Nintendo showcased more than 20 minutes of indie games during today’s Indie World Showcase, and if you weren’t able to catch it, or if you missed the name of the game you’re excited to check out (or even its release date), we’ve got you covered.
Here’s everything announced during today’s May 2022 Indie World Showcase:
Ooblets
Developed by Glumberland, there’s a good chance Ooblets is already a game you’ve played. That’s because was previously released on Xbox One and PC back in 2020. However, it’s now making its way to Switch. It’s the same game, which is to say it’s a very cute farming/life simulation game where you control a highly-customizable character to grow Ooblets upon Ooblets.
Batora: Lost Haven
Set to release this fall on the Switch (and PC), Batora: Lost Haven is described by developer Stormind Games as a “deeply story-driven game.” It features lots of platforming and combat that blend your physical and mental powers. In fact, you can sacrifice one in combat to benefit and strengthen the other, which represents the push and pull between yourself and your conscious throughout the game’s story.
“The physical and mental powers of a naive and reckless girl who lost everything are the only weapons to save the Earth from oblivion,” a description for Batora: Lost Haven reads. “Jump on a journey across colorful and mesmerizing planets in this fast-paced adventure where your conscience will carry the weight of your decisions.”
ElecHead
Developed by one person who goes by NamaTakahashi, ElecHead began life as a proof-of-concept game developed to fit the theme of “Flow” in a school competition. After the competition, though, NamaTakahashi decided to turn it into a full game, and today, ElecHead is a cute and charming platformer that embraces electricity. You’ll use it to solve puzzles, move platforms, and more as Elec, a little electrical outlet-looking character that you control while platforming through a facility in an effort to restore light to the world. It hits Switch this summer, but if you don’t want to wait until then, it’s already available on PC.
Soundfall
Set to release this spring, Soundfall is a rhythm-based looter shooter action game with “musical gameplay.” Described as a dungeon crawler, you’ll control a girl who is the Guardian of Harmony tasked with saving the world of Symphonia. You can do so alone or in four-player co-op. Regardless of whether you go solo or have a friend tag along, you’ll be using physical attacks and guns to shoot and take down enemies to the beat of a great-sounding pop soundtrack. Filled with bosses, dynamic levels that react to the more than 140 tracks in the game, and a beautiful art style, Soundfall is set to hit Switch (and PlayStation and Xbox consoles, and PC) this spring, which hopefully means it’s coming soon.
Wildfrost
Wildfrost is a “tactical roguelike deck builder” from Deadpan Games, and it looks like a cozy, great time. As you’d expect from that description, it features dozens of beautiful cards, card companions, and items to use to ultimately win fights against snowy creatures ranging from cute to scary but still cute. When you’re done with your battles, you can return to the hub town to upgrade it and unlock new events, cards, and NPCs to interact with. Plus, daily challenges aim to keep you coming back long after the credits roll. Wildfrost will hit Switch this holiday.
TABS
Totally Accurate Battle Simulator, or TABS as the devs call it for short, is a very ragdoll-ish fighter developed by Landfall Games, and it looks like it’s filled with plenty of laugh-inducing combat. You can play as samurai, knights, fencers, and more in battles that feature more than 100 wobblers (fighters) on each team. Plus, TABS features mounts and more like woolly mammoths and other fearsome animals to help you take home the win. If none of the in-game wobblers fit your fancy, you can build your own in the Unit Creator, which allows you to create custom wobblers by deciding weight, size, speed, and more. TABS hits Switch this summer, but you can play it now on Xbox Series X/S or PC.
Gunbrella
Coming by way of Devolver Digital and developer Doinksoft, Gunbrella is a “noir-punk action-adventure game” with lots of sidescrolling combat and platforming and some fun traversal mechanics too. The shooting looks reminiscent of Spelunky but more advanced because you can use the titular Gunbrella to “dive, swing, dash, and dive.” Plus, you can scavenge this deteriorating world to find parts that you can use to upgrade your Gunbrella. Gunbrella hits Switch in 2023.
We Are OFK
Indie pop band OFK is ready to tell their story of how the Los Angeles-based band rose to the top, or at least attempted to. Developed by Team OFK, We Are OFK is described as a “music biopic” told episodically, with new episodes releasing every single week until the story is over. Team OFK didn’t mention how many episodes the game would last, though. You play as Itsume Saito, who struggles to make it in LA’s music scene while managing a full-time job, a brutal commute, and more. However, one chance encounter with a rising Hollywood producer could change everything, and you’ll witness that play out by the fully-voiced cast when We Are OFK hits Switch this summer.
Silt
Developed by Spiral Circus Games, an entirely-remote team, Silt takes place in a “strange oceanic” world that’s monochrome and filled with puzzles galore. You’ll unravel a long-forgotten mystery as you explore a surreal underwater realm with strange machinery, ancient ruins, and dangerous ocean inhabitants. On your journey, you’ll possess sea creatures to solve puzzles using their abilities all while attempting to survive against deep sea goliaths and more. Silt hits Switch this June.
Mini Motorways
Dinosaur Polo Club’s Mini Motorways is exactly what it sounds like: a game that takes place amongst multiple mini motorways. That’s because you’ll be tasked with bringing these motorways to life, starting with a small town that eventually grows into a metropolis. As a result, you’ll have to revisit these maps inspired by real-life cities to upgrade them with highways and more. Daily and weekly challenges aim to keep you returning too, and you can check them out yourself very soon because Mini Motorways hits Switch today.
Wayward Strand
Developed by Ghost Pattern, Wayward Strand takes place aboard a floating hospital airship in 1970s rural Australia. You play as Casey, a teen journalist interested in the stories of the patients in this strange hospital. Each story unfolds in real-time, so you’ll need to decide who to talk to and when to talk to them to advance their stories. In fact, Ghost Pattern says multiple playthroughs are recommended to get the full story and advance storylines you couldn’t in previous playthroughs. You can keep track of information you learn from either talking to patients and doctors, or eavesdropping on them, in your journal, which will help you unlock new locations, stories, revelations, and more. Wayward Strand hits Switch on July 21.
Cult of the Lamb
Massive Monster’s Cult of the Lamb continues to look great, melding together rogue-lite action gameplay that looks and feels a lot like Hades with an Animal Crossing-style base building mechanic. Game Informer got an exclusive look at Cult of the Lamb recently. You can watch that exclusive gameplay while listening to developer commentary in this Cult of the Lamb New Gameplay Today. A release date was not revealed but Cult of the Lamb is coming sometime this year, according to Massive Monster.
Another Crab’s Treasure
If you’ve been playing Elden Ring lately and have thought to yourself, “I wish I was a crab,” then Another Crab’s Treasure might be for you. That’s because Aggro Crab, the team behind Going Under, describes Another Crab’s Treasure as a souls-like, well actually, a shells-like, to be exact. As you’d expect, it looks like it plays like a Dark Souls game that’s underwater. You play as a crab who uses things like cans and shells to strengthen your own shell all while fighting other crustaceans and more. It hits Switch in 2023.
The Indie World Showcase ended with a fast-moving montage that quickly showcased OneShot: World Machine Edition, Gibbon: Beyond the Trees, Idol Manager, Card Shark, Cursed to Gold, A Guidebook to Bable, and OPUS: Echo of Starsong – Full Bloom Edition.
And that’s the May 2022 Indie World Showcase in a nutshell. What were some of your favorite games shown? Were there any you were hoping to see that didn’t make an appearance? Let us know in the comments below!
