2024 is looking to be yet another incredible year for gaming, but especially for indie games. There are so many upcoming releases that I'm very excited for, so I thought I'd make a post highlighting all of them. I'll mostly be sticking to games that are either slated to come out in 2024 or are getting a console port in 2024, since there are plenty of great-looking games that I just haven't been able to access yet. I'll also be prioritizing games that are coming to Switch since that's my go-to console of choice.
15. Toree Saturn
The Toree games have been some of the most pleasant surprises of the last few years. Short but incredibly fun and polished Sonic-inspired 3D platformers with a clean PS1-era aesthetic and banging soundtracks all for $1 a pop. As of recently, a new Toree game called Toree Saturn has been announced, and it looks just as great. The footage we've gotten so far teases a drop dash and homing attack, and the aesthetic seems to take more after Y2K stylings which is always welcome. Definitely worth keeping an eye out for this one, it looks like a blast!
14. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door
After decades, the classic Paper Mario fans are finally being satiated with a remake of the most beloved game in the series. I haven't kept it much of a secret that I am not the biggest TTYD diehard out there, but it's hard not to get swept up in the excitement around this remake. It definitely helps that the footage we've seen looks visually stunning, blending the glossy puppet look of the original game and the handcrafted look of the more modern games together into hands down the prettiest artstyle in a Paper Mario game to date. What we've seen of the TTYD remake looks quite uncompromised so it's probably guaranteed to be a blast, but I'm particularly excited to see what quality of life improvements Intelligent Systems makes to really polish up some of TTYD's rougher spots.
13. Mystia's Izakaya for Switch
There are a lot of great Touhou fangames out there, but Mystia's Izakaya in particular has gotten quite a lot of popularity lately, ranking right up with Luna Nights and Lost Word as a notable entry point into the series. It's a restaraunt management game where you control Mystia and explore Gensokyo to gather ingredients in the day and frenetically try to run your Izakaya at night. Mystia is one of my favorite Touhou characters so it's really cool to see her get a fangame focused around her, the prospect of exploring Gensokyo and chatting with the other cast members looks really cool, and the spritework is absolutely gorgeous. Mystia's Izakaya has gotten a lot of praise from Touhou fans and newcomers alike, but unfortunately, I haven't gotten around to playing it yet as it's only available on Steam. Thankfully, it's coming to Switch in a few months and I plan to get it first thing!
12. Earthblade
Celeste is my favorite indie game ever made, so it should not come as much of a surprise that I'd be eagerly awaiting the next game by Extremely OK Games, which is slated to come out in 2024! We've only gotten a teaser trailer so far, but Earthblade seems to be a super ambitious metroidvania that carries over the same smooth pixel art and melancholic Lena Raine music that helped make Celeste stand out so much. Very, very excited to hear more about this one.
11. Double Shake
Double Shake is an indie game I've been excitedly following for years now, and it's also planned to come on in 2024. It's a love letter to that weird niche of 2.5D platformers from the late 90s including games like Klonoa, Tomba, Mischief Makers, and Kirby 64, which is awesome because I am a sucker for those kinds of platformers. It looks absolutely adorable and nails that chunky PS1 aesthetic, and I'm very excited to see how it expands on this very weird but very cool subgenre.
10. Mina The Hollower
Mina The Hollower is the next game by Shovel Knight devs, Yacht Club Games, and it once again looks fantastic. It seems to be a blend between Castlevania and Link's Awakening, even boasting a lovely visual style inspired by the Game Boy Color, which I'm always a sucker for. It's already been getting a ton of positive press, and considering it was supposed to come out this year, I can only hope that its release isn't too far off.
9. Hollow Knight Silksong
Yeah, this one was a given. I loved Hollow Knight and I've been waiting with bated breath for Silksong, like everyone else has. It looks like it amplies everything I loved about the original, with an even more striking ashy aesthetic, a focus on my favorite Hollow Knight character, and movement and combat that looks even faster. To be perfectly honest, I don't know if Silksong will be coming out in 2024. I don't even know if it'll be coming out at all. But with how long we've been waiting, I don't think a 2024 release is too far off the mark. Or maybe I'm just coping, who knows?
8. Psuedoregalia for Switch
Psuedoregalia is a 3D platformer/metroidvania with what looks to be some of the most fluid and versatile movement in the genre, and some very appealing N64-style visuals. Like with Mystia's Izakaya, it's only out on PC right now, so I haven't been able to play it. However, the developer has since stated that they're working on a Switch release, and I can't wait to get my hands on it.
7. Princess Peach Showtime
All these remakes Nintendo has planned are great and all, but there's nothing quite like something entirely original, and Princess Peach Showtime looks very original. It's already great to get another Peach-focused game after so many years, but the trailer really sold me on Showtime in a way I didn't expect, pitching what looks like a blend between LittleBigPlanet-style platforming and a neat costume system ripped straight out of Ape Escape 3. That first teaser peaked my curiosity, but now, Princess Peach Showtime has my full attention.
6. The Plucky Squire
The Plucky Squire is an upcoming game by Pokemon artist James Turner, and it looks super original and exciting. The main premise is that you play as a Link-esque hero in a top down adventure book reminiscent of Zelda, but you can pop out of these books into the real world. The trailer already shows some pretty clever interplay between the 2D and 3D landscapes, and as a whole, The Plucky Squire looks like it's taking the main concept of Link Between Worlds and running all the way with it.
5. Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution
The Game Boy Advance is one of my favorite consoles ever, so the fact that we're getting a new GBA game in the year 2024 is just incredible to me. The fact that it also happens to be an unreleased Shantae game only sweetens the deal. Risky Revolution looks great. The plane-shifting mechanic looks very creative and unique, and I think it definitely has a shot at being one of my favorite games in the series. It's coming out both on consoles and on the original Game Boy Advance, which is always very cool to see.
4. Pepper Grinder
I remember seeing Pepper Grinder in a Nintendo Direct and it was love at first sight. It's a fast-paced drill-based platformer that looks like Drill Dozer on crack, with crunchy pixelart, high energy music, and a lot of explosions. Like Mina The Hollower and The Plucky Squire, Pepper Grinder got delayed from 2023 to 2024, but I really hope we get to see more of it soon because it just looks so damn good.
3. Antonblast
Antonblast is one of two Wario Land-inspired indie games to surface recently. While Pizza Tower focuses more on the weirdness and speedrunning elements of Wario Land 4 specifically, Antonblast seems to focus more on exploration and high-scoring, and feels like a blend between the approaches of Wario Land 4 and Virtual Boy Wario Land. The spritework looks super crunchy and stylish, and the demoes we've gotten so far look like an absolute blast (no pun intended).
2. Freedom Planet 2 for Switch
Freedom Planet is one of my favorite games of all time, and I am desperate to play the sequel, but sadly, its console release is currently still in the works. I did play the demo which was fantastic, and I've been hearing nothing but praise about FP2, with the general consensus being that it somehow manages to surpass the original! That just only makes me more excited...
1. Penny's Big Breakaway
Out of all the amazing games in the works, Penny's Big Breakaway is easily the one that I am the most excited for. A colorful original 3D platformer developed by the Sonic Mania team focused around fluid movement with a Saturn-esque aeshetic and a soundtrack by Tee Lopes? Shut up and take my money! Everything I see about this game makes me even more excited, from the cool-looking nonviolent boss fights, to the massive world count, to the phenomenal music samples we've gotten so far. It looks polished, fresh, and right up my alley on pretty much every level.
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