Nintendo released the latest Indie World Showcase today, highlighting 19 indie games coming to Nintendo Switch within the next year. This time around, games from existing franchises showed up in force. New entries in the Shovel Knight, Axiom Verge, and Metal Slug franchises all appeared in the roughly 20 minute showcase, but gamers looking for totally unique worlds to explore also have quite a few titles to look into.
We’ve compiled a list of everything that was announced at today’s Indie World below, including their trailers, so you don’t have to watch the entire presentation yourself if you missed it!
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk
- Developer: Team Reptile
- Publisher: Team Reptile
- Release Date: 2022
Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, a spiritual successor to Jet Set Radio (2000), tasks players with making a name for themselves as graffiti artists in a big city. The game offers a variety of movement options to explore its locales, with skateboards, jetpacks, and grind boots highlighted in the trailer.
Toem: A Photo Adventure
- Developer: Something We Made
- Publisher: Something We Made
- Release Date: Fall 2021
Toem creators Lucas Gullbo and Niklas Mikkelsen said they hope players will be able to “unwind and relax” when playing Toem, a photography game in a hand drawn world. Toem takes players to locales inspired by the Scandinavian countryside, where they’ll take pictures to help people in need.
Loop Hero
- Developer: Four Quarters
- Publisher: Devolver Digital
- Release Date: Holiday 2021
Loop Hero shakes up the classic RPG formula by turning players into dungeon designers. Players will use cards to create circular dungeons for a hero to explore, aiming to keep the hero alive along the way. Completing loops earns new cards that create different scenarios for the protagonist to overcome. Pixel-art graphics round out this meta-package.
FAR: Changing Tides
- Developer: Okomotive
- Publisher: Frontier Foundry
- Release Date: Early 2022
FAR: Changing Tides is a puzzle-solving adventure where players traverse an apocalyptic world in search of a new home. While a giant rusty ship serves as a home base for the journey, players can also explore various locales on foot and swim through the ocean’s depths. Although FAR: Changing Tides is the second game in the FAR series, it features a new protagonist and story, so you can jump right in without playing the first title.
Necrobarista: Final Pour
- Developer: Route 59
- Publisher: Coconut Island Games
- Release Date: Today
In Necrobarista, the worlds of the living and the dead collide in a coffee shop. The dead discuss life and death over one last cup of coffee with people from the world they’re leaving behind. Necrobarista was released last summer on PC and was met with positive reviews from critics. This director’s cut features remastered visuals, new story content, and a new studio mode where you can create your own stories.
Garden Story
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Developer: Picogram
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Publisher: Rose City Games
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Release Date: Today
Garden Story combines adventure elements reminiscent of 2D Zelda titles with a town building sim to create a sprawling adventure. The game stars Concord, a young grape whose community is broken and succumbing to rot. Sword in hand, Concord fights off rot with the help of the community members he brings together.
Boyfriend Dungeon
- Developer: Kitfox Games
- Publisher: Kitfox Games
- Release Date: Today
During its traditional moments, Boyfriend Dungeon is a standard dungeon crawler with simple, hack and slash gameplay, but it differentiates itself by shifting into a dating sim where your weapons transform into dateable characters. While the trailer only shows male weapons, there are lady… and animal… weapons as well.
Axiom Verge 2
- Developer: Thomas Happ Games LLC
- Publisher: Thomas Happ Games LLC
- Release Date: Today
After several delays, Axiom Verge 2 has finally arrived. It is a Metroidvania title with pixel-art graphics, and this second entry serves as a prequel to the original Axiom Verge. There’s no need to play the original title if you want to dive into the series with this one. Reviews for Axiom Verge 2 are starting to go live, and thus far the title has been well received.
Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon
- Developer: Yacht Club Games/Vine
- Publisher: Yacht Club Games
- Release Date: Holiday 2021
Shovel Knight and his gallery of rogues return in Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon. This spin-off puts Shovel Knight in a traditional falling block puzzle game but adds a dungeon-crawling twist. Yacht Club Games’ Celia Schilling called the game the next step towards making Shovel Knight “a grand, all encompassing franchise.” The title features a story mode and a versus multiplayer mode.
Islanders: Console Edition
- Developer: Grizzly Games
- Publisher: Coatsink
- Release Date: Later Today
Islanders is a building sim where players develop an island by placing buildings in their inventory. By making smart choices, you’ll earn points that are required to earn new buildings for your inventory. If you run out of buildings, you’ll need to start over from scratch. Failure is built into the design, however, as there are an unlimited number of procedurally-generated islands to develop.
Metal Slug Tactics
- Developer: Leikir Studio
- Publisher: DotEmu
- Release Date: 2022
Metal Slug Tactics transforms the classic action franchise into a tactical RPG. It features familiar faces from the Metal Slug franchise, including Marco, Tarma, Fio and Eri. The title features tried and true tactical RPG mechanics, including a sync skill that lets characters pile on bonus damage to another hero’s attacks depending on their placement. Publisher DotEmu is on a bit of a tear after releasing the 2020 hit Streets of Rage 4, so this title is one to watch.
Tetris Effect: Connected
- Publisher: Enhance
- Developer: Resonair, Monstars, Stage Games
- Release Date: October 8, 2021
Tetris Effect burst onto the scene in 2018 as a PSVR hit before being brought over to Xbox and PC in 2020. That version, dubbed Tetris Effect: Connected, is the version Switch owners will be able to enjoy on October 8. It features 1-3 player co-op and a simple versus multiplayer mode while retaining the atmospheric mood that made Tetris Effect such a hit upon its initial release.
Astroneer
- Developer: System Era Softworks
- Publisher: System Era Softworks, Gearworks Publishing
- Release Date: January 2022
Astroneer takes place in the 25th century, where the outer limits of space are ripe for human exploration. Creativity is the name of the game in Astroneer, which positions itself as a Minecraft competitor on its website. Players can traverse colorful planets with space rovers, develop bases, and more.
Hundred Days: Winemaking Simulator
- Developer: Broken Arms Games
- Publisher: Broken Arms Games
- Release Date: Holiday 2021
If you’re yearning for some adult flavor in your farming sims, Hundred Days: Winemaking Simulator is here to scratch that itch. Players are in charge of a new winery, choosing which vines to grow and learning how to grow them best. By increasing the quality of the wine, you’ll boost your winery’s reputation.
Slime Rancher: Plortable Edition
- Developer: Monomi Park
- Publisher: Monomi Park
- Release Date: Today
Slime Rancher features Beatrix LeBeau, a rancher who leaves earth to become a slime rancher on a distant planet. You’ll help Beatrix construct her ranch, collect slimes, and feed them the correct foods in order to earn money. You can spend that cash on new equipment and a better ranch. When Slime Rancher was first launched in 2017, it received generally positive reviews from critics, and a sequel is in development.
Lumbear Jack
- Developer: Finalboss Games
- Publisher: Armor Games Studios
- Release Date: 2022
In Lumbear Jack, nature fights back. You’ll control a bear, who I assume is named Lumbear, and hack away at civilization with your trusty axe. The brief trailer in the Indie Showcase left out a few funny clips that create a more complete picture of the vibe Lumbear Jack is going for, so check that out above.
Curious Expedition 2
- Developer: Thunderful Publishing AB
- Publisher: Maschinen-Mensch
- Release Date: Today
Curious Expedition 2 tasks players with exploring procedurally generated world across a variety of biomes. The game brings some realism to its fantastical world through its characters. Characters can nurture constantly evolving relationships and even develop mental illnesses based on their journeys. It also features turn-based RPG battle mechanics.
Gang Beasts
- Developer: Boneloaf
- Publisher: Double Fine, Skybound Games, Boneloaf
- Release Date: Fall 2021
Gang Beasts is a silly multiplayer game where gelatinous beasts brawl across a variety of locales, killing each other in grueling-yet-lighthearted action. It was originally released on the PS4 and PC in 2017, made its way to the Xbox One in 2019, and will land on Switch this fall. The trailer explains this game better than I ever could!
Eastward
- Developer: Pixpil
- Publisher: Chucklefish
- Release Date: September 16, 2021
Eastward is an action-adventure game that puts players in the shoes of John and Sam, a middle-aged man and a young girl looking to escape their subterranean society. This sprawling world is realized through pixel-art that appears to be inspired by Game Boy Advanced titles like Mother 3. John and Sam will traverse treacherous dungeons with a variety of weapons (Nintendo’s website specifically mentions guns, flamethrowers, and frying pans.) Those who are intrigued won’t have to wait long to get their hands on the game, as it launches on September 16th.
