Nintendo reveals the top-selling indie games on Switch for 2021
Bigger names mingle with new upstarts in Nintendo’s end-of-year report.
Nintendo’s Indie World recently put out a video summing up the best-selling indie games for 2021 (thanks Kotaku), and it’s got some real gems in it. Though we don’t know ranking for sure, the video featured both familiar faces and new challengers.
The complete list in order of appearance is as follows:
- Cyber Shadow
- Unpacking
- Tetris Effect: Connected
- Stick Fight: The Game
- Curse of the Dead Gods
- Ender Lilies
- Doki Doki Literature Club Plus!
- Spelunky 2
- Road 96
- Subnautica/Subnautica: Below Zero
- Littlewood
- Islanders Console Edition
- Slime Rancher: Plortable Edition
- Eastward
- Axiom Verge 2
Some of these games aren’t surprises. Tetris Effect, Spelunky 2, and Subnautica are just some of the more recognizable names. But appearing alongside them are newer IP like Unpacking, Ender Lilies, and Eastward, all games that have reviewed really well but were unproven entities sales-wise until now.
Elsewhere on the list, Slime Rancher continues to be a phenomenon on Switch. People also seem keen on Axiom Verge 2 after the first game sold so well. The only game on the list that’s a bit of a head scratcher is Stick Fight: The Game, a name that isn’t that familiar in critical circles yet still appears to sell like gangbusters, presumably from word of mouth.
No matter how you slice it, though, 2021 was a very good year for indies on Switch. And the latest Indie World direct gave us some things to look forward to in the future as well, like the promising RPG Sea of Stars and the brawling action of River City Girls 2.