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Round Up: Nintendo Indie World Update – 11th August 2021

11 August, 2021 - 7:27 pm by
About 11 mins to read

Today, Nintendo lifted the lid on a number of indie titles that will be releasing on the Nintendo Switch between now and the end of the year. There are some great looking games included and most will release between now and early 2022. Let’s take a look at the thrills, spills and big surprises in the world of Indie games.

Before we get into it, here is the list of games that were announced. Clicking one of the headlines will take you to that game, or read on for updates as they happened in the presentation.

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk

Opening the show and bringing some serious Jet Set Radio vibes is Bomb Rush Cyberfunk from developers Team Reptile. As you skate and graffiti around the vibrant city, you only have one goal; to Bomb, your popularity to the top of the charts, just make sure you avoid the po-po along the way.

Bomb Rush Cyberfunk is coming to the Switch as a timed console exclusive 2022.

Toem A Photo Adventure

From the brilliantly named Something We Made comes Toem A Photo Adventure, a hand drawn, black and white exploration game where you’re tasked with taking pictures for residents to uncover mysteries in a relaxing game. The art style and quirky characters is simply delightful and we can’t wait to learn more!

Toem A Photo Adventure lands on Nintendo Switch in the next few months with an ‘Autumn 2021’ release.

Loop Hero

Next up we have probably the most intriguing concept for a video game in the list; Loop Hero. The Lich have thrown the world into an endless time loop and the only way through is for our hero to use mystical cards, to battle enemies and move around the loop. As each loop is completed in this procedural generated RPG, loot is collected and your camp site can be upgraded. Tougher enemies will then appear and once you’ve faced off enough of them you can go against the head of the Lich to break the cycle.

Loop Hero will play it’s hand before the end of the year and is brought to you by Devolver Digital and developers Four Quarters.

Far: Changing Tides

Okomotive has announced that the sequel to their award winning FAR: Lone Sails will be releasing early next year. FAR: Changing Tides is set in a world that’s been devastated and flooded and in order to explore, you have to set sail to find a new home. Along the way, you have to dive to find salvage to rebuild the future in an emotional story that looks like it’ll cause a few eyes to flood.

Necrobarista Final Pour

We head into Nintendo’s Shadow drop section and first up is Necrobarista Final Pour. Publisher Coconut Island Games and developer Route 59 have come together in this anime styled visual novel. The game takes place in the last coffee shop, where the living and recently deceased can come together to tell stories over their last cup of java. Originally starting life as a mobile title last year, this version includes all the additional content and hours of news stories that have been added since release.

Quick Look

Taken by our Drew

Diving into the first highlight reel, Nintendo showcased three games that are out today.

  • Garden Story: In this top-down cute adventure game, players are tasked with unifying a broken community as the newly-appointed Guardian of The Grove. By inspiring residents, everyone can work together to rebuild their home.
  • Boyfriend Dungeon: Falling in love is hard. Falling in love with a sword that can turn into your next boyfriend, implausible but not impossible as the dungeon crawler, Boyfriend Dungeon sets out to prove.
  • Axiom Verge 2: Every showcase has it’s one surprising game and seeing the latest trailer for a game that has been highly anticipated since the original game released in 2015, would usually be enough. However, not only did we get a fresh look at Axiom Verge 2, it also released today. Needless to say, people lost their collective minds. Even our own review editor headed to the eShop and began downloading the game before the showcase had finished. Needless to say, a review will be coming shortly.

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon

Shovel Knight has been such a wild indie success for Yacht Club Games, they’ve only finished just finished the complete collection of their first game, however they’ve partnered up with Vine to bring a new entry into the series, Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon. This is a 2D Puzzle Adventure game that starts off in a grid much like Tetris or Columns and you have to clear out the enemies before they overwhelm the screen. As you clear the screen, you find doors which will lead you into a more traditional dungeon crawling experience. It sounds more complicated than it is as you can see from the trailer below.

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon ploughs the snow away and will release in the winter of 2021.

Islanders Console Edition

Another game that releases today is Islanders: Console Edition. This is a tropical island simulator where you have to build your islands to a certain standard then move onto the next, more challenging level. As you progress more buildings and tools will unlock but the points required to pass the level increases. Islands are randomly generated which creates an almost endless potential number of islands to populate as you play through this relaxing simulator.

Metal Slug Tactics

Metal Slug has always been the cool run and gun game others look up to. And thanks to Dotemu, Metal Slug Tactics looks to bring that chunky 16-bit style to the Real Time Strategy genre. Your crew is sent out to do what they do best, blow up tanks and make the enemy surrender. And while the action is turn based, if the squad is arranged close together, they can team up to unleash powerful combos.

There’s no firm release date for Metal Slug Tactics but it’ll release in 2022.

Tetris Effect: Connected

When Tetris Effect was announced for other consoles in 2018, it was strange that the Switch was left out. Perhaps Tetris 99 had something to do with it? Whatever the reason, on 8th October 2021 Tetris Effect: Connected will be released. As well as the classic mode we all know and love, players can join forces, extend the field of play and work together to create lines and clear the area.

Other modes include a competitive and co-operative mode for up to four players and will have cross play enabled so you can jump in with players on the other consoles.

Round Up

In the roundup section we were given quick looks at five games that are coming soon.

  • Astroneer is a management sim where a group of astronauts work to terraform new planets into nice places to live. As you build and grow the settlement you’ll also encounter the local wildlife. Who knows if they’re friend of foe. Coming in January 2022.
  • Hundred Days: I low-key love that all these simulator games are being made. The latest in long line of life simulators is Hundred Days. The premise is simple, take a dilapidated vineyard and turn it into one of the best wineries in the world. To do this, you research and grow different types of grapes as well as working out the perfect balance of ingredients that goes into each bottle. I’m not sure if it will legitimately teach players how to make wine, but I’m in.
  • Slime Rancher: Portable Edition is also available today. In this game you grow your ranch by hoovering up all of the little cute slime creatures in the word. By completing daily tasks and looking after your animals you’ll be able to unlock more items to aid you in the growth of your ranch.
  • LumbearJack: I was sold on the name alone but LumbearJack is a game in the same vein as Untitled Goose Game. You play as LumbearJack, a bear who wields an axe goes through his forest removing anything human made to restore the natural environment. This fun puzzle game will be out soon.
  • Curious Expedition 2: is a game where you set sail to discover new lands and strike a new relationship with locals. As you explore enemies will attack and by using a dice system, you can defeat enemies or botch your attacks. Curious Expedition 2 is an RPG that released today
  • Gang Beasts – This is a physics based brawler where you grab, punch, push and generally beat the living heck out of each other is coming to Switch digitally in September and physically in December. Battle with friends in local and online co-op in 21 hazardous stages, hundreds of colourful costume customisations across Beef City. We’re promised more news on the lead up to the release.

Eastward

The final announcement of the Indie showcase was that Eastward, a beautiful looking RPG from Chucklefish will be releasing on 16th September. In Eastward, a sprawling adventure unfolds as you travel from city to city by train and learn about a deadly miasma slowly eating the environment.

This is giving us some real Golden Sun vibes with the art direction and basic plot and we can’t wait to find out more in just a few weeks.

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