It's been a brilliant year for indie games, if nothing else, and Nintendo's latest Indie World video is proof. With metroidvanias, side-scrolling brawlers, co-op party games and in-depth RPG adventure games all represented on their 16-game long list of bestsellers, it's a pretty good year to own a Nintendo Switch. Well, we say that every year, but we mean it!
Here's the full list, which doesn't appear to be in any particular order:
Hades
Streets of Rage 4
Spiritfarer
Moving Out
Ori and the Will of the Wisps
Carrion
What The Golf?
Shantae and the Seven Sirens
Super Mega Baseball 3
Superliminal
The Jackbox Party Pack 7
Sakuna: Of Rice and Ruin
Kentucky Route Zero: TV Edition
CrossCode
Bloodstained: Curse of the Moon 2
Neon Abyss

The list does seem to stretch the meaning of "indie" quite far, given that Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a Microsoft-published game, and Streets of Rage 4 is licensed out by Sega, but we're not here to complain, we're here to enjoy video games!
Are there any games you're surprised to see on the list? Anything you're disappointed not to see on the list? Air out your grievances in the comments below!
[source youtu.be]
Comments 37
CrossCode is SO good. Easily one of the best games I've ever played and worthy of your time.
I think there is only 4 on there I haven't downloaded. 1 of those is wishlisted. Had a real good time with all of the ones I purchased. Stand outs were Hades, Ori and Sakuna
A bit bummed not to see Murder by Numbers. I thought it was a really great little title.
"The list does seem to stretch the meaning of "indie" quite far, given that Ori and the Will of the Wisps is a Microsoft-published game, and Streets of Rage 4 is licensed out by Sega"
Indie usually refers to the developer rather than the publisher, though.
Horace should have been there
I have Spiritfarer and Shantae, am looking forward to getting the Ori games and KRZ, and am waiting on a physical edition for Hades. Good games all around!
And sakuna rice and ruin has only just came out aswell 👏
I gotta get spiritfarer.
I've got SoR4, Shantae, Bloodstained and CrossCode. Been thinking about trying Hades, even though a few aspects of it are not my cup of tea.
@Dualmask you can get Transistor and Bastion real cheap right now if yo fancy trying those first? I had my first half hour blast of Hades the other day, and it really is quite something. I'm just putting it on the back burner for now until I finish something else, but that's definitely the next meaty endeavour.
@PapaMurphy Hi, I’ve been tempted to get Hades, but from all the videos I’ve watched, it all likes kind of the same, just hacking and slashing and boring. Is it really worth getting please?
I had a fairly unhealthy addiction to Neon Abyss for a while there. Until they had the big update and ruined how the bombs work. Of that list, I own 7.
@Ryu_Niiyama I'm really hoping they release physical copies of Spiritfarer.
@Dualmask @MattAllsopp Hades isn't your typical hack'n'slash rogue like. It's completely deserving of all the praise. Apart from the amazing combat, level design and progression system, it also has one of the best stories of 2020 and a beautiful art style and soundtrack. Really the complete package, can't recommend enough.
I have Moving Out in physical.
I love the music in Moving Out, so 80's ! 🤩
@Tulio517 Thank you. I may just treat myself 👍🏻😊
@MattAllsopp it ticks all the boxes for me. The combat feels meaty, I can see it will get deeper and more sophisticated, it's super atmospheric and the soundtrack is just unreal. I think it's one of those, where if you like the look of it, then it's a sure thing for you.
@citizenerased Indie means a game that is not primarily funded by a publisher. Otherwise Astral Chain and Dark Souls would be indie titles.
I only have Hades out of these and it's a blast (didn't like Transistor very much, but this one's absolutely my game of the year). There are a few on my wishlist like CrossCode but these days I have pretty much stopped buying games for full price.
Has Cross Code been fixed to a playable state yet? I read that it got very bad about halfway through on the Switch to a point where it was basically unplayable.
I purchased:
Hades
Streets of Rage 4
Ori
Shantae and the Seven Sirens is a fun little Metroidvania, and has been on sale recently (might still be???).
Some of these must've done much better in other regions considering I don't think I ever saw Super Mega Baseball 3 or Neon Abyss charting here in North America (at least outside of digital-only)
I still need to grab Ori and the Will of the Wisps, likely in physical form though. Still on the fence about Hades. Might be a future pickup.
@Realness I’m not a huge roguelike gameplay guy but man once I tried out Neon Abyss on a whim I was hooked I couldn’t stop playing it, I had to get further. Haven’t touched it in a few, was the update really that altering to the gameplay?
Been meaning to ask you gents on here, is the Shantae series worth it? Are they all metroidvania titles, or only the recent ones?
I am not a fan of rogue-like games but this constant praise of Hades is tempting me to buy it.
Well deserved, but obvious list. I hoped to learn about hidden gems
A pretty great list this, but I’m surprised not to see A Short Hike here. Particularly at such an affordable price point.
Also, for those who took a look at Nintendo’s short video that’s included in this article, there’s a glaring mistake at the very end. Did you spot it, too?
@TheFullAndy I bought it yesterday and just had a quick 10 minutes go on it. I hope it gets better though because at the minute it’s just hack and slash, enter another room and do the same, etc. I feared it would be like this from the clips I’ve seen on YouTube, but the reviews and comments convinced me to buy it. I will persevere with it however and comment again if it all suddenly “clicks” for me 👍🏻😊
@MattAllsopp
Cheers!
I don’t have any of these. Been thinking about Ori though. That might happen.
@PapaMurphy I never played Bastion, but I like Transistor. It's the whole rogue-like thing that wears me out about Hades, but I've been giving other rogue-ish games a try here and there and found some hits and some misses. Hades isn't that expensive so maybe I'll give it a go.
@PikaPhantom hey man, what's the best baseball game for switch? I don't care for the game in real life, same as golf, but it can make for good video games. I'd be interested in getting a decent baseball sim. Cheers.
I did buy a Padres shirt once, but only because it was stylish, I didn't even know who they were at the time 😆👍
@Dualmask one for the wish list and wait maybe then? I hear what you're saying, nothing is ever going to be for everyone.
@The_Pixel_King The wrong Ori?
@PapaMurphy Super Mega Baseball 3.
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