Another Nintendo Indie World Direct, another absent Silksong. But, to soothe our hollow hearts and long sleepless nights, there were quite a few lovely indie games to check out in Hornet's stead.
We've picked out what we thought were the most interesting new games at today's Nintendo Indie World Direct, as well as a quick rundown of everything shown, in case you want to skip through the presentation to see your fave upcoming titles.
Everything shown at today's Indie World Direct
Right, first of all, here's a list of every game shown at today's Nintendo Indie World Direct, with the release windows they were given. The list is in running order for the presentation, embedded above, so you can skip through to any you like the sound of. The ones in bold we really liked the look of, so you can find individual trailers for them and a bit more info below the list.
- Ooblets (summer 2022)
- Batora: Lost Haven (fall 2022)
- ElecHead (summer 2022)
- Soundfall (out today)
- Wildfrost (holiday 2022)
- Totally Accurate Battle Simulator (summer 2022)
- Gunbrella (2023)
- We Are OFK (summer 2022)
- SILT (June 2022)
- Mini Motorways (out today)
- Wayward Strand (July 21, 2022)
- Cult of the Lamb (2022)
- Another Crab's Treasure (2023)
- OneShot (summer 2022)
- Gibbon: Beyond The Trees (out today)
- Idol Manager (August 25, 2022)
- Card Shark (demo out today)
- Cursed to Golf (summer 2022)
- A Guidebook to Babel (fall 2022)
- Opus (out today)
The best of Nintendo's Indie World Direct
ElecHead (summer 2022)
A one-man project from NamaTakahashi, this platform-puzzler released on Steam and Itch.io at the tail end of last year to much acclaim. It's perfectly suited to the Switch, with smartly designed little single-screen problems requiring you to use your electrifying body to turn on and off machinery.
Soundfall (out today)
Not by the Necrodancer devs, but definitely in the same genre, which makes you wonder why there aren't more in that genre. There are hundreds of tracks for this musical battler, which somehow allows you to keep time with a friend in co-op, a novel twist on the dancing duels of Necrodancer.
Wildfrost (holiday 2022)
Card games and deck builders are always welcome, and this carries on the grand tradition of games like Slay the Spire by looking pretty and approachable while hiding surprising depth of mechanics. Published by Chucklefish and developed by Deadpan Games and Gaziter, it looks like a good way to scratch that Hearthstone itch without figuring out what's a legal card these days.
Gunbrella (2023)
Devolver Digital prove they can still pick a decent looking game pitch no matter how ridiculous the premise sounds. You have a gun, which is also an umbrella, and that lets you zipwire, airdash and shoot your way through a western noir setting for an equally absurd storyline. The pixel art looks stylish and clean, if a bit dark and gritty. Wait for next year to get your righteous revenge.
Wayward Strand (July 21, 2022)
An Australian game about a floating hospital in the mid 20th century, which you explore as a teen amateur journalist. The realtime progress and free exploring means you can follow the paths of multiple storylines as they happen throughout the hospital. Missed an important event in the kitchen at 10:30? Check it out next time and eavesdrop on an important conversation.
Another Crab's Treasure (2023)
Developers Aggro Crab are finally living up to their names by making a game about a crab battling its way through a tough world. Described as a shellslike game, mixing the precision of soulslike combat with the natural fighting prowess of the crustacean, this is another interesting blend on a trendy genre. Aggro Crab's previous game, Going Up, was a take on roguelikes but set in the bowels of tech startup entrepreneurship culture, so they've got some good pedigree in offbeat genre mashups.
Cursed to Golf (summer 2022)
Only appearing in the indie sizzle reel at the end, this one stood out as a simple enough 2D golf swinger but with arcane twists that allow your ball to freeze water hazards or take another swing mid-trajectory. Very pleasing pixel art for a spooky golf challenge, too. Look out for it on Switch this summer.
