Tag: Indie
Anniversary Dead Cells Is The Gift That Keeps On Giving Five Years On
Look at that fire grow
Today marks the fifth anniversary of Dead Cells on the Nintendo Switch in North America, and what a five years it has been. From humble indie beginnings to releasing a wave of DLC with Castlevania developers Konami, it is fair to say that the game we see today is rather different from the 'roguevania' (a phrase that we are...
Guide Best LGBTQ+ Switch Games
Play with pride
Happy Pride, everyone! We're updating and republishing this list of some of Switch's best and most inclusive games in celebration of Pride month. Enjoy! The games industry has not always been good at portraying LGBTQ+ relationships and identities, but thanks to the efforts of small studios, indie developers, and LGBTQ+ creators,...
News Stunning Watercolour Adventure 'Dordogne' Flows Onto Switch Next Month
Très chic
Focus Entertainment has announced that it will be bringing Umanimation and Un Je Ne Sais Quoi's Dordogne onto Switch on 13th June — just in time for summer. We first heard of the game back in 2020 and the road to release has not been the smoothest, but looking at the above release date trailer, we can't help but still be impressed by...
Round Up Every Game Announcement Exclusive To Japan's Indie World Showcase (April 2023)
See what the West missed out on
Nintendo held a surprise Indie World Showcase this week - sharing all sorts of announcements, but did you know there was also one in Japan? While they're often quite similar, this time around the Japanese one contained a lot of different announcements. If you were wondering what was revealed during Japan's broadcast,...
Out Now Dogfight: A Sausage Bomber Story Brings Meaty Shmup Action To Switch
Hot dog!
After some classic shmup action with a comical twist? Dogfight: A Sausage Bomber Story might just have you covered as the frantic shooter (cumber)lands on Switch today (sorry, we couldn't resist). From publisher Hound Picked Games and developer Katsu Entertainment, Dogfight is all about speedy shoot 'em-up gameplay as you take on hoards of...
News More Indie Developers Are Giving Away Free eShop Codes For Wii U & 3DS
Update: WayForward joins in on the fun
Update [Sat 1st Apr, 2023 03:05 BST]: Mighty Switch Force developer WayForward has joined in on the free giveaway fun sharing codes for Mighty Switch Force 2 on Wii U and 3DS throughout the day. It seems Shovel Knight developer Yacht Club Games was also giving out some codes earlier this week:
News The Outbound Ghost Dev Countersues Publisher Digerati In Ongoing Legal Dispute
Full counterclaim now publicly available
Conradical Games, the developer behind last year's Paper Mario-like The Outbound Ghost has countersued the game's publisher, Digerati, in an ongoing legal dispute regarding the game's launch. The 2.5D RPG was released in December 2022 to lukewarm reviews. Following a series of accusations made by the...
News Indie Dev Headcannon Confirms It Helped Sega Update Sonic Origins Plus
"We can’t wait for you to experience it!"
You might recall how the Sonic Mania developer Headcannon had some involvement in Sonic Origins. Now, following the announcement of Sonic Origins Plus, the "indie game and utilities" developer has confirmed it's "once again" cooperated with Sega to this time update t
News Bilkins' Folly Brings Charming Pixel Art, Treasure Hunting And Cute Dogs To Switch This Year
Yes, you can pet the dog
Up for a spot of treasure hunting with a puppy by your side? Developer Webbysoft and publisher Armor Games Studios have announced that Bilkins' Folly will be bringing just that to the Switch later on this year. Looking at the trailer above, we are loving the pixel art on this one and can't help but be intrigued by the sense...
News Stealth Platformer The Library Of Babel Sneaks Onto Switch Next Month
With a crisp hand-drawn art style to boot
The gorgeous hand-drawn visuals of The Library of Babel caught our eye when we first saw the above announcement trailer, and we now know that this stealth platformer will be making its way over to Switch on 7th April. From developer Tanuki Game Studio and based on the short story by Jorge Luis Borges, The...
News Retro-Inspired 'Ultra Pro Wrestling' Announced For Switch After Passing First Kickstarter Goal
Get ready to rumble
While the Kickstarter campaign might not be over just yet, it's fair to say that Hyperfocus Games' fundraising for Ultra Pro Wrestling has got off to a great start. With 22 days left to donate, the team has surpassed its target goal of £17,000 and (at the time of writing) is now sitting on over £25,000. The game is still in...
News You'll Need To Stick Your Joy-Con In A Toilet Roll To Play This Weird New Switch Game
Ready to roll
There have been some strange uses for Switch Joy-Cons over the past six years of the console's existence. We've strapped them to our legs to kick footballs in Nintendo Switch Sports, held them vertically to milk virtual cows in 1-2 Switch and let's not forget the discovery that they can be used as a stand-in Wii remote sensor. But no...
News Trippy FPS 'POST VOID' Is Bringing The DOOM Vibes To Switch This Month
Colourful chaos
We last heard about POST VOID — the grotesque, psychedelic FPS with more than a little DOOM inspiration sprinkled in — back in August of last year when the game was set for a September 2022 release. That, obviously, did not happen, but publisher Super Rare Originals has now announced that we will finally be able to dive into the...
News Hunt Monsters Through Diorama Battlefields In Bleak Sword DX, Slashing Onto Switch This Year
Compact combat
Bleak Sword released on Apple Arcade back in 2019 and has since gone on to receive positive reviews across the board. Now the title is making the leap from decidedly difficult mobile app to brutal Switch game, as Devolver Digital has announced that Bleak Sword DX will be dodge rolling its way onto the Nintendo console this year. For...
News Capes Could Fill The Switch's Superhero Tactics Gap While Waiting For Marvel's Midnight Suns
Coming this year
Last year, Marvel's Midnight Suns launched on Playstation and Xbox consoles to high levels of praise. It is still coming to Switch at some point (we assume) though word on the Nintendo release has dried up ever since the "at a later date" announcement appeared last August. Seeing a console in need of some superhero turn-based...
News 'Dredge' Reels A Sinister Fishing Adventure Onto Switch Next Month
Spooky squids and phantom phish
There are enough fishing games on Switch to fill your net three times over. You throw every title with a fishing minigame in there and you would be left with one crammed aquarium. In such a calm, soothing genre, it can be difficult to stand out as the top dogfish, so what has indie development studio Black Salt Games...
News Hollow Knight Dev Files New Trademarks For 'Fearless Fox'
Is a new project in the works?
While we wait for the release of Hollow Knight: Silksong, we've got some interesting news to share about the game's developer Team Cherry. It seems the Australian-based team has recently filed a trademark down under for the words "Fearless Fox". According to the Australian Government's IP Australia website, last month...
News Skater Platforming Goes Futuristic In 'Rooftop Renegade', Rolling To Switch Next Month
Get your skates on
The debut title for South Australian-based indie studio Melonhead Games, Rooftop Renegade, looks to be a mix between OlliOlli World's slick skating platforming and the art of rollerblading (or 'hoverblading', if we're being picky). What's more, publisher The IndiEXP has announced that the title will be rolling its way onto Switch...
News Saga Of Sins Brings Demon Hunting And Stained Glass Window Visuals To Switch In March
Holy smokes!
It was back in August that we last heard of Saga of Sins — the demon hunting action platformer that looks like a moving stained glass window — but publisher Just For Games has now announced that this sin-slaying cleric will be bringing his religious rebellion to Switch on 30th March, 2023. For those of you who missed the initial...
News Turn-Based Folklore 'Howl' Brings Wolf Hunting And 'Living Ink' Visuals To Switch This Year
Silver bullets at the ready
The Switch is home to enough turn-based tactics games to last a lifetime, but that hasn't deterred Mipumi, the studio behind the point and click adventure The Lion's Song, from working on a title which looks to stand out from the rest. Howl is set to land on Switch later this year (we can't be more specific than 'early...
News Surprise! Sports Story Finally Swings Onto Switch Today
After all these years
Well folks, it's certainly been a long time coming but we are pleased to see that Sports Story (the much-anticipated sequel to 2017's Golf Story) is now available on the Switch eShop! The announcement came as a part of today's Inside the House of Indies event - which has been revealing upcoming Switch titles and shadow drops...
News Nintendo Shares Final Day Of Festive Indie Game News And Switch eShop Shadow Drops
Update: Sports Story and Sea of Stars headline
Update #4 [Fri 23rd Dec, 2022 17:08 GMT]: It's here, folks! Sports Story is the headliner of Nintendo's final day of its festive House of Indies. Boy, if we found something like that in our Advent Calendar, we'd be very happy. The long-awaited follow-up to Golf Story, after being teased for a December...
News Calico Gets 'Pawsome Edition' Update With New Minigame, Animals, Visuals And More
Available meow
When we reviewed Calico back in January 2021, we were less than impressed. The cute cat café sim had a few good things going for it, it is true, but the game was beset on all sides by bugs and glitches which brought the experience down a notch. Now, developer Peachy Keen Games and publisher Whitethorn Games have announced that the...
News Sail Forth Brings Wind Waker-Style Sailing And Pirate Mysteries To Switch Today
Weigh anchor
As revealed in today's Inside the House of Indies event, Sail Forth has made its way onto the Switch eShop, bringing with it heavy gusts of Wind Waker vibes. This release has been a long time coming. After pushing back its 2021 release, developer Festive Vector (seems fit for the season) and publisher Quantum Astrophysicists
News Pikmin-Like Tinykin Lands New Challenges In Free Content Update
New outfits up for grabs
We had a great time with Tinykin when it was released earlier this year. A strange mash-up of Pikmin and Paper Mario, the game ticked a lot of our Nintendo-focussed boxes on Switch and now developer Splashteam and publisher tinyBuild have announced that more trials await in the new Challenge Update. The update is completely...
News Stardew Valley Creator's Next Game, Haunted Chocolatier, Is "Still Gonna Be A While"
"It's going well, but it's a big game"
It has been a good long while since we last heard any updates on Haunted Chocolatier, the next game from Stardew Valley creator Eric "ConcernedApe" Barone. Fortunately, in a recent interview with Screen Rant, the creative sat down to provide some more news. Unfortunately, that news states that the game is still...
News First-Person Puzzle Adventure 'Memorrha' Unlocks 2023 Release Date
This reminds me of a puzzle...
Sticky Stone Studio has today announced that the long-awaited Switch version of first-person puzzler, Memorrha, will be coming to the console very soon - 13th January, 2023 to be precise. The arrival of this game has been a long time coming and we are excited to see it finally reach the release phase. We first heard...
News Retro Goal Scores New 'Global Championship Mode' In Free Update
Back of the net
Just as the World Cup really starts hotting up, New Star Games has announced that its arcade-inspired football sim, Retro Goal, will be following suit. The studio has announced that a new tournament-based game mode will be kicking off in Retro Goal from today (13th December). What's more, this expansion is absolutely free! Much like...
News The Outbound Ghost Publisher Takes Legal Action Following Dev Complaints And Steam Page Edits
Update: "We hope that the need for legal interventions is short lived"
Update #2 [Mon 12th Dec, 2022 11:10 GMT]: After hearing from the lead developer of The Outbound Ghost last week, publisher Digerati has now responded with a full statement regarding the game's release, including legal action following lawsuit threats from Conradical Games. In a...
News Cat Dungeon Crawler, UnderDungeon, Sinks Its Claws Into January Release Date
Apocalypse meow
We first heard about UnderDungeon back in the sunny days of August. With it's somewhat Undertale-y vibe and interesting mix of 2D and 3D dungeon exploration, we were excited for it's release this year. While it looks like it will be just missing out on that original date, the publisher has announced that it will be landing (on its...
News Dead Cells' Creator's New Game, Nuclear Blaze, Blasts Onto Switch Next Year
Fire in the hole!
Back in 2018 we were completely enamoured by Dead Cells. A roguelite with gorgeous pixel art and enough intense action to fill many hours of play time, the game was, simply put, a blast. Now Sébastien Benard, the title's lead developer, is taking that sense of blast all the more literally, as their latest game, Nuclear Blaze, will...
News Retro-Inspired Metroidvania 'Haiku The Robot' Gets New Game Mode In Mid-December Update
Up for a challenge?
Remember back in September when it seemed that every game ever was getting released all at once? One such title to land on the Switch in this period was Haiku the Robot - a post-apocalypse-set metroidvania with an adorable main character which looked like it had leaped right off of a GBA cartridge. Now the game is getting its...
News The Jet Set Radio-Inspired 'Bomb Rush Cyberfunk' Is On The Hunt For Voice Actors
Could a release date be on the horizon?
The wait for the uber funky Jet Set Radio-inspired vibes-fest that is Bomb Rush Cyberfunk has felt like a particularly long one. We first heard of the game back in 2020, but with its recent pushback into 2023, we settled into the thought that there might be more delays to come. However, hope may be on the...
News Spooky Paper Mario Tribute 'The Outbound Ghost' Gets December Release Date
Physical release closely follows
After having its physical release pushed back from the pre-set date of 25th November, we began to worry whether adorable looking RPG The Outbound Ghost would make it to Switch in 2022. Fortunately, an announcement from publisher Digerati and developer Conradical Games has warmed out spirits, as it confirmed that the...
News Paper Cut Mansion Folds Mystery Into Paper Mario Aesthetics On Switch Next Month
Creepy cutouts
Thunderful has announced that it will be bringing Space Lizard Studios' creepy cardboard roguelite, Paper Cut Mansion, to the Switch on 5th December, 2022. There are many of us out there who find the aesthetic design of Paper Mario somewhat off-putting - just look at those ever-staring those cold dead eyes. Paper Cut Mansion takes...
News Soccer Story Scores November Release Date On Switch
No, it's nothing to do with Sports Story
Back in August we were sideswiped by the news of Soccer Story's existence. A pixel art sports RPG with 50% of its title dedicated to the word 'Story' that isn't anything to do with Sidebar Games' Golf Story nor its hotly-anticipated follow-up Sports Story? Surely it can't be! Well, it turns out that it can...
News All Aboard! 'Railbound' Pulls Into The Switch eShop This December
Full steam ahead
After arriving on mobile earlier this year to heaps of cozy praise, studios 7LEVELS and Afterburn have announced that the track-laying train puzzler Railbound is coming to Switch on 1st December, 2022. For levels of comfort, Railbound has it all. This is a game in which you help two dogs go on a train journey by connecting tracks...
Round Up All The Games From Nintendo's Indie World Showcase - November 2022
Cats, roguelikes, food, and death
The next few months just got a whole lot more exciting, thanks to Nintendo's November Indie World Showcase, which was (as usual) packed with exciting reveals and announcements. A whopping 22 games in total were shown off in the latest presentation, and the general consensus is pretty good; overall, a fantastic...
News GOODBYE WORLD Brings Game Boy-Inspired Game Development To Switch This Month
Hello Goodbye
The Indie World Showcase threw a lot of stellar looking titles our way, and one that really stood out to us was GOODBYE WORLD, which launches on Switch later this month. ISOLATION STUDIO and PM Studios, Inc. have managed to put together a game which looks to tick a lot of boxes for us. It's got friendship, it's got classic pixel art...
News Paper Mario-Like '2D' RPG Secures Funding For A Switch Port
Update: Kickstarter goal achieved
Update [Mon 7th Nov, 2022 15:00 GMT]: With over 20 days still remaining in its Kickstarter campaign, the Paper Mario-inspired '2D' RPG Flynt Buckler Wakes the Sleepy Castle has smashed its goal for funding and has now been confirmed for a Switch release in 2024. At the time of writing, the amount raised stands at...
News Super Woden GP Brings Retro Isometric Racing Back To Switch This Month
Start your engines
Eastasiasoft has announced that Super Woden GP will be screeching onto the Switch next week, 9th November, and its latest trailer (above) is giving us all of the retro racing vibes. There are enough racing games out there to fill a starting grid 100 times over, so Super Woden GP is looking to stand out from the competitors by...
News Welcome To Empyreum Brings Overcooked-Style Gameplay To Hotel Management
Coming early 2023
Hound Picked Games has announced that it is teaming up with first-time developer Tapioca Games on Welcome to Empyreum - a new chaotic hotel management game with the multiplayer mechanics of Overcooked. The title will be heading to Switch in early 2023. Couch co-op has really seen a boom in the past few years thanks to the likes of...
News Hand-Drawn Metroidvania 'Curse Of The Sea Rats' Scurries Towards 2023 Release Date
New trailer showcases each character
You would be forgiven for forgetting about Curse of the Sea Rats. The self-proclaimed 'Ratoidvania' - a pun which, despite our best efforts, we cannot endorse - had a hugely successful Kickstarter campaign back in 2020 and was quickly confirmed for a
News Survival Horror 'Signalis' Arrives On Switch Tomorrow
Sweaty palm time
Tomorrow (27th October) will see the Switch debut of Signalis - a low-poly horror survival game from newcomers rose-engine and publisher Humble Games. The game will be available on the Switch eShop for £15.99 / 19.99€ and based on its reviews, this sounds like we are in for a bargain. Our friends over at Push Square gave...
News Tunic's Audio Designer Breaks Down The Game's Deepest Secrets
'Content for no one'
Tunic has been out on the Switch for a little under a month now after gaining an impressive following on Xbox prior to this. As those of you who have played the game will know (and those who haven't should know), Tunic is full of secrets and puzzles. Finding pages of the mysterious manual opens up more of the world than you...
News 'Totally Accurate Battle Simulator' Charges Its Way To A November Switch Release
Switch changes also detailed
Ever since Totally Accurate Battle Simulator (TABS) was announced for Switch back in May's Indie Showcase, we have been eagerly awaiting news on when the immensely popular wobbly experience would be leading the charge onto the small screen - if you can really call that a charge. Today we have learned not only that the...
News Mastered The Lanes In Wii Sports? Super Funky Bowling Could Be Right Up Your Alley
It's super! It's funky! It's bowling!
Have you ever been bowling on Wii Sports and thought, 'I wish these lanes were kinda like a giant floating puzzle?' Well boy, oh boy, do we have the game for you. Super Funky Bowling has released on the Switch eShop today, taking the principles of bowling and making it, well, funky. This is less a sports sim...
News Chill Out With This Soothing Puzzler, 'Reky', Coming To Switch This Week
And relax
RedDeer.Games has been the development studio behind a whole host of titles on Switch from League of Enthusiastic Losers to Little Bug, but their latest puzzler, Reky, looks to be their simplest game yet (well, discounting AAA Clock and all associated titles, that is). The studio has announced that the game will be coming to the Switch...
News Turn-Based Strategy Game 'The Battle Of Polytopia' Gets Switch Release This Month
Wait your turn
Indie developer Midjiwan AB has today announced that it will be bringing its low poly strategy game, The Battle of Polytopia, to Switch on October 13th. Releasing on iOS and Android back in 2016 as Super Tribes, the game has undergone a number of upgrades in the ensuing years - apart from just changing the name. Now available on...
News Tunic Aesthetics And Ratchet & Clank Action Meet In 'Trifox', Out On Switch Next Month
How do you out-fox a fox with a gun?
Belgian developer Glowfish Entertainment's debut game Trifox rides in on the bushy tail of Tunic's Switch arrival to ask a key question: what if your fox protagonist had explosives — or magic, or a giant hammer for that matter? The answer can be found when the game releases on Switch on October 13th,a full day...