A little look at what’s new for indies this year
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Nintendo aired a new Indie World Showcase today, spotlighting what’s to come for independent games on the Switch. Clocking in at roughly 20 minutes, it’s a neat little look at what indies have in store amid the coming months.
Really, it was a strange show. The games shown were neat, but this showcase felt a little slim when it came to firm updates. Several projects popped up that we’ve known about, and a lot of windows were confirmed, but there was less in the way of hard dates.
Still, there were some surprises, as always. And even a few “out later today” appearances, which are always a highlight. I’ll also just pre-emptively say this now: sorry Silksong sickos, but no news.
Without further ado, let’s get into the recap.
Everything shown at the Nintendo Indie World Showcase for April 2023
- The show kicks off with Mineko’s Night Market, a charming shop sim with absolutely gorgeous graphics. I love the vibes here, and the minigames combined with running the stall make it seem like this could be a pleasant little slice-of-life game with some rural, spiritual vibes. That’s out on September 26, 2023.
- Farming and mining game My Time at Sandrock, the follow-up from the My Time at Portia team, is slated for a Switch port in summer 2023.
- Chaotic co-op restaurant game Plate Up! is already a blast on PC, but Switch players will get to hop into the ever-evolving sim later this year. It’s aiming to hit Nintendo Switch sometime in October 2023.
- Quilts and Cats of Calico is adapted from real-life tabletop game Calico. It also simulates a very real reality of cats walking all over your tabletop games. Still, fans of feline friends and Clubhouse Games may find something to enjoy here. That arrives sometime in fall 2023.
- Rift of the Necrodancer was a not-so-surprising hit from my time at PAX East 2023, and we got some looks at the different musical bouts and mechanics coming to the rhythm game sometime this year.
- We’re kicking off a DLC addition-specific section with A Little to the Left DLC coming in June. The premium DLC will add 25 new messes to the game, and it looks to be a little more tactile.
- Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon gets the Puzzler’s Pack DLC for free this spring, with some new characters and hats.
- Cult of the Lamb ushers in the Relics of the Old Faith DLC on April 24. I played a little of this at PAX East, and it certainly offers more of what Cult of the Lamb does: creepy-cute animals and intense combat, with a hearty side of base-building.
- YouTube’s Dunkey arrives to introduce Animal Well, an indie project under his Bigmode publishing label that’s aiming for early 2024. Even before the pickup, this curious puzzler was on my radar, so I’m looking forward to seeing what mysteries the final version holds.
- The surprise hit of the showcase for me is Crime O’Clock, a game that’s a little hard to discern from gameplay alone. It seems like you travel through different areas and times, attempting to solve mysteries. Both the art style and general concept intrigue me, and I’m curious to see how it all comes together on June 30.
- Both Teslagrad 2 and a remastered version of Teslagrad are out today, for those who want some immediate exploration in their lives.
- Shadows Over Loathing has a digital version out today, with a physical version planned for the fall.
- The dark and grim sequel Blasphemous 2 is looking to hack, slash, rip and tear this summer.
- Oxenfree II: Lost Signals resurfaces with a firm release date of July 12, 2023. Easily one of my most anticipated indie launches this year.
- And now we’re into the montage. The pretty game Paper Trail leads off with an August 2023 window.
- The adorably named Little Kitty, Big City continues the virtual cat trend sometime in 2024.
- I couldn’t glean much from the trailer for Chants of Sennaar, but I was pretty intrigued by it. That’s arriving on September 5.
- The action-heavy Brotato will hit Switch sometime in 2023.
- Escape Academy: The Complete Edition brings virtual escape rooms to the handheld system in fall 2023.
- Five Nights at Freddy’s: Security Breach is available later today, for those who want their animatronic scares on the go.
- Lastly, a surprise date for Bomb Rush Cyberfunk closes out the montage portion. Maybe I’m biased, as someone very much looking forward to Team Reptile’s title, but this August 18 release date felt like it deserved more fanfare.
