There are so many great titles for the Switch both mainstream and indy. The mainstream titles are more obvious so here I compiled a shortlist of some of the indy games I’ve enjoyed with the switch so far. While a lot of these titles are available for other platforms they seem to fit right in on the Switch as grab-and-go games!

Destropolis

Destropolis is one of those simple but fun games that reminds me of a 3D version of Asteroids or SmashTV. Giant red blocks progressively swarm you while you collect weapons and power-ups to blow them away. Power-up range from things like force-fields, faster shooting, airstrikes, turrets, etc, while weapons range from common weapons you’ve heard of like shotguns, assault rifles, bazookas, and even lasers! The physics of the game looks great when blocks get shattered but they’re really just for looks and don’t add to the gameplay. The only downside to the game for me is the constant pop-up screens that upgrade your abilities. Sometimes you get 2 pop-up screens within 30 seconds which takes you out of the action as there seems to be no clear end to the rounds, the enemies just keep coming until you die. That said the game is a lot of fun and can be played with up to 3 players!

Death Squared

Death Squared is a co-op game that relies on the communication of the players to move their animal-headed cubes along a course where their moves affect each other in different ways as you avoid falling to your death. It reminds me of the fun of playing Portal and getting things lined up just right to complete the puzzle along with the silly sense of robot humor. This game puts you on a much smaller scale than Portal where it seems you are on a game board that can be multiple levels both horizontal and vertical. It’s a fun and simple game with a great visual style that is easy to both pickup and put down, I highly recommend it!

Olli Olli

For all you skaters(and non-skaters) here is a 2D side scroller that has a fun and simple style but deceptively challenging. The core of your skaters’ movements are built on various movements of flicking the joystick in different directions, but the real challenge is that you need to make sure you B just before you land each time, the timing of that will determine if your trick was “Perfect” or “Sloppy”. After a while, it becomes second nature but there is a bit of a learning curve to making sure you stick it at the right time each time. Keeping speed is also a challenge, if you don’t stick your tricks you lose speed and then your character grinds to a halt(forgive the bad pun). The game gives you a set of challenges per level similar to the world of Tony Hawk Pro Skater that you can repeat the level to check off your list. It’s a very fun title and similar to the rest it’s easy to pick up and put down!

Zombie Defense HD

Zombie Defense HD is in the same vein as Destropolis mentioned above but with a more strategic take. You can band together with up to 4 players and fight off waves of zombies using modern-day weapons, and some experimental ones while also setting up barriers, turrets, and strategically placed mines before the round starts. You build up cash as you kill zombies and after each round, you can purchase more items. At random the items will go on sale sometimes letting you grab something high-powered early on. Unlike Destropolis there is a clear endpoint to each round when all zombies have been defeated. It’s a blast to mow down enemies and find new strategies to fight off the hoards. It may not be the most visually impressive but it is certainly fun!

Final Verdict

One thing that amazes me about indy Switch games is both how cheap and how fun a lot of them are. Switch developers really stick it to Xbox and Playstation showing them that games don’t need to have 4K raytracing at 60fps and cost $60+ to be fun. I focused a lot on multiplayer games here but would love to hear some recommendations on other great titles along with some single-player games as well!