The Nintendo Switch has become a home to indie games all of sizes, styles, and genres. With most developers noting the Switch’s critical role in propelling the sales of their games to unimaginable levels, the wave of indie arrivals shows no signs of stopping.
Switch gamers have a wide variety of indies to look forward to in the coming year. From RPGs to challenging boss rush adventures, there is something for every type of player coming soon to the hybrid system. A lot of these games you’ve most likely never even heard of and won’t know that they might just be the next big indie hit on the system.
10 Sea Of Solitude: The Director’s Cut
First released in 2019, Sea of Solitude: The Director’s Cut is a refined version of the original experience with new voice acting, a rewritten script and new cutscenes and animations. Players can look forward to an emotional tale in which you’ll help Kay defeat her inner demons and guide her to tranquil waters.
Set in a fantastical drowned world, constantly changing environments ensure each gamers experience will be unique. The Switch version will also contain gyro controls and an in-depth photo mode.
9 Tunche
Based on Peruvian folklore, Tunche offers players a unique setting to explore. Plus it has co-op play, so up to 4 players can dive in and travel through this hand-drawn world.
8 Eldest Souls
As the name implies, Eldest Souls is the latest in a long line of Soulslike games, aiming to combine challenging difficulty with boss-rush gameplay. Set in a grim fantasy world, players will be tasked with slaying ancient Gods by mastering a fast-paced, action-focused combat system.
Similar to Dark Souls’ infamously difficult bosses, Eldest Souls will need gamers to persevere against near-impossible odds in order to succeed. All of this being presented in a crisp, high detail pixel art style.
7 A Space For The Unbound
Set in rural Indonesia, A Space For The Unbound revolves around two high school sweethearts on journeys of self-discovery. After a strange supernatural power is unleashed on their town, Raya and Atma go on an adventure that will lead them to face the end of the world.
The story explores themes of overcoming anxiety and depression, as well as Raya coming to terms with her supernatural powers. A Space For The Unbound is a game driven by its narrative and will take gamers on an emotional rollercoaster as they find out the truth about the strange powers taking hold of the town.
6 Cris Tales
Cris Tales is a love letter to classic RPGs with a gorgeous art style to boot. Turn-based combat makes use of the games unique time travel mechanic, creating multi-layered battles with actions in the past and future altering the outcome of encounters.
Across over 20 hours of gameplay, players will have the opportunity to explore branching story paths that affect the past and future of each of Crystallis’ regions. There’s even an airship to travel around in!
5 Eastward
In perhaps a homage to The Last of Us, Eastward takes place in a world where human society is collapsing, and the key to it all is a mysterious young girl. Described as an adventure game with RPG elements, Eastward also tasks players with solving a variety of puzzles in order to progress through its world.
Players can look forward to a range of explorable locations, ranging from a post-apocalyptic city to a forest infested with dangerous monsters. As well as a visual style reminiscent of classic pixel art, meshed with modern-day techniques such as 3D lighting rounding out the games artistic design.
4 Garden Story
Garden Story puts you in the shoes of Concord, a young grape who has the role of restoring his island and remove the rot. The idea of combatting invasive rot is one that likely doesn’t appeal to many gamers, but framing it as a town-building game sure helps.
The comparisons to Stardew Valley are inevitable, but Garden Story certainly has its own unique identity. The combat looks fun and whimsical, as does the dungeon exploring, and the whole game oozes with charm.
3 Mineko’s Night Market
Mineko’s Night Market is a narrative-driven, life-sim that is full to the rafters with cats. Mineko, the protagonist of the game, is given the goal of restoring the town to its former glory and discovering its secrets.
Between adventures, there’s a lot to do, including preparing for the weekly night market, forming friendships with the townsfolk and exploring the isle of Mt. Fugu. Mineko’s Night Market was originally slated for 2019, so hopefully, this will finally be the year players get their hands on it.
2 Baldo
Not much is known of Baldo, aside from a trailer and some screenshots little information has been released about the game. Visually, Baldo has clearly been inspired by Studio Ghibli’s work on the Ni No Kuni series, and gamers will be treated to an adventure similar in ilk gameplay wise too.
There’s certainly a bit of Zelda in there too, with dungeons to explore and a variety of environmental puzzles to solve. Players can even look forward to vibing with a top hat-wearing frog.
1 Sail Forth
Sail Forth is a procedurally generated naval adventure that combines at-sea exploration and naval combat into an adventure that is unique in every playthrough. Boats can be fully customized, and there is even an opportunity for players to build up a fleet of ships all sailing together concurrently.
The game also features a wealth of quests that vary in scale and difficulty based on the players current abilities and what island types they encounter. Plus there are sea monsters to contend with, and the pirates of the dreaded Skull Clan
NEXT: 10 Confirmed Nintendo Switch Games Coming In 2021 (But Have No Release Dates)
