Preview
The SWORL is perhaps Junkfood Custom Arcades’ most ambitious project yet. Its name is a mixture of swirl and world. After the success of products like the Snack Box Micro, its fighting game specialty was somewhat of a setback, so the SWORL is more than a fighting game controller. It can also work on rhythm games, 3rd person RPGs, and more!
On the left, you will find a slanted set of WASD keys. On the right, there are 10 attack buttons with five buttons per row (and a total of two rows). The two middle attack buttons are supposed to be for L3 and R3.
Instead of analog sticks, there are two grippy & rubbery trackballs or “thumb domes” closer to the bottom center that you can move with the sides of your thumbs, and it seems they return to the neutral position after release. They are supposed to limit the needed travel distance for an input to register by a whopping 40%.
You can choose between six, eight, or 10 buttons on the right. Furthermore, custom MX mounting plates change the feeling and sound. You can also disable analog controls, such as when playing RPGs. You can even latch the analog control to a forward direction when playing RPGs and then pull backward to unlatch.
The six secondary buttons can be found in the upper center of the top panel, which seems held together by six screws, and the case seems to have some see-through elements. The wrist resting space seems to slope downwards for ergonomic purposes.
There are three independent PCBs for easy upgrades and repairs:
- Main PCB
- Analog control PCB
- USB PCB
The chips are provided by Brook, and there is support for a battery and wireless dongle. LEDs, MX switches, case colors, and artworks can be chosen. We at The Arcade Stick can help you with the latter through our custom art service.