It was another busy year on the Switch eShop, and Nintendo's Indie World team has put together a video to celebrate some of the best-selling download titles of the last 12 months. You can get into the spirit of it in the video above and we've listed the titles below.
- Stick Fight: The Game
- Slime Rancher: Plortable Edition
- Tetris Effect: Connected
- Unpacking
- Curse of the Dead Gods
- Eastward
- Road 96
- Axiom Verge 2
- Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!
- Ender Lilies: Quietus of the Knights
- Islanders Console Edition
- Spelunky 2
- Subnautica + Subnautica: Below Zero
- Cyber Shadow
- Littlewood

There are some excellent titles there, ranging from notable ports to titles that made their debut on Switch, with plenty of genres also covered. It's a pretty strong line-up, and bear in mind this video is focused primarily on the best-sellers in North America.
Did your favourite Indie game make the cut? What do you think of this line-up of titles? Sound off, as always, in the comments below.
Comments 33
A lot of it surprises me, but indie games finding success is almost never a bad thing
I'm surprised to see that there's no Shovel Knight. Shovel Knight's really great, one of my favorite games. Slime Rancher is also cool.
NEVER MIND ABOUT SHOVEL KNIGHT, I'M STUPID
I have Eastward, Road 96, and Cyber Shadow. All three are excellent games. Cyber Shadow was in the running for my GOTY. It’s a shame that Unsighted isn’t on this list. It’s a phenomenal game and deserves more recognition.
My indie games 2021 choice.

I played Eastward and Doki Doki. Bother were great. Doki Doki was one of the most unsettling experiences I have ever had.
I'm terribly missing Death's Door and Disco Elysium there!
I'm happy for Eastward and Subnautica though.
Stick fight is amazing! And its so cheap to.
I started playing Eastward just yesterday, I'm on chapter 2 right now and having a good time! Absolutely gourgeous game.
Stick Fight is a ton of fun. Well deserved success.
Just bought Stick Fight for Christmas to play with the kids. What a blast!
To give an answer to the question in the video:
Out of the showcased games Axiom Verge 2 and Eastward.
@Mikmoomamimocki you mean the new game that came out a few weeks ago? Pocket dungeon?
Guess the runtime isn’t there yet. I also very much like that game.
I really hope Dusk is selling at least as well as expected. That game is just superb and deserves to be one of the Switch's best sellers.
Still holding out for that Slime Rancher physical release.
What's taking so long, Fangamer?
Eastward, Ender Lilies, Cyber Shadow, and Tetris Effects are some stunning indie gems this year.
Spelunky 2 is fantastic (but I played the PC version).
My best run is only about 2/3 through, but according to steam achievements, that’s still above average!
Glad to see Eastward in here. Not so good writing (at least for my taste) but it excels in everything else.
I seriously dont know where to begin when searching for great indie games. Rpgs, action games hack n slash etc.
Anybody? Any recommendations?
@The-Chosen-one metacritic. Most awesome ones can easily be found there I’d say. Marked 8 and higher
@The-Chosen-one As far as action/rpgs go? Hades was last year's indie darling. This year it's Death's Door. https://opencritic.com/game/11687/deaths-door
the diversity of genres is incredible, nintendo has been doing so well with indies, exposure is great for them.
What on earth is going on with the music in this video?
So un-Nintendo...
Ah yeah Islanders. I just bought that now.
@Jashin it's corporate muzak. They always use that.
Is Tetris Effect really an indie title?
I have to say that ender lilies broke my heart. Fell in love straight away with it even though combat is airy it was still satisfying. Got about 8 hours in where you can swim but got lost for an hour or two but eventually found my my way but got way way to hard and at that point the airy combat really frustrated me. Got stuck in a dungeon with horrible enemies and I was about level 50. I don’t know, for me i at that point just wanted to steamroll my way through and maybe have a couple of tough bosses xxx still not pulled the trigger on eastward yet. Those sweet sales I got down in Bermuda for a pound, and kept hearing about dicey dungeons that about 2.50! Xxxx anyway layers of fear before bedtime xx
The wishlist swells again...
@Friendly Nope, I'm actually stupid. I thought that the title meant best selling titles for the last 12 months but I think it means 2021 releases too. I haven't played the new Shovel Knight spinoff, but I played Slime Rancher on Xbox.
Eagerly awaiting a sale on Eastward. Very ready to take the plunge on that one. I'm sure it's worth full price but I get an endorphin rush from taking advantage of sales. 😅
Ender Lilies was wonderful. Glad to see it mentioned.
Very sad to not see the EXCELLENT Kaze and the Wild Masks listed. That game deserves a lot more attention that it has gotten.
Does anyone know if Eastward will get a western physical release too? I thought currently there’s only a physical version on Playasia, right?
They called it best selling indie games on the Nintendo switch eshop, not the best indie games on the Nintendo switch. Some people needs to read the article first before posting.
Glad that eastward is amongst the best selling on switch. Such a great game to play and get lost in it.
How come NintendoLife haven't reviewed Road 96 yet? I've had my eye on that since it was on the indie world direct.
Love throwing on some speed metal and playing Unpacking.
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