Nintendo Indie World Showcase: everything announced
Cats! Frogs! No Silksong.
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Today's Nintendo Indie World Showcase event has now wrapped up, after bringing us more than 20 minutes of intriguing Nintendo Switch games from independently-minded studios.
There was no Hollow Knight: Silksong, which refuses to reveal itself despite recent listings on numerous ratings boards. There was also no sign of any familiar Nintendo franchises - which do sometimes get handed out to external indie developers elsewhere. So what did we get? Well...
Little Kitty, Big City
Little Kitty, Big City from Double Dagger Studio, a game which looks a lot like with less of a post-apocalyptic vibe. This game is instead more about exploring, causing mischief, and helping out with jobs. Oh, and you can collect lots of kitty hats. Sold! It arrives for Nintendo Switch on 9th May.
Next up was Yars Rising, the next Wayforward game. This sci-fi side-scrolling adventure due later this year. We then saw the retro-inspired Refind Self: The Personality Test Game, a console-exclusive launch for Nintendo Switch this summer.
Sticky Business
Steam hit Sticky Business, a cosy mail order business management game where you make stickers, arrives as a timed console exclusive today, alongside its DLC.
After this, we saw the angry but colourful cartoonish sidescroller Antonblast from Summitsphere, which arrives 12th November. This was followed by first-person nature exploration and adventure game Valley Peaks, coming later this year (you play as a frog, can climb with your tongue, and hang out with Animal Crossing-esque frog NPCs). Lastly, we saw dark and mysterious puzzler Lorelai and The Laser Eyes, an Annapurna Interactive-published game coming on 16th May.
Europa
Europa, the gorgeous-looking Ghibli-inspired adventure game from Helder Pinto, was glimpsed - though we got no further clue to its Nintendo Switch launch window than a vague "2024" placeholder.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate, a roguelike already confirmed on smartphones, was next. It arrives as a timed console exclusive in July.
Cat Quest 3
More cats! A new look at Cat Quest 3 showcased its role-playing, open-world adventuring and naval gameplay, and actually gave us a release date: 8th August. Pre-orders and a demo will be available today from the Nintendo eShop.
Stitch is a cosy creative puzzler which tasks you with knitting patterns - it's like a cross between Kirby's Epic Yarn and Sudoku, maybe, and it's out on eShop later today.
A final montage of titles highlighted retro robot side-scroller Bzzzt (summer), shadow hopping game Schim (18th July), the CRT TV-inspired Animal Well (9th May), investigative adventure Duck Detective: The Secret Salami (23rd May), and Another Crab's Treasure (25th April).
And finally... Steamworld Heist 2!
The Nintendo Indie World Showcase with S...teamworld Heist 2. This adds naval combat to the long-awaited sequel, and lets you recruit robots to your piratical crew. If you missed the original, it's like 2D XCOM with real-time aiming and well worth a look. As for the sequel, it launches for Switch (plus PC, PlayStation 4, PS5, Xbox One and Xbox Series X/S) on 8th August.