With a lack of Triple A titles pending for 2024, this seems to be the Year of Indie Games. With that in mind, gamers everywhere were excited when Nintendo announced that they were hosting an Indie World Showcase on April 17, 2024.
During a new Indie World presentation, Nintendo showcased a vibrant line-up of games from independent publishing and development partners that will be heading to the Nintendo Switch family of systems throughout 2024.
Little Kitty Big City
A peaceful catnap turns into a whimsical journey as you take the role of a curious kitten on an adorable adventure to find your way back home. There’s plenty to do along the way: explore the vibrant city, complete quests, lend a helping paw to other animals in hairy situations, and make friends with chatty strays.
You can also wear over 40 delightful hats while causing a total ruckus in a bite-sized open-world playground filled with surprises.
Little Kitty Big City will be available on May 9 and can be pre-orders open on April 17.
Refind Self
In this exploration-based adventure game, you take on the role of an android, the creation of a now-deceased doctor. There are no right or wrong choices on this journey, and every decision you make reveals a little more about who you are. Travel to places from your memories, interact with other characters, and gradually piece together the future your creator envisioned for you.
At the end of your journey, your personality type will be revealed, and with 23 personality types to discover, you can make different choices in each playthrough and see where they lead you. You can even share your results with other players and compare your choices.
Find out who you really are when Refind Self: The Personality Test Game launches on Nintendo Switch as a timed console exclusive this summer.
Sticky Business
In the cozy business simulation Sticky Business, you run a sticker shop in which you create and ship stickers to customers. There are over 400 design elements to choose from, and you can get upgrades — including effect foils — for even more options. Learn more about each customer’s life as you fulfil their unique requests.
Plus, the Plan With Me paid DLC adds ten more customer stories revolving around the theme of journaling, and over 100 more sticker elements.
A bundle containing the game and the DLC will also be available on April 17.
Antonblast
The devil himself has stolen your prized spirit collection, and you’re on a rampage to get it back in ANTONBLAST, a dynamic action-platformer that combines destructive action with gorgeous hand-drawn pixel art.
Wielding the Mighty Hammer as Dynamite Anton or the Massive Mace as Dynamite Annie, you’ll lay waste to wacky worlds and go toe-to-toe with brutish bosses. Smash up the scenery to forge your path and find new areas to explore.
After reaching the end of each level, a detonator will start ticking down, so you’ve got to rush back to the beginning before everything explodes. Get ready for a destructively good time when ANTONBLAST launches for Nintendo Switch on November 12.
A free demo will be available on April 17 in the Nintendo eShop.
Valley Peaks
Valley Peaks is a first-person rock-climbing platformer set in a pastel mountain range, filled with ribbiting villagers. As the new technician assigned to the peaks, explore to your heart’s content, and attempt to overcome seemingly impossible challenges. Between climbs you can chat with the froggy folk and take on small side quests like filling out stamp cards for equipment unlocks.
Alternatively, kick back and relax with minigames as you tend to the needs of the valley’s inhabitants. The mountains are calling in Valley Peaks, climbing onto Nintendo Switch this year.
Lorelei and the Lazer Eyes
In this non-linear puzzle game developed by the team behind Sayonara Wild Hearts, a woman, summoned to participate in a project in an old hotel somewhere in central Europe, becomes embroiled in a game of increasingly nightmarish and surreal illusions.
The third-person adventure features over 100 handcrafted puzzles with shifting mechanics and perspectives, each of which leads players closer to deciphering the enigma. Everything is a puzzle in Lorelei and the Laser Eyes, launching on Nintendo Switch on May 16.
Europa
On the moon Europa, an android named Zee sets out in search of answers behind the mystery of a fallen civilization. In this 3D action-platformer, use Zee’s Zephyr jetpack to glide, fly and boost across breath-taking landscapes full of lakes, meadows and mountains.
Solve puzzles and navigate hidden dangers amongst the ruins as you discover the story of the last human alive. Europa releases on Nintendo Switch later this year.
A free demo will be available April 17 in the Nintendo eShop.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate
The heroic Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles need to fend off the Foot Clan in their first roguelike adventure, travelling through reality-bending portals to rescue their kidnapped master, Splinter.
Every level has the potential to change with randomised power-ups, changing room layouts and boss modifiers. Permanently upgrade and strengthen your Turtle powers by spending in-game currency on ability-enhancing artifacts and use your increased skills to take on more challenging runs.
Explore iconic New York City locations solo or jump online* with up to three other players in drop-in/drop-out co-op play. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate jumps onto Nintendo Switch in July 2024.
Cat Quest III
In the cute, casual action-RPG Cat Quest III, you’ll play as a swashbuckling feline privateer, sailing the Purribean in search of the North Star– a long lost mythical treasure.
But beware!
The seas are swarming with Pi-rats, under orders from the Pi-rat-King to hunt you down.
Explore a gorgeous new world solo or in local co-op and encounter fierce battles with the newly refined combat system (now featuring weapon swapping and tighter attack combos). And, for the first time in the series, sail the seas and battle in your very own ship.
The Purribean is yours to explore when Cat Quest III launches to Nintendo Switch on August 8.
Pre-orders begin April in the Nintendo eShop, with a free demo also available.
stitch
In stitch., create beautiful embroidery patterns by solving puzzles (called Hoops) of varying difficulty and sizes. Complete Hoops in whatever order you’d like – each one offers a relaxing and calming experience, featuring a handy hint feature as well as various accessibility settings.
After completing a Hoop, you can play it again in Free Stitch mode. The limited-time Daily Shikaku puzzles offer a challenge and no hints, while weekly Hoops are inspired by real-life events and filled with trivia.
stitch. debuts on the Nintendo Switch on April 17.
Bzzt
BZZZT is a fast-paced “jump-dash-run” retro game with a fresh and modern design made almost single-handedly by one solo developer, Karel Matejka, known as Ko.dll.
Inspired by the 80’s tech revolution, this beautiful pixel-art precision platformer transports you back in time with a brand new adventure, paying homage to the popular and much loved gaming designs of the past.
The year is 4096.
In a top-secret laboratory, inventive Doctor Emily and world-renowned Professor Norbert are working on a highly classified project. Through their joint research and intellect, they finally created a tiny robot with a big AI personality! No larger than a regular household toaster, but with some extraordinary skills, ZX8000 is ready to save the world, one platform challenge at a time!
Meanwhile, other dark influences are at play in the world of BZZZT. The evil mad scientist, Badbert, prepares to unleash his nefarious plans upon an unsuspecting world as soon as he finds the perfect equilibrium of darkness, malice and madness. Bwahahaha.
Join the fun in Summer 2024.
Schim
SCHiM is a game about jumping from shadow to shadow, while interacting with a relaxing and lively environment.
What is a schim?
A schim is the soul and spirit of an object, thing, or living being.
Everything in the world has one. A schim should never be separated from
their thing! This does happen to your schim, this schim who is attached
to a human being is separated from them early on in the game.
Can you get back to him before it’s too late?
SCHiM debuts on Nintendo Switch on July 18, 2024.
Animal Well
Explore a dense interconnected labyrinth, and unravel its many secrets. Collect items to manipulate your environment in surprising and meaningful ways. Encounter creatures both beautiful and unsettling, and try to survive what lurks in the dark.
In Animal Well there is more than what you see.
Stephanie got a chance to demo Animal Well at PAX East and greatly enjoyed the experience. This is a game she is looking forward to.
Duck Detective: The Secret Salami
Solving crime is no walk in the pond. You are a down-on-his-luck detective who also happens to be a duck. Use your powers of de-duck-tion to inspect evidence, fill in the blanks, and bust the case wide open, in a narrative mystery adventure where nothing is quite as it seems.
This was one of Mary Helen’s featured demos during Steam’s Next Fest earlier this year.
It arrives on Nintendo Switch on May 23.
Another Crab’s Treasure
Another Crab’s Treasure is a soulslike adventure set in a crumbling underwater world.
As Kril the hermit crab, you’ll need to wear the trash around you as shells to withstand attacks from enemies many times your size. Embark on an epic treasure hunt to buy back your repossessed shell, and discover the dark secrets behind the polluted ocean.
Another Crab’s Treasure is coming to Nintendo Switch on April 25th, 2024.
SteamWorld Heist II
Get ready for an epic adventure on the high seas in SteamWorld Heist II, the sequel to the critically-acclaimed SteamWorld Heist. All is not well on the waves of SteamWorld – the waters are turning corrosive, eating away at the metal bodies of its robotic denizens.
As the captain of a rag-tag crew of Steambots, you’ll lead the way through intense turn-based gunfights, where bullets can ricochet with deadly precision. This time around, there’s a world-map to explore, featuring real-time naval combat against enemy vessels.
Also new for this sequel is a job system with in-depth character customisation options – combined with more than 150 weapons, utility items, and ship equipment pieces, you can strategically craft your crew to best fit the mission at hand.
Plunge into the adventure when SteamWorld Heist II launches for Nintendo Switch on August 8.
There were so many great games shown during this Indie World Showcase that we can’t pick a favorite? Can you? Please share your thoughts with us on our Boss Rush Facebook Group or our Boss Rush Discord.
Featured Image: Nintendo of America
Source: Nintendo of America
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