Looking For Fael news & patch notes

The wait is almost over, and the search for Fael will begin very soon because...

Looking for Fael launches on July 16!

Brace yourself for the strangest and most puzzling apartment visit of your life, and try not to lose yourself in the process 🌀

We're almost there. We can't wait!

Recently Looking for Fael was part of two amazing events that are AG French Direct and Thinky Direct

And with big events come great announcements, so Looking for Fael revealed major release news:

The game will be released this summer!

Check out the video if you missed AG French Direct Live:

And it will be released, not only on PC and Mac, but also PS5, Xbox and Nintendo Switch 1 and 2!

Each day gets us closer to the release, and we are so excited for you to discover all the interconnected versions of Fael’s apartment(s) and the cryptic, nostalgic puzzles that dwell in.

Until then, you can try out the demo: 

Thank you all for your kind words on Looking for Fael demo during the Steam Next Fest!

You might have noticed that this wasn’t an easy puzzle game..

And before you walk away thinking this game isn’t for you, don’t worry, Swing Swing Submarine thought of various ways to guide you in your path to Fael.

The lack of guidance in Looking for Fael is part of the gameplay, but sometimes, we all need a little help to light the way. 

In the menu, 3 options can be set on and off at any time during your playtime: 

1. Fael’s path

With this option, you can literally walk in Fael’s footsteps to find him. 

The sense on each mark indicates the direction your dear roommate took.

2. Words highlight

Throughout your adventure, you will encounter notes and letters felt here and there by Fael. 

To make better sense of all those information, this option will highlight the key words. 

And then, it is up to you to connect the dots to the solution.

3. ARTE Magazines

One thing to know about Fael: he loooves ARTE.

He left a lot of ARTE magazines behind when he left

And they can be of help too!

Lastly, whether you are a hardcore puzzle gamer or a chill newcomer, we recommend you take notes during your playtime. Notes of symbols, clues, and where you encountered them.

You never know what can be of use on your way to Fael…

If you took notes when you played the demo, send us your sketches!

Good news, puzzle games enjoyers!

Do you like science-fiction?

Do you like solving mysteries??

Do you love to play tetris-like games???

Then you are going to looove Looking for Fael demo! 

Looking for Fael is part of this Steam Next Fest, from February 23rd to March 2nd.

In our puzzle game, you are trapped into your apartment, looking for your missing roommate, Fael. 

He disappeared, across dimensions, in an alternative version of your apartment. 

Fortunately, he left behind a trail of puzzles…

You can discover the beginning of this trail in the demo, 

Can you make it to the last room..? 

Let us know in the comments!

In Looking for Fael, you are thrown into Fael’s many apartments looking for your missing roommate. 

You’ll travel from an empty cinema room to an abandoned version of your place, taken by Nature to a cold office room and so much more. 

All those apartments didn’t come out of nowhere and were all thoughtfully inspired by various pop culture works.

Tsutomu Nihei

Benoit Leloup -also known as Beloup-, lead art designer on Looking for Fael, was strongly inspired by a manga author, Tsutomu Nihei, who wrote and drew BLAME! 

His cold gigantic cities were definitely an inspiration for the game.

The idea was to think how we can make the player feel small in a closed space that is the size of an apartment. 

Looking for Fael is visually far from Tsutomu Nihei’s works, but the unsettling atmosphere he manages to create through his architecture was definitely an inspiration. 

- Beloup’s concept art for the bunker apartment. Can you feel the cyberpunk inspiration?

From what you’ve played in the demo, which apartment gives you this “I should not be here” feeling the most?

The Truman Show

In this movie, Jim Carrey is the main character of a reality TV show. He lives in a fake city built only for him and for the viewers to watch. 

When he discovers it, he travels behind the fake settings, behind the scenes of his reality. 

This is a central theme to Looking for Fael too. For you, as a player, might feel like Truman yourself while exploring the apartments because the deeper you go, the closer to get to this maze’s backbone. - One of the first prototypes for a cinema apartment. Could be a great place to watch the Truman Show right?

House of leaves

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski is a book about a family moving into a house that inexplicably grew a huge maze of dark corridors in the living room. 

The inspiration is pretty obvious for Looking for Fael, a game where your mysterious roommate attached different versions of your apartment to your front door.

- A perfectly normal apartment, with no extra hidden rooms…

However, unlike House of Leaves, Looking for Fael is not a horror story. It is one about reflection, and about getting lost in reality itself…

Are you ready for the journey?

There are many more films, games, and books that were an inspiration to Looking for Fael, but we don’t want to tell you everything just yet. 

As of now you can go play Looking for Fael’s demo and see if you can find any other work that inspired the game! 

Upload Looking for Fael free demo!

Hello my dear little phasmids,

The search for Fael will begin soon enough. If you’ve already tried the Looking for Fael demo, you probably know that part of your adventure takes place in a mysterious cinema.

In this metaphysical maze where Fael has lost himself, the cinema is hella complex. A strange screening room, cameras everywhere, unsettling insect pictures… What the hell did Fael do here?

The cinema is a tough challenge and requires a sharp sense of observation to unravel. But between two “wtf am I supposed to do” moments, you can take a breather and explore Fael’s DVD and poster collection. Whatever he was doing in this place, it clearly reflects his love for movies and anime!

You can already explore the cinema in the Looking for Fael demo. But there’s more, so much more to discover in the full game. I can’t wait to see you get lost in it, my dear little phasmids.

Take care.

Happy New Year 2026!! 

This year is the one we will release Looking for Fael this spring!

Januaries are marks of new beginnings, but we can't help being a little nostalgic. 

Back to pixel art games and 8-bit music.

Puzzle games have this way of making you feel nostalgic and fans still find a special kind of comfort in retro reflection-based games. 

Nowadays, many games find inspiration in the simple genius mechanisms of games like Tetris or Maniac Mansion. 

And Looking for Fael is no exception!

Throughout your adventures, as you look for your lost roommate, you will be blocked by Tetris-like puzzles to solve to progress deeper in the apartments... You can solve them thanks to your all-time companion: your Gameleaf (a retro game console that might revive childhood memories).

Gameleaf animation by artist Benoit Leloup!

A nostalgic way to solve a rather futuristic, sci-fi situation..

Gameleaf is a tribute to all those old beloved consoles but also to the sophisticated simplicity of retro games that challenge our inner child while still being simple to understand.

But Looking for Fael isn't only about nostalgia!

 Swing Swing Submarine brings innovation to this 8-bit universe: 

- Tetris-like puzzles will have their own share of challenges and will bring a 4th dimension of reflection to 2D blocks

- It will be up to you to find access to those puzzles by exploring the 3D labyrinth of apartments

- What other mind-bending anomalies do you expect to find in Looking for Fael? ːsteamhappyː

So this year, on behalf of all the team, we hope that, this spring, you will find the relaxing feeling of putting your entire mind to a puzzle in the uncanny and solitary, yet calm maze of Fael's apartment(s).