So many great games, so little time
Nintendo has been absolutely killing it with its widespread support of indie games and developers since the Switch launched, and that is most perfectly exemplified in their now-frequent Indie World presentations. Every few months, Nintendo comes out and showcases a tonne of new indie games coming to Switch, and this morning’s presentation is no exception.
There were a lot of games announced in the showcase, so many that we can’t feature them all in their own article. But what we can do is list all of them here, in one place, ordered by their release window in Aussie-appropriate timescales — because Northern Hemisphere seasons are just too confusing. We’ve also thrown in a trailer and a brief description where available.
So here we go!
Exit the Gungeon is a bullet-hell dungeon climber immediately following the events of Enter the Gungeon. Armed with an ever-changing weapon, an insatiable need to loot and the trusty dodge roll, each of our heroes must ascend and escape via their own unique route of increasingly perilous elevators.
Flying over whimsical worlds filled with vivid colors, it’s just you, a stylish scarf, a laser tennis racket and a horde of fluffy enemies trying to blow you back to the ground. Mixing the classic genres of shoot-’em-ups and block breakers, Sky Racket is the world’s first “Shmup Breaker!”
With its unique living board, Faeria will challenge you with truly strategic card battles. Craft your deck, shape the battlefield and fight for victory!
This had already been announced, but it’s nice to see an Aussie game pop up in these things nonetheless.
Are you ready for an exciting career in furniture? As a newly certified Furniture Arrangement & Relocation Technician, you’ll take on moving jobs all across the busy town of Packmore. Smooth Moves may not be the biggest moving company, but there’s no task too dangerous or strange for this busy team of go-getters. Grow your business to brave new heights, recruit colourful customizable characters, and save your town from furniture peril!
Timed console exclusive.
Take care of your own island and explore the ocean in this farming adventure. Discover the story of Koa in a game that combines farming, crafting and exploring in a tropical archipelago with a colorful style and strong narrative.
You are Tilo, a courageous minstrel Mouse on a perilous quest to find his true love. Use stealth and cunning as you explore Dwindling Heights Keep—from its tallest towers to its deepest dungeons, evading its dangers and discovering its most ancient secrets.
In Wingspan up to 5 players compete to build up their nature preserves in a limited number of turns. Each beautiful bird that you add to your preserve makes you better at laying eggs, drawing cards, or gathering food. Many of the 170 unique birds have powers that echo real life: your hawks will hunt, your pelicans will fish, and your geese will form a flock.
Timed console exclusive.
Embark on an extraordinary journey through the desolated kingdom of Penumbra and discover the hidden secrets of this long-forgotten land. Explore mystical temples, encounter survivors and take on strange quests to collect valuable items.
Timed console exclusive.
Meet many weird and funny characters and become immersed in the amazing world of Baldo, an action-adventure RPG full of puzzles, intriguing gameplay mechanics and intricate dungeons to solve spread through a wide, interactive open world.
Timed console exclusive.
You play as Coop “Go Away, Weirdo” McCarthy, and all you want to do is make the world a better place. The trouble is: Nobody likes you, school sucks, you can’t find a prom date, everybody bullies you (including your teachers) and your attempts to help only make things worse.
Timed console exclusive.
Set in a grim, dark fantasy world, Eldest Souls innovates boss-rush gameplay with a high level of combat customization.
Discover a beautiful wilderness filled with lost folk, strange creatures and mysterious ruins as you journey to light the last campfire.
Jump, spin, swing and take out invading creatures to collect pollen and grow gardens back to full bloom. Along the way you’ll encounter a host of creatures and beautifully realized alien worlds to explore and liberate. Wallow in a feeling of synesthesia as the art and exquisite music from Baiyon envelops your mind and soul, and you, your Grimp and the delightful aesthetics of PixelJunk Eden become one.
It’s 1996. A young boy disappears in the Black Hills Forest near Burkittsville, Maryland. As Ellis, a former police officer with a troubled past, you join the search. What starts as an ordinary investigation soon turns into an endless nightmare as you confront your fears and the Blair Witch, a mysterious force that haunts the woods…
Welcome to the enchanting world of Sky, a beautifully-animated kingdom waiting to be explored by you and your loved ones. In Sky, we arrive as the Children of the Light, spreading hope through the desolate kingdom to return fallen Stars to their constellations.
As you fall asleep with the TV on at 3AM, you remember catching a glimpse of the commercial from Dr.Pierce’s Somnasculpt dream therapy program. By the time you open your eyes, you’re already dreaming – beginning the first stages of this experimental program. Welcome to Superliminal.
Bounty Battle is the ultimate indie fighting game: a new 2D fighter, where you can pit your favourite Indie heroes against one another! Indie heroes from games like Guacamelee! Dead Cells, Darkest Dungeon Owlboy & more battle it out in this fighter frenzy.
Timed console exclusive.
I Am Dead is a charming puzzle adventure game, from the creators of Hohokum and Wilmot’s Warehouse, about exploring the afterlife.
Become a journalist from New York and head out to research Rainy Woods, the world’s happiest town in the English countryside. But Rainy Woods also hides a great secret. On full-moon nights, the inhabitants turn into dogs and cats.
Not a timed exclusive or anything, just one of this author’s favourite games.
In this new fast-paced deckbuilding roguelike from Terry Cavanagh, Chipzel, and Marlowe Dobbe, you’ll fight monsters, find better loot, and level up your heroes as you work together to take down the Goddess of Fortune, Lady Luck herself. Balance your carefully planned strategies against the unknown of a dice roll.
Timed console exclusive.
It’s time for pugs, cats, bears and bunnies to save the solar system! Call your friends over to pilot powerful yet adorable ships, as you team up against waves of enemies in a side-scrolling shooter.
Quantum League is a revolutionary time-paradox shooter: a competitive online FPS in which you battle within a time loop, tactically teaming up with your past and future selves in mind-blowing 1-v-1 and 2-v-2 matches.
It's Black, Back Again.
If these aren't the coolest graphics...
Loco Motive, MySims: Cozy Bundle, Stray, Nine Souls, Servonauts.