery is strange. But it’s strange in the same way that Dr. Strangelove, Ziggy Stardust and The Persistence of Memory are strange: It defines a genre through a masterful embrace of the absurd, without for a moment falling into self parody.
An interesting chit chat with Jim Guthrie conducted by Joshua Kopstein at Motherboard.tv.
Unlike the fruit-slicing, bird-catapulting monotony of its peers, this Canadian indie collaboration is designed to hijack your senses, assembling visuals, audio and gameplay with synaesthetic cohesion.
Andrew Webster followed up an interesting discussion at Ars Technica, which was re-posted to WIRED & CNN, with a concise review at Ars Technica.
It's a game that will make you believe.
Sean Cary's review at Destructoid scored the project a 10/10 and had this to say:
Gaming doesn’t need to find its Citizen Kane, but it may have discovered its Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead without even trying.
Matt Leone's review at 1-UP scored the project an A- and had this to say:
There's a level of creativity, ambition, and polish here that's unusually high for an iPad game, and even in spite of that, the developers have created a modern artistic game that challenges a lot of ideas about what a game can be while feeling retro at the same time.
"It's basically an album you can hang out in." say the staff at Superbrothers HQ, as recorded in this article at Game North.
"It's a new take on the classic action/adventure/Zelda-type genres of gaming. I'm basically doing the music and a little SFX work on the game." says Jim Guthrie, composer & resident rockstar, in an interview with Exclaim Magazine.
"Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP is what you would get if you mixed 3 parts classic adventure game with 1 part Rock and Roll, 1 part pagan rituals and 1 part psychedelic drugs. It’s a beautiful, dreamy little place inside your iPhone." says Kris Piotrowski, co-founder & creative director at Capy, in this interview over at Toronto's own Dork Shelf.