With 2020 nearly over and The Game Awards come and gone, few expected any more big gaming announcements before the new year. However, Nintendo surprised everyone with the confirmation that it would be hosting yet another Indie World Showcase before the year was out, delivering on that promise with a 15 minute presentation focused entirely on indie games coming to the Switch.
While the Indie World Showcase events typically don't have the world-shattering announcements associated with traditional Nintendo Directs, the latest Indie World Showcase did have some big reveals for Switch owners.
Here are all the announcements from the Nintendo Indie World Showcase.
Spelunky on Switch
The Nintendo Indie World Showcase started things off with the surprise reveal that both Spelunky and Spelunky 2 will be coming to the Nintendo Switch summer 2021. The original Spelunky will have local-op support, whereas Spelunky 2 will support both online and local co-op play.
Timed Exclusives
One of two cat-themed indie games announced for the Nintendo Switch, Fisti-Fluffs is a brawling cat game that will be available at some point in early 2021. It will be joined by another quirky party game called Very Very Valet, also set for launch in early 2021.
A little bit later in the year, Nintendo Switch indie fans can look forward to playing Tunche, which was one of the more impressive-looking games shown during Indie World Showcase. Tunche uses a hand-drawn art style and mimics the look of the Amazon Rainforest, letting players go through the game in local co-op with up to five playable characters to choose from. Available March 2021, the game will also feature Hat Kid from A Hat in Time as one of the playable characters, and like Fisti-Fluffs and Very Very Valet, it will be a timed-exclusive for the Switch on consoles.
One of the bigger timed-exclusives confirmed for the Switch is Super Meat Boy Forever. Super Meat Boy Forever's December 23 release date was confirmed at The Game Awards already, but its Switch timed-exclusivity was just revealed during the Indie World Showcase presentation.
Cyber Shadow
Yacht Club Games, the publisher of Shovel Knight, is bringing some more retro-inspired experiences to the Switch. Cyber Shadow is an 8-bit style game that's clearly inspired by Ninja Gaiden and Metroid. In fact, it looks exactly like an old-school Ninja Gaiden game mixed with Metroidvania-style progression and upgrades. In Cyber Shadow, players will have to save their clan, collecting new abilities that will help them further explore the game world, defeating over 12 intimidating bosses along the way.
Cyber Shadow is unique from the other indie games shown during the latest Indie World Showcase thanks to its use of amiibo. While indie games rarely use amiibo in any meaningful capacity, Cyber Shadow is compatible with Shovel Knight amiibo, allowing players to bring Shovel Knight himself into the game as a fairy helper.
Cyber Shadow will launch on January 26, 2021.
Surprise Launches
In its latest Indie World Showcases and Nintendo Direct Mini: Partner Showcase presentations, Nintendo has made a habit of surprise-launching games, making titles available for purchase from the eShop immediately or just hours after the events. This was true for some of the games shown during the latest Indie World Showcase as well, including Calico, a quirky game where the goal is to run a "cat cafe," or "catfe."
Another surprise launch was Grindstone, the latest title from Capybara Games, the studio behind games like Super TIME Force and Below. Grindstone was previously made available on iOS mobile devices, but it's making its console debut on the Nintendo Switch today, December 15.
More 2021 Indies
Nintendo highlighted some other 2021 indie games that are in the works for the Switch, including Alba: A Wildlife Adventure. Developed by the award-winning Monument Valley team, Alba: A Wildlife Adventure is all about saving an island and its wildlife. Players will be able to explore a beach, castle ruins, and a town, recruiting volunteers to help take care of sick animals and clean up trash on the island. Alba: A Wildlife Adventure will be available spring 2021.
Whereas Alba: A Wildlife Adventure seems like a fairly optimistic adventure, the same can't be said for some of the other games coming to Switch in 2021. Gnosia is a creepy-looking visual novel mixed with social deduction and RPG elements, whereas Happy Game is anything but. Happy Game looks genuinely horrifying, and it will be interesting to see more of it come next year.
Indie Game Montage
Near the end of the presentation, Nintendo decided to give a brief look at some more upcoming indie games that are in active development for the Switch. These titles included When the Past Was Around, Kosmokrats, Hoa, Hazel Sky, Trash Sailors, and Finding Paradise.
Among Us
The biggest announcement from the Nintendo Indie World Showcase was the surprise reveal that the hit game Among Us is making its console debut on the Switch. Launching later today, Among Us has made big waves this past year, and so fans of the game now have yet another way to experience the phenomenon.
