Kingdom Rush Frontiers [Nindie Choice!] - If you’re going to bring a tower defense title over from the mobile space the Kingdom Rush series is absolutely the one to go with. No matter how many games in this genre I’ve played none has quite had the simplicity, the replayability, the quirkiness, and the outright quality from start to finish that Kingdom Rush has in spades. Each map has its own entry and exit points to consider, with some even throwing in an unexpected additional path just to screw with your plans. Each hero you can choose (most need to be unlocked) has their own strengths and weaknesses in general, so you can be sure to pick one that suits your play style, and your choices in how you enhance your heroes and base unit types throws on yet another layer of customization I appreciate. Even better is that depending on the enemy units and situations you face no matter how hard you try there’s not often a single strategy you’ll be able to use if you want to truly prevail. Planning is important but so is adaptability, and being able to understand what buildings upgraded to what degree will turn the tide in either stopping or at least slowing down some difficult combinations of foes. While it’s easy to become jaded with the genre it’s always easy for me to get sucked in whenever a new Rush title comes out, something I’m glad to say has now continued onto the Switch as well.
Depixtion [Nindie Choice!] - While for many years the Picross series has sat safely at the top of its own puzzle kingdom, seeing threats from other comers but never really breaking a sweat to match or surpass them, the times they are a-changin. Rather than strictly copy the formula that has been so consistently satisfying some smart competitors have changed things up, trying new things, and some have found success. One such title is Depixtion, which on a general level follows the same playbook, but if you’ve been feeling like the typical Picross title trends a little too much towards being easy, you’ll want to give this one a look. The big difference comes from the way colors are handled. Breaking the spectrum up into 6 colors (Blue, Yellow, and Red… plus light and dark for each) on 3 distinct boards that are overlapped to produce the final colors the challenge here is pretty real. Where most titles will allow for a degree of “smart guessing” once you’ve filled in a fair portion of the puzzle, that method here would make any such attempts risky at best. If you’ve been thirsting for some tougher challenges in your Picross puzzling Depixtion has you covered.
Heaven Dust - I’ll admit, I haven’t to this point seen a sort of zombie survival adventure title on Switch so it’s nice to have Heaven Dust filling in that block on my indie Bingo card. While not really suspenseful, the zombies are more there for occasional fun and to force you to keep on the lookout for ammo, the overall theme and story here help the game feel unique. In terms of the puzzles you’ll need to be on the lookout for any information you find and make a few well-informed leaps of faith in order to progress, which is nice and keeps you on your toes. While the experience may be a bit too bland for zombie survival fans if you enjoy a decent point and click puzzle adventure the change of theme and pace here may help it stand out in a pack of similar titles vying for your attention on the Switch eShop.
BE-A Walker - Ever since Return of the Jedi who hasn’t contemplated taking the role of an AT-ST pilot and ramping through some Ewok villages, shooting and stomping the little buggers while laughing maniacally? Or is it just me? Wisely side-stepping the inevitable lawsuits that making such a game outright would inspire the people behind BE-A Walker take the basics of that experience and let you roll with it. It seems you aren’t welcome by the natives on a distant planet and it’s up to you to shoot and stomp them into submission, perhaps opting for an occasional side mission where it can play a bit differently, sometimes delivering medical supplies and desperately trying not to stomp on your own clueless people. Considering the budget price the fact that it’s a bit of a limited experience in terms of scope and the controls can sometimes be a bit fiddly (like when trying not to step on workers who can’t stop randomly walking and checking their phones while you’re trying to make your way through) is excusable, just don’t expect much more than having some laughs mixed with some challenge as you try to continue to progress, upgrading your rig along the way.
Spartan Fist - Taking risks and seeing if new ideas will pay off is all part of the indie development process. When I played Spartan Fist at PAX 2 years ago it was still pretty early on but the concept of a first-person brawler seemed sound, and the overall gameplay was fun enough as a demo. Now, with its final release on the Switch it hasn’t shown a great deal of growth or evolution from that time and unfortunately that makes its level of excitement and fun go down pretty quickly. The abundance of traps that, in first-person view, aren’t always easy to spot as you try to brawl with opponents are one piece of the problem but another is that despite the ability to get new fists that give the game more pizazz it just isn’t quite enough to make it fun for very long. At its core it isn’t a bad idea, it just needs some additional oomph to take it to the next level of engagement.