Nintendo Switch’s Indie Shangri-La

The Nintendo Switch is a great hub for Indie games. Nintendo’s portable-by-day and home-at-night console has an ever-growing install base ranging from casual mobile players to the hardest of hardcore gamers, meaning there is a big and diverse market for independent developers to sell their games to. Combine that with Nintendo’s quest for quality control, the system has a stellar reputation with independent developers who want to get a one-up on their competition

Nintendo is well aware of how indie devs are flocking to their newest console. On January 23, Nintendo rolled out the red carpet and flexed their independent muscles by announcing nine indie titles heading to the Switch in 2019 (via Nintendo UK’s YouTube channel). Among these titles were new games and ports of existing titles appealing to diverse audiences.

SteamWorld Quest: Hand of Gilgamech was the highlight of the announcements. The game is a steampunk tabletop deck-building game with a turn-based RPG aesthetic. SteamWorld Quest is the first game in the fan-favorite steamworld series to contain this style of gameplay, and the game looks as good as all the previous entries in the series.

The rest of the lineup looks similarly stellar. Double Kick Heroes, a kick-ass hybrid of a heavy metal rhythm game and a shooter, appears particularly tantalizing as does multiplayer RPG Wargroove and the haunting sidescroller Inmost. The remaining games, shown in the video below, appeal to gamers of almost every background, proving once again that Nintendo has something for everyone.