Yesterday, Nintendo streamed another Indie World Showcase where we got to see some of the upcoming indie titles coming to the Nintendo Switch. By separating Indie World Showcases from Nintendo Directs, the audience knows exactly what to expect each time. I for one am always excited for any showcase, and separating the two also means we get more showcases throughout the year.
The Indie World Showcase ran about twenty-five minutes, which is a good amount of time for a showcase and featured about twenty titles. In a twenty to twenty-five minute showcase, it’s easy to remember most of what you saw.
If you missed the showcase, I suggest you watch the full twenty-five minute presentation at the end of this post. I’m going to first start off with my TOP FIVE followed by a few Honorable Mentions.
TOP FIVE
HAVE A NICE DEATH
Have a Nice Death is a game I’ve been waiting to see on the Nintendo Switch for a while now. The game was released on PC back in March of this year and is coming to the Nintendo Switch in March (a year later).
In Have a Nice Death you play as Death, Founder and CEO of Death Incorporated. In this hand-drawn 2D action roguelike it is your job to process souls in the afterlife with a huge collection of upgradable weapons and spells.
I immediately fell in love with the look of this game from the first trailer I saw back when it was revealed. The game reminds me a bit of Hollow Knight, in that I can see myself obsessively drawing this main character (Death) over and over as I play through the game as I did with Hollow Knight.
Have a Nice Death is finally coming to the Nintendo Switch on March 22, 2023 — days before my birthday.
PEPPER GRINDER
Pepper Grinder is an upcoming drill-building treasure hunter where players use their drill grinder to solve puzzles and collect items.
“It’s an action-packed 2D adventure blending traditional platforming with an alternate drilling mode, which allows you to dive in and out of the earth like a dolphin swimming through water.”
The game’s drilling mechanic reminds me of two recent games: (1) In Kirby and the Forgotten Land, there is one Kirby ability that can drill through land like this, although that is a 3D version. (2) In Ori and the Will of the Wisps, Ori can shoot through sandy land, but only in a single direction.
I’m excited for the puzzle-solving and seeing how that integrates with drilling through sections of soil, rock and land. I’m sure as players upgrade their drill they will be able to access new areas.
Pepper Grinder is coming to Nintendo Switch in 2023.
ONCE UPON A JESTER
I’m mostly interested in seeing how exactly this game works. I’m very intrigued by the idea of a game focused on improvised musical theater, created by four musicians. The art style is very puppet show-esque, and it looks like something straight out of a PBS kids show.
Although it does look a bit childlike, I’m guessing that Once Upon a Jester will have some adult themes and some Monty Python-type humor to it.
The best news of all is that Once Upon a Jester is available today!
ROGUE LEGACY 2
I didn’t play the original Rogue Legacy until I learned of the upcoming sequel, Rogue Legacy 2. After playing so many recent roguelikes, I had heard that Rogue Legacy was one of the originators of the genre and a big influence on many of these games today.
I immediately became obsessed with the first game and couldn’t wait to play the sequel. I had some time with Rogue Legacy 2 during its early access period on PC, but have mostly been waiting to experience the game on the Nintendo Switch.
I love the idea that anytime you die in these games, your next run is as an heir to the last knight. It’s such a silly premise, but so perfect for these types of games. With the original Rogue Legacy being released almost ten years ago, there are many much needed improvements and updates to the sequel.
Rogue Legacy 2 is another surprise drop. It’s available today on Nintendo Switch.
BLANC
When I first saw this game a while back I thought it looked interesting, but probably wasn’t really for me. That was, until I learned it was a completely co-op game where you work together as an unlikely pair of animals — a stranded wolf cub and fawn.
With my recent couch co-op streak of gaming with my girlfriend I think this will be the perfect game for us to play together. It also happens to come out on Valentine’s Day and I believe that release date was chosen for a reason. The game features a simple hand-drawn black and white art style that’s extremely soothing to watch.
Blanc comes to Nintendo Switch on February 14, 2023.
HONORABLE MENTION
There are many other wonderful indie games coming to the Nintendo Switch later this year and next year. I wanted to mention a few others that I already knew about and one that I feel may just be a great game for me.
Earlier this year, I had the chance to interview one of the developers of WrestleQuest, but the video footage came out bad. I’m currently going over the audio version to create a written or audio-only post, and I hope to share that soon.
I’m extremely excited to see a brand new style of wrestling game, a turn-based RPG. We now have a release window of May 2023.
I wasn’t sure why A Little to the Left got such a long segment during the showcase. However, as the OCD person in my relationship, this game does look satisfying to me. It reminds me of Unpacking, which I played (and enjoyed) earlier this year. It’s something small and simple, yet extremely satisfying to a particular group of people. I loved hearing the dev’s story, saying “this is a game about how we live at home.” A Little to the Left is also out now on the Nintendo Switch.
I have to talk about Sports Story since it was the “one more thing” game of the showcase. I never played Golf Story, but always heard great things. I think it’s ambitious of them to instead of going after one new sport and making a Basketball Story, Soccer Story, or even Cricket Story they are going all out with Sports Story which will feature a whole collection of sports along with RPG elements. I guess we will learn more about this one in the future, because Sports Story isn’t set to release until December of 2023.
In case you missed it, you can catch the entire Indie World Showcase right here:
VIDEO GAME BOOK CLUB 