From cats to frogs, from explosions to steam, here are all the announcements from Indie World, or the “mignon” Nintendo Direct of April 2024
We didn't expect yesterday to have an announcement for a Nintendo Direct today, not after the apparent lean period announced by the February presentation, but even though it is “only” a Indie World it's worth talking about all announcements for April 2024. The twenty minutes flew by in an instant, and as always happens with presentations dedicated to the independent scene one always wonders one thing: what happened to Hollow Knight Silksong?! You can get the answer to this and other questions just by watching the video below… or by reading our summary. In the end it's the same. Based on your preferences, let's find out together what the final “gem” will be this time too!
Little Kitty, Big City | Nintendo Direct: recap of all the April 2024 Indie World announcements
The first of today's announcements is one of the things that everyone would have expected to see more in an Indie World like the one in April 2024 than in a standard Nintendo Direct: an alternative to Stray for the hybrid of wonders. Described as a game “perfect for those who love cats and distractions”, Little Kitty, Big City is based on a simple premise: finding your way home after surviving a fall from the top floor of a building. Since climbing is not an option, the alternatives are… emotes, side quests, customization elements and the pure pleasure of dropping vases. No, it is not a sequel to Untitled Goose Game. Perhaps. May 9th, pre-orders from today.
Yars Rising | Nintendo Direct: recap of all the April 2024 Indie World announcements
Do you want a nice surprise? WayForward has returned to do damage, and this time with the approval of Atari! The hacker Emi “YAR” Kimura, protagonist of Yars Rising, during a commission job she finds herself embroiled in a conspiracy on a cosmic scale, fighting against the multinational QoTech in what looks like a metroidvania. In the middle, perhaps drawing inspiration from WayForward's “playable April Fool's joke” Cat Girl Without Salad: Amuse-Bouche, there are obviously also minigames and digressions on the basic gameplay formula. We will be able to extricate ourselves from the cyberpunk dystopia of the game… this year. For such an amazing collaboration, having even just one year of release is certainly not a given!
Refind Self: The Personality Test Game | Nintendo Direct: recap of all the April 2024 Indie World announcements
Imagine for a second that you're driving a little robot in a side-scrolling game inside a yellow variant of the original Game Boy screen. Now try to think if it was the last creation of a doctor who passed away… and that it is up to you to shape her character. This is the basic premise behind it Refind Self: The Personality Test Game, a game with a name… actually surprisingly less self-explanatory than we would have thought. Choices matter (as we often remember in the gaming industry, eh?), even though there aren't any right or wrong choices. Each decision defines our character (one in 23 to be discovered) and reveals part of the future that the doctor had in mind for us. This summer, exclusive storm.
Sticky Business | Nintendo Direct: recap of all the April 2024 Indie World announcements
The independent scene is already artisanal in its own right, we might as well bring craftsmanship as a central theme into the games themselves. That's right, it's time for the typical indie “get to know customers through meetings with them”! Sticky Business combines this plot, which over time has become one of the most characteristic branches of independent products, with a sticker editor… or rather, a sort of Mario Paint, if we want. We will have to manage our finances and, at the same time, do the same with our customers to save the day. Customers range from music teachers struggling to motivate students to parents trying to cheer up their kids. Available from today in the first shadow drop of the presentation, together with the Plan with Me DLC (10 customers and 100 extra stickers), in temporal exclusivity.
The three musketeers: the first overview | Nintendo Direct: recap of all the April 2024 Indie World announcements
With remarkable leniency for a Nintendo Direct, we have a first roundup composed of only three games. Antonblastsequel to Antonball Deluxe and companion to Pizza Tower in bringing back the “Wario-like” platformer subgenre, now has a release date: we will be able to destroy everything, obtain the treasures and escape towards the entrance (as Dynamite Anton or Dynamite Annie) the November 12in temporal exclusivity con demo starting today. The data on is less precise Valley Peaksan adventure in which you climb a mountain as a frog in a PaRappa The Rapper style atmosphere, which will be released simply this year. The noir graphic adventure with an all-Italian flavour, Lorelei and the Laser Eyesawaits us with its Lovecraftian puzzles 16 maggio.
Europe | Nintendo Direct: recap of all the April 2024 Indie World announcements
“Yes, we know what continent we are on, but we want the name of the next game!” Cheesy jokes aside, Europa it is the “zen” platformer born from the mind of Helder Pinto (who presented it under the light of a quartz lamp to set the record straight). The game world is a very relaxed approach to the post-apocalyptic setting, dedicating “the adventure” (obligatory quotation marks in the most positive sense possible) to the reconstruction of a world previously reduced to rubble. The movements of the protagonist Zee are full of “floating”, but at the same time with an eye towards acrobatics. The game will come this yearma la demo is available from Today.
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splinter's Tale | Nintendo Direct: recap of all the April 2024 Indie World announcements
Since we have learned to expect great IPs even in independent projects since the days of Cadence of Hyrule (or, better yet, from the PlayStation and Xbox ports of Shovel Knight), suddenly the “half-shelled heroes” appear. . If you responded well to The Rogue Prince of Persia, you'll love the idea of a roguelike inspired by the amphibian quartet, aka Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splinter's Tale. As you might expect from a marriage like this, beyond the basic premise (saving Splinter) the usual dictates of the genre await us: a jumble (in a good sense) of structures such as maps, a different game world with each death, improvable skills and all those conventions that Hades made the public love. July 2024, time exclusive.
Cat Quest III | Nintendo Direct: recap of all the April 2024 Indie World announcements
If we had a nickel for every cat-centric game in the presentation… we'd have two nickels, which isn't much, but it's weird it happened twice. With a different setting, this time the (sigh) Gattraibi, Cappey and meowing company take us by the tail in view of Cat Quest III. In this action adventure, which also makes excellent use of pixel art, we will have to defeat the Pi-rats (argh) and also enjoy naval combat. Everything can be used in local co-op, to search for the North Star together. Docking is scheduled forAugust 8, 2024con demo and pre-orders starting today. And yes, we checked for other bad puns too.
stitch. | Nintendo Direct: recap of all the April 2024 Indie World announcements
We don't even know how we will ever have to deal with a name written exactly like that in the event of a possible review, but stitch. it's a game where everything revolves around embroidery. In this bizarre puzzle game we will have to untangle ourselves with 180 puzzles, called “circles”, with the promise of others arriving after launch. In each puzzle, including some created by the community that has followed the gestation of the game since its conception, it is necessary to “color” the areas to be stitched together following the order of the numbers without overlapping anything. There are large and small circles, to be tackled according to your needs… and the time available to you! All of this, of course, enjoying the touch screen in portable mode, as well as the “Free Stitch” mode to choose the color scheme. Available from today exclusively.
Quick overview | Nintendo Direct: recap of all the April 2024 Indie World announcements
It seemed too good to be true, and instead we have one roundup at breakneck speed! You also know what that means: bulleted list coming soon!
- Bzzzt: pixel art platformer definable as a cross between Celeste, ElecHead, VVVVVV and Super Meat Boy. With upgrades and shoot-em-up stages. Estate.
- SCHiM: game with a view from the other side and a pixel art filter, in which you jump from one shadow to another as a frog. July 16th.
- Animal Well: pixel art platformer with CRT filter in which you guide a small jelly to safety, with probable Metroidvania-style exploration. 9 maggio.
- Duck Detective – The Secret Salami: graphic adventure in which a squawking detective solves cases. Much to our regret, unrelated to the Gravity Falls series. 23 maggio.
- Another Crab’s Treasure: soulslike where a hermit crab has to make underwater garbage its new shell. We have already talked about it in the past. 25 April.
Final bomb?
No, as much as we all hoped, it wasn't Hollow Knight Silksong that concluded the Indie World announcements: the final surprise of the April 2024 Nintendo Direct was… SteamWorld Heist II. The world's waters have become lethal, as they are corrosive for the most beloved steam robots in the gaming world. It will be up to us to explore the Great Sea. As a sequel to Heist, the game boasts gameplay characterized by “turn-based tactical shootings”, but not only that. Naval combats also find a place in this world which, for a robot, is the most post-apocalyptic one can imagine. There is certainly no shortage of customization elements to collect, in order to ideally manage each mission from the beginning. August 8, 2024.
Now it's up to you to tell us your opinion: what do you think of today's reveals? Let us know below, and as always don't forget to stay on techgameworld.com for all the most important news for gamers and beyond. For your purely gaming needs, you can instead find the best discounts in digital format on Instant Gaming.