Tag: Indie - Page 5
News 'Not Tonight 2' Sets Its Post-Brexit Satirical Sights On The US
"Our most political game yet"
Back in 2020, a game called Not Tonight: Take Back Control Edition launched on the Nintendo Switch — on the exact date that the UK left the European Union, in fact. ("Brexit", as it's more commonly known). The game was a satirical take on British politics set in a post-Brexit alternate universe; you play a bouncer...
Round Up All The Games From Nintendo's Indie World Showcase - August 2021
Every single game from the show!
It's a great time to be a lover of indie games, as Nintendo's latest Indie World showcase was packed with absolute bangers. 19 games in total were shown off in the latest presentation, and the general consensus is pretty good; overall, a fantastic showing for Nintendo. But if you missed it, or you can't remember...
News Floppy Punch-'Em-Up 'Gang Beasts' Goes Gangbusters On Switch This Winter
Jelly melee
Everyone loves a goofy party game. Everyone loves janky physics. Finally, the two have been combined in Gang Beasts — although "finally" is a bit dramatic, since the game's been out since 2014. Gang Beasts is a beat 'em up, in which you're trying to throw your friends into lava, meat grinders, and various other deadly obstacles; or...
News Make Your Own Wine The Proper Way In 'Hundred Days', Coming This Winter
Do it for the vine
If you're tired of having to choose between boring supermarket wine and your home-brewed prison toilet wine, then perhaps it's time to take a vineleaf out of Hundred Days' book and buy your own dang vineyard. In this winemaking simulation game, you'll have to learn the intricate ins and outricate outs of running your very own...
News You Are A Bear And A Lumberjack In LumbearJack, Out Next Year
Bears are wholesome, right?
Sometimes we wonder if people make cute games by rolling two dice: the first is which animal you play as, and the second is your job. A kiwi postman. A bird skateboarder. A cat farmer. A frog tax collector. Okay, that last one i
News Slime Rancher: Plortable Edition Brings Goopy Good Times To Switch, And It's Out Now
Time to slime
There are some games that are just weirdly natural fits for the Nintendo Switch, and Slime Rancher has always been one of them. Except, until today, it wasn't even on there! Crazy. Luckily, developers Monomi Park have finally righted this wrong with the launch of Slime Rancher: Plortable Edition on Switch. And no, we didn't misspell...
News FAR: Changing Tides Now Sails Onto Switch Early Next Year
Good things come to those who wait
FAR: Changing Tides, the sequel to the rather lovely FAR: Lone Sails, was first unveiled and shown off during E3 week earlier this summer (with the footage above). It was featured again in today's Nintendo Indie World broadcast, with an updated release window of early 2022. A little wait should be worth it though...
News Space Base-Building Astroneer Is Finally Coming To Switch
Astroneerer than ever
Astroneer is a lot like that Matt Damon movie, The Martian, except instead of Matt Damon, it's you, and instead of potatoes, it's... building a base, exploring the alien wilds, and uncovering long-lost extraterrestrial secrets. It's not really a lot like The Martian, then. Except for being set in space. You'll play as a tiny,...
News Loop Hero Is A Timeloop Game, Looping Its Way To Switch Later This Year
Loop de loop
Pixel art, timeloops, and the ability to make the screen look like a CRT monitor: these are all excellent reasons to enjoy things, and Loop Hero has all three. Set in a world where everything has been forgotten, and almost all is lost, players will be cursed to walk around a procedurally-generated loop, which fills with monsters as the...
News Necrobarista: Final Pour, A "Story About Coffee And Death", Launches On Switch Today
An anime-style visual novel
One of the many delightful indie games to be featured in today's Nintendo Indie World Showcase was Necrobarista - Final Pour -, an anime-style visual novel from Route 59 and Coconut Island Games. Described as "a story about coffee and death," this one has players following a group of characters as they navigate a fantasy...
News Wholesome Farm 'N' Fight Game 'Garden Story' Was Just Surprise-Launched On Switch
Grape expectations
We've been keeping one eye peeled for Garden Story for quite some time now, and suddenly, just like that, our wait is finally over. The adorable fruit-themed RPG just got a surprise drop on the Switch eShop, where it will be a timed console exclusive. As the newly-appointed Guardian of the Grove, tiny grape hero Concord is tasked...
News Eastward Arrives Soon As A Timed Console Exclusive For Switch
Travel across a 'wonderfully weird world'
Nintendo brought us a rather brilliant Indie World today, and reserved its 'one more thing' moment for Eastward, which is developed by Pixpil and published by Chucklefish. We wrote about this one quite recently, and it turns out we don't have long to wait for the game's release - it lands on Switch as a...
News Bomb Rush Cyberfunk Is Bringing Its Jet Set Radio Vibes To Switch In 2022
Cyberfunky
Previously revealed to be coming to "all relevant" platforms, Team Reptile's Bomb Rush Cyberfunk has now been confirmed for a Nintendo Switch release and it's lined up for sometime in 2022 as a 'timed console exclusive'. With the release window announced as part of
News Dating Sim 'Boyfriend Dungeon' Gets Down And Dirty On Switch Later Today
"Careful, don't tickle my hilt"
During today’s Nintendo Indie World Showcase, Kitfox Games announced that its dungeon-dating hybrid Boyfriend Dungeon will be launching on Nintendo Switch today. The game arrives on the eShop for the price $19.99 USD, letting you fend off dangerous monsters and take your weapons on romantic dates. Yes, you read...
News Metal Slug Tactics Is Blasting Onto Switch Next Year
Controlled carnage
Metal Slug Tactics was unveiled during the E3 festivities this year, but the latest Indie World from Nintendo confirmed the news many of us - well, this writer in any case - was waiting to hear. It's coming to Nintendo Switch next year. In case you missed it, this is a Dotemu-published new take on the iconic IP (developed by...
News Tetris Effect: Connected Is Dropping Onto Nintendo Switch Soon
The real deal
The history of Tetris will forever be entwined with Nintendo history, with the IP reaching stunning heights of popularity alongside the Game Boy, in particular. While we've had the exclusive Tetris 99 on Nintendo Switch, however, until now we've missed out on the most memorable evolution of the series in recent years. That was...
News Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeon Update Reveals New Winter Release Window
And a new trailer!
As part of today's Nintendo Indie World Showcase, we were treated to a welcome new look at Shovel Knight: Pocket Dungeon. A falling block-style puzzler with a dungeon-crawling twist, Pocket Dungeon was first announced for Switch back in February 2020. At the time, it was expected to launch last autumn, but now – after
News TOEM Brings Charming Hand-Drawn Photo Adventure To Switch This Fall
Wholesome
Fans of cosy exploration and Pokémon Snap-style photography, rejoice! TOEM, from Something We Made, is coming to Nintendo Switch later this year. Complete with cute, charming, hand-drawn visuals and a laid back feel that'll give our list of best wholesome games on Switch a run for their money, TOEM has you solving puzzles and helping...
News Axiom Verge 2 Launches On Nintendo Switch Today
On the Verge
Originally scheduled for release back in the the spring, today's Nintendo Indie World Showcase announced that Axiom Verge 2 will be shadow-dropping on Switch eShop today. Surprise! Yes, Thomas Happ's sequel to one of the premier indie Metroidvanias of the last decade is available today on Switch eShop for $19.99 / €1
News Play A Witch In The Woods In Wytchwood, A Crafting Adventure Game Coming This Autumn
How much wood would a Wytchwood witch
Fairytales, witches, crafting and potions — we were on board with Wytchwood from the get-go, and if you're a fan of all things cottagecore and cosy, you'll be spellbound too. The game begins when a witch with a cauldron on her head finds out that she made a pact with a suspicious goat, and somehow can't...
News Creepy-Cute Japanese Horror Adventure 'Last Light' Coming To Switch
Set in an abandoned hospital
Last Light is certainly an intriguing horror game, but it's a little hard to decipher. With just a 30-second trailer and a Steam page that's largely been translated from the Japanese website, we know that the game is set in an abandoned hospital, and the main character — Lumi — will have to avoid the darkness in...
News Indie Publishers Team Up To Run Their Own Direct Showcase
Everyone gets a Direct!
Nintendo really hit on something big with its Directs, a showcase intended to bypass the usual way of announcing games at big conferences like E3, and now everyone wants a slice of that pie. Following in Nintendo's successful footsteps, we've seen multiple studios and groups do it themselves, from the Wholesome Direct and the...
News Spiritfarer Physical Edition Is Out Today
A cosy management game about death and boats
Spiritfarer is one of those games that you can't help but call "wholesome". It's all about ferrying the dead to their final resting place, but only after completing various tasks and fetch quests that help them fulfil their last requests. Sometimes, it's something as simple as tasting a particular food...
Does not include water or wine
Where The Water Tastes Like Wine is a narrative adventure that's partly about trekking across America, partly about the rich tradition of oral storytelling, and partly about what it means to live in a place that calls itself a melting pot in an era where many people aren't even invited to get in the pot. Developer...
News COVID Delays Doki Doki Literature Club Physical Release
"Unforeseen delays with manufacturing and shipping"
Although Doki Doki Literature Club Plus! has been out digitally on Switch since the end of June, people who are waiting on the physical edition to play the game are going to have to wait just a little longer to woo the ladies of the literature club. Publisher Serenity Forge posted a statement...
News Charming Farming Sim Littlewood Gets Physical Version Next Week
Hoe's about that
If you've ever wondered what life is like after the evil villain has been vanquished, Littlewood has the answers: a lot of farming, town building, and romancing the dark lord who has lost all his memories and is very sorry about all the evil stuff he did. It's Stardew Valley with more responsibility; Harvest Moon for people who are...
News Check Out This New Gameplay From Eastward, A Post-Apocalyptic Pixel Art Zelda-Like
Hit a big moth with a frying pan
IGN just published a juicy half-hour long video of gameplay for Eastward, the post-apocalyptic pixel art action-adventure RPG. It's giving us a little bit retro Zelda, a smidgen of Secret of Mana, and a dash of The Last of Us; it also has cooking minigames, environmental puzzles, and frying pan combat. But most of...
News Unbound: Worlds Apart Is Out Now, Bringing Hand-Drawn Puzzle-Platforming To A Switch Near You
Freed from its chains
After five years of work, the gloriously colourful metroidvania Unbound: Worlds Apart is finally finished, and on the Nintendo Switch. You'll play as Soli (the little red mage) who teleports into a strange and savage new place, with the power to open portals which change the very nature of the world by altering gravity, time,...
News Cosmic Express Is A Constellation Of Train Puzzles Rocketing To Switch
Far out
DO NOT BE FOOLED BY THE CUTENESS OF COSMIC EXPRESS. This space-themed-train-themed puzzle game about transporting aliens is HARD. Much like being on a real train, you will probably get very stressed and cry. Or is that just us? Cosmic Express — previously known as 'Train Braining' — was conceptualised and prototyped on an actual...
News A Good Snowman Is Hard To Build, But You Can Try Anyway Later This Year
Do you want to build a snowmaaaaaan
Yes, yes, we know. The title is incredibly confusing. We can't help it! The name of this wonderful little puzzle game — "A Good Snowman Is Hard To Build" — is really hard to fit in a news headline. But it is indeed coming to Switch later this year, and here's why you should be terribly excited. A Good...
News Ghibli-esque RPG Baldo: The Guardian Owls Finally Gets Launch Release Date
It'll be a hoot
What do you get when you mix Zelda, Studio Ghibli, and Ni No Kuni? You get the best summer holiday of your life, of course, but you also get Baldo: The Guardian Owls, which we've been patiently waiting for since 2019. Now we have just a month to wait, as the developers have announced a release date of August 27th, complete with a...
News Sokobond Dev Set To Publish Voxel Puzzle Game 'Bonfire Peaks' On Switch
We didn't start the fire (but we did contribute to it)
Voxels! It's what's good for ya. They're basically 3D pixels, sort of; big chunky blocks like what Minecraft is made of, as well as Bonfire Peaks, a game about setting fire to your belongings. Wait, setting fire to your belongings? Yuuup. In Bonfire Peaks, you're climbing a mysterious island...
News Devilishly Tricky Puzzle Game 'Sokobond' Is Sliding Onto Switch This Autumn
Chemistrial and error
A long time ago, in 1982, a game called Sokoban was released for the NEC PC-8801. It was a simple puzzle game about pushing boxes in a warehouse in order to get them into certain locations; it ended up gripping the imagination of so many puzzle designers that it became its own genre of puzzles. 30 years later in 2012, two game...
News Cutie Puzzle Game 'A Monster's Expedition' Is Coming To Switch With New DLC
Log jam
Everyone loves puzzles, especially when they're globally renowned, prize-winning puzzles — which is exactly what A Monster's Expedition is. Developed by puzzle wizards Draknek & Friends (Cosmic Express, A Good Snowman Is Hard To Build, Sokobond) and including music from Eli Rainsberry (Wilmot's Warehouse) and writing from Pip Wa
News Button City Brings 'Hope-Punk' And Friendship To Switch This Summer
Harmony and melodies
Button City has anthropomorphic foxes, pandas, rabbits, raccoons and cats living in harmony in a peaceful little community, and if that has your interest piqued, then you'll be excited to hear that you don't have long to wait to play it on the Nintendo Switch. Here's some more potentially exciting words to do with the game:...
News Oh, Bird: Check Out Crowsworn, A Bloodborne-y Metroidvania That's A Hit On Kickstarter
Caw
Enough games have taken their cues from From Software's Dark Souls and Bloodborne games that "Souls-like" is beginning to become its own genre, but we can't say that we mind — especially when the games look this good. Crowsworn is unabashedly Bloodborne-y in its presentation, with cathedrals and Victorian lampposts up the wazoo, plus the main...
News Paper Mario-Style Adventure 'The Outbound Ghost' Is Now Live On Kickstarter
Paper Poltergeists
Good news for people who love flat things and ghosts: The Outbound Ghost, an indie Paper Mario-like adventure game, is now live on Kickstarter, where you can back it for any amount from One Swiss Franc (get yer name in the credits) to 2,775 Swiss Francs (about £2k or $3k) if you want to be a ghost writer (get it?) for the game...
News Grindstone 'Lost Lair' Update Adds 20 Levels, New Challenges, New Gear
Free stuff!
Grindstone, the match-em-up puzzle game that's all about killing lots of critters on your way up a mountain, just got even better with the Lost Lair update, which is out now. The update adds twenty levels, new gear, a new area, a new enemy, new weekly challenges, new story and a new cutscene. Phew, that's a lotta new. The Lost Lair is...
News Songs For A Hero Is A Musical RPG Where The Soundtrack Narrates Your Actions
And it's Brazilian-made!
You know when you listen to a particular song that makes you feel like you're in a music video, even though you're actually just shopping for lentils in your local grubby cornershop? Well, now you can be the star of your own music video. Sort of. Not really. Kinda? Songs For A Hero is a musical RPG in which the lyrical...
News Supernatural Detective Game 'Unavowed' Gets Surprise Switch Release
Point-and-click fans, take note
You might not have heard of Unavowed, but if you're a fan of adventure games, point-and-clicks, and excellent narratives in the vein of old-school Monkey Island, you should have heard of Wadjet Eye. The American studio is perhaps the closest spiritual successor to the point-and-click games of the 90s (well, except...
Soapbox It's The Summer Of Visual Novels On Switch, And It's Just The Beginning
I should probably learn to read
Visual novels. Are they games, or are they slideshows? Well, let's get one thing straight, because this is a soapbox: I personally don't particularly care. I enjoy an evening curled up with a good book, and likewise, I enjoy an evening curled up with a good visual novel on auto-play, occasionally unfurling my hand...
News Fire Tonight Blazes Onto Switch This Summer
Hot game summer just got hotter
Fire Tonight is a game in which there is fire, and it's tonight. To elaborate: you play as both Maya and Devin, a couple in the year 1990 who are separated by both the city they live in, and the fire that it is on. In this narrative puzzle adventure, Maya will be trying to get to Devin, and Devin will be mostly...
News Super Rare Games Announces Physical Copies Of Heart-Wrenching Adventure 'Last Day Of June'
Only 5,000 copies available
"What would you do to save the one you love?" That's the question behind Last Day of June, an emotional adventure that's all about reliving the final day of someone's life, and trying to change events. If your answer is "buy a physical copy of the game, complete with special collector's content," then we've got some great...
Random How Many Of These 175 Indie Games Can You Identify?
Untitled Goose Game, Fez, Cuphead, A Hat In Time, Undertale, Among Us...
We're loving how much attention indie games are getting lately. The E3 Wholesome Direct included almost 30 different indies coming to Switch, and the "Indie" tag on Nintendo Life is full of lovely games that are coming soon. In similar celebration of the diversity and talent...
News Prepare For Survival Platforming With Residual, Launching Later This Year
Coming moon. Er, soon
Games are often about one simple rule: Don't Die. But none more so than survival games, which are more like: Don't Die, But Also We Really Want You To Die. We've seen a fair few survival games in the last few years, many of which are bloody brilliant, and we're now at that stage where we're seeing survival-meets-other-genre...
News The Procession To Calvary Is A Pythonesque Comedy Renaissance Game Coming To Switch
Spam spam spam spam egg + spam
We know, we know — the video game market is positively flooded with Pythonesque comedy renaissance point-and-clicks right now. Honestly, who could have predicted that the 2020s would be the decade of surreal painting manipulation video games? Certainly not us. Our money was on the return of the FMV. Obviously, we're...
News Aggro Crab's 'Going Under' Gets Its Claws On A Physical Switch Release
Pinch it while you can!
What's this? Crab news, on a Monday? What has the world come to? Yes, Aggro Crab — makers of Going Under — have just announced that their literal boss-fighting game is getting a physical release on Switch and PS4. The Limited Run Games E3 stream (also known as LGR3) was full of announcements for new physical releases...
News Super Rare Games Changes Course On Physical-Only "Shorts", Makes Them Timed Exclusives
"The criticism is 100% right"
Unless E3 has completely fried your brain and made you lose all sense of time, you may remember back on Friday that Super Rare Games — one of the major publishers that help indie studios release physical editions of their games — announced "Super Rare Shorts", which was their plan to fund physical-only indie...
News Minute Of Islands Is Out Now On Switch
This very minute (of islands)
Minute of Islands is a rather compellingly gorgeous game coming to Switch, but after an indefinite delay earlier this year, we've been left wondering when we'll be able to get our hands on the post-apocalyptic wonderland. Well, we have an answer: It's out RIGHT NOW. We do love a surprise instant release! Minute of...
News Every Game From The Wholesome Direct 2021 Coming To Nintendo Switch
It's almost 30 games!
If you thought the Summer Game Fest ran through a lot of announcements really quickly, then the Wholesome Direct must have looked like a blur in your rear-view mirror. With 75 "wholesome" games to run through in just an hour, we managed to get quite a few "coming to Switch" titles but very little time to get to know them before...
