Top 100 / Best Indie Games on Nintendo Switch

Sea of Stars

In practical terms without flaws, and filled with thoughtful and creative touches from top to bottom, this game truly is a star

Hades

OK, so I’ll admit the folks at Supergiant Games (behind the favorites Bastion and Transistor in particular) had me with ...

Streets of Rage 4

Look no further for the top-of-the-line beat-em-up on Switch!

Dead Cells

This was probably my favorite game of 2018, though since it's also a very challenging title it won't be for everyone. I ...

Stardew Valley

Possibly one of the most successful indie games ever made by a single developer Stardew Valley is wonderfully calming...

Wreckfest

Oh man, where do I begin to properly convey my total love for this title? First and foremost I’ll start with the game’s ...

Neon White

Right out of the gate, the highest compliment I can pay Neon White is how quickly its tight controls and smart design ca...

Nobody Saves the World

One of the things I love most about indie games is their tendency to bring surprises to the table of some kind. Drink...

Moving Out 2

While mostly staying true to the formula of the original, there’s just enough new polish and fun to make it worth a fresh look

DREDGE

This is simply a nautical adventure that continues to surprise, somehow both placid and often tense, routine and yet full of nasty surprises

It Takes Two

It Takes Two is simply a big step above the co-op competition, earning a pretty rare Hall of Fame rating

The Stanley Parable: Ultra Deluxe

Among the indie games I’ve greatly enjoyed on PC over the years and have wondered when they would make their wa...

Rainbow Billy: The Curse of the Leviathan

Having spent far more time with Rainbow Billy than I would have expected, I’ve become a big fan of its unique mix of adv...

Dodgeball Academia

While I’ll admit that when you mention a game with the name “dodgeball” right in the title you already have my attention...

Grindstone

There’s nothing I like more than a surprise game that shows up, slaps you around a bit, and leaves you thirsting for mor...

Spiritfarer

While many gamers enjoy blowing away enemies, racing through hairpin turns, or guiding their team to victory there’s a g...

Neon Abyss

If you're up for a challenge, tons of power-ups, and bullets everywhere...

Super Mega Baseball 3

Getting right down to it there’s just something about the Super Mega Baseball series that taps into what love and nostal...

Children of Morta

While I have played (and generally enjoyed) a ton of roguelikes of all flavors on the Switch I can’t say any of them has...

Slay the Spire

While deck building games would usually fall into the category of titles I’d file under “an acquired taste” the Switch n...

Cuphead

With a mix of brutal boss battles and challenging run and gun sections Cuphead is notorious for being a tough game. Whil...

Nuclear Throne

Though it’s pretty clear in places that Nuclear Throne has aged a bit since its original release, its unapologetic degre...

Assault Android Cactus+

Starting with the basics the game gives you a starting roster of 4 androids to choose from, with another 5 that you’ll u...

GRIS

As the game starts you’ll witness the main character, Gris, losing her voice. This seems to be both literal and symbolic...

The Messenger

Possibly one of the best retro console titles I've ever played, The Messenger actually feels like a collection of multip...

Hollow Knight

Another one of the titles I didn't originally review for the system, this is another one of those games that would be cr...

Celeste

While not a game I formally reviewed for the system this is one of those titles that can't be omitted since it is both t...

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge

Having played the game already at PAX East this year where I was blown away, this review was a bit of a foregone conc...

Katana ZERO

Katana Zero was absolutely one of the best games of 2019 and I’d be shocked it if didn’t end up in my Top 10 (and those...

The Binding of Isaac: Afterbirth+

One of the very first games available for the system, as I was already a huge fan from the PC space it was a Day 1 pu...

Mini Motorways

Whoever out there would say that simple games, or at least ones that at a glance could be “casual”, are a...

The Gardens Between

When we first saw footage of this title in one of the Nindie Directs it was already clear that the game was brilliant v...

Battle Chef Brigade Deluxe

Brigade is a game that immediately sounded appealing when I heard the premise and then delivered something truly uniq...

Wulverblade

Full of technique, nuance, and some very challenging boss fights Wulverblade has established a new gold standard in w...

Wargroove 2

If you’re a fan of strategy games in the vein of Advance Wars, Wargroove 2 makes an outstanding case for your attention

Blasphemous 2

Building on the foundation of an already-solid predecessor, Blasphemous 2 soars to new heights of brutality

Cursed to Golf

This roguelike golfing title thoroughly proves that sports titles are ripe for conversion if they can all be this good

Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon

Original, brilliantly designed, varied, challenging, and loads of fun the Shovel Knight series has shaken up the action puzzler genre nicely

DUSK

When I played just a demo of this well over a year ago at PAX East on the Switch hardware I knew it had massive potentia...

PICROSS S GENESIS & Master System edition

If you’re a puzzle gaming fan, you’re probably well-acquainted with the Picross franchise. While the S se...

Horizon Chase Turbo

Oh, to go back to the arcades, hearing the sound of quarters being dispensed from the bill changer, and diving into s...

SteamWorld Heist: Ultimate Edition

With multiple skill levels available SteamWorld Heist is a game that anyone, from a tactical strategy newbie to a griz...

Nuclear Blaze

A creative take on a puzzle platforming adventure that’s challenging but fair, and has plenty of secrets to discover along the way

Ken Follett's The Pillars of the Earth

If you don’t mind the sometimes glacial pacing of the adventure aspects, the art and story here are top-tier within the space

Blanc

This mesmerizing adventure in black and white is both accessible and brilliant for sharing with a friend or tackling solo

Chained Echoes

This single-developer passion project sets a standard for how the classic 16-bit JRPG can still be improved upon

Atari 50: The Anniversary Celebration

Far more than a mere collection of well-known games, Atari 50 sets the standard for chronicling the history of an icon

LEGO® Bricktales

Finally, a LEGO game that truly captures the essence of both its creative and functional play in digital form

Disco Elysium - The Final Cut

While I’ve played indie games with a pretty wide variety of styles and levels of quality since the launch of th...

Overcooked! All You Can Eat

Possibly one of the best games to challenge and entertain determined groups either locally or online in this generati...

Hotshot Racing

With its low-poly look coming straight out of classic Sega arcade titles like Daytona Racing we have Hotshot Racing, and...

WHAT THE GOLF?

Bless the indie devs that are determined to just completely go off in left field and do something unique. What the Go...

Untitled Goose Game

Bless indie developers and their ability to come up with weird concepts for gameplay that you probably never considered ...

Flipping Death

Whenever you talk about classic adventure titles there's roughly a standing assumption that they'll bog down at some poi...

Lovers in a Dangerous Spacetime

While it is certainly playable, enjoyable, and challenging as a single-player game where Lovers really shines is in p...

SteamWorld Dig 2

Widely, and quite deservedly, regarded as the best one of the best early indie games on the Switch (though perhaps St...

Vampire Survivors

This addictive mix of dodge-em-up and roguelike sensibilities has many imitators but clearly stands as the best in the space

Stray Gods: The Roleplaying Musical

Absolutely one of the most original games I’ve played recently, this story-driven affair swings for the fences and somewhat gets there

Teslagrad Remastered

Taking the masterfully-made original to spruce it up a little and add some additional challenges makes a great game better

Shatter Remastered Deluxe

If you’ve been looking for the best brick breaker on the Switch, look no further… this is it

SpiderHeck

Frantic multiplayer action you can enjoy online or with friends in co-op or competitive modes

Midnight Fight Express

If you’ve ever dreamt of a beat-em-up that would effectively flow and feel like John Wick this gets really close

Temtem

There's finally a legit upstart contender for the monster-collecting throne...

LOUD: My Road to Fame

Oh how I love it when great music and rhythm games show up pretty well unannounced to blow me away. While I do wish t...

The Jackbox Party Starter

While there aren’t any new games included in this pack, you could definitely consider it a bit of an All-Star p...

Citizen Sleeper

As regulars probably know well by now, I don’t tend to be a fan of visual novels and even sometimes struggle wi...

DYSMANTLE

While I’ve been able to be objective about survival games in order to attempt to give them an appropriately fair shake r...

Dawn of the Monsters

Well damn, who knew that within a two week span I’d play two very different titles on Switch that have the beat-em-up ge...

A Musical Story

I’ve truly enjoyed the diverse set of indie titles that have come to the Switch under the category of rhythm and music. ...

Zombie Rollerz: Pinball Heroes

While I’ll open by admitting that, in general, any game with the word Pinball in the title gets my attention, in the cas...

Infernax

Retro games looking to take on the rough look and feel of classics like Castlevania are always going to face a bit of an...

OlliOlli World

Given the overall lack of sports-oriented titles on the Switch in general, let alone from indie developers, it’s always ...

Loop Hero

The thing I tend to love most about indie titles is their ability to surprise with remixes of gameplay elements you’ve n...

The Wild at Heart

Sometimes all you need to get excited about a title are a few evocative words, commonly referred to as an “elevator pitc...

Super Mombo Quest

There’s nothing quite as satisfying in the indie games space than to stumble onto something that immediately feels prett...

Unpacking

Usually when you think of casual games puzzles and the like are usually what comes to mind, or perhaps something akin to...

Skul: The Hero Slayer

As a die hard fan of roguelikes perhaps it isn’t surprising that I’ve found Skul to be a great challenge and a good bit ...

UNSIGHTED

Unsighted is interesting to me, in part because at just a casual glance, or even just a very short play session, I belie...

Tails Of Iron

This is a title that hit me a bit out of nowhere, took my lunch money, and is now making me earn it back one challenging...

Eastward

When it comes to pixel art action-adventures the normal standard that is compared against would be The Legend of Zelda: ...

Lost in Random

Full disclosure, up front I’ll admit that I’ve always tended to be fond of games from the Zoink crew, in particular find...

Spelunky 2

It’s always a bit tricky to release both an original game and its sequel at the same time, but in the case of Spelunky 2...

Curious Expedition 2

For me Curious Expedition 2 is everything I look for in a sequel outing. It delivers a bit more quirk and color in its c...

Labyrinth City: Pierre the Maze Detective

As much as I've tended to see people bemoan the "kiddie" nature of Nintendo systems over the years, it ...

Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!

First developing quite a notorious reputation as a free title, DDLC has finally made its disturbing way to Switch… and w...

Strange Brigade

Having played through the full campaign of Strange Brigade with my daughter on PC, and having a terrific time with it, I...

Overboard!

While I typically look to games to provide some action and excitement there are sometimes games that come from less h...

FEZ

This far into the Switch lifespan the list of outstanding top-notch indie titles that haven’t yet made it to the platfor...

There Is No Game: Wrong Dimension

OK, so typically when you see games coming over in some form from the mobile space I tend to put on my skeptic hat and p...

Signs of the Sojourner

There’s just something about this game that feels so brilliant and yet there’s also something unassuming about its natur...

Space Otter Charlie

It’s always a joy to play a new indie title that you’ve never heard of or seen that immediately grabs you, and for me Sp...

Dicey Dungeons

OK, so perhaps at this point the concept of a deck-building strategy roguelike has been played out a bit… but what if yo...

Kingdom Two Crowns

Since I was already a pretty big fan of the first installment of the Kingdom series (New Lands) that arrived on the syst...

Shady Part of Me

There’s something pretty delightful when you encounter games that you’ve never previously heard of that, once you begin ...

Sniper Elite 4

The Sniper Elite series has always been an interesting red-headed step-child off to the side of the FPS genre. There’s n...

FUSER

The rise and fall of music titles and their mainstream popularity has always been a bit interesting to watch. Certainly ...

Carto

Having played so many of them, unfortunately the first thing I assume I’ll see when approaching any sort of puzzle game ...

Pumpkin Jack

Ah, tis the season for games that deliver at least a spooky feel, even though I’ll acknowledge more often than not Hallo...

Horace

Horace is an odd title in that much like the title character robot of the same name it is quite unassuming and humble bu...

ScourgeBringer

There’s something about ScourgeBringer that deep down brings back my nostalgia for being in an arcade, pumping quarters ...

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