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It’s the last day of Nintendo’s April Indie Sale — don’t miss these 7 great games

Nintendo just hosted an Indie World showcase and previewed some exciting indie games like Rift of the Necrodancer, Blasphemous 2, and Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals. While the Nintendo Switch has always been a first-party, AAA-title machine, it’s also become an indie powerhouse over the years and is home to some of the best small games on the market. To celebrate its stream, Nintendo just launched a weeklong sale on some of its top indie titles, including all-time greats like Celeste and Hades.

The sale kicked off on April 19 and runs until April 26 at midnight PT. While you have a good week to browse, here are seven excellent deals that you’ll want to take advantage of before time’s up.

Celeste — $5 (75% off)

Celeste
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Celeste is hands down one of the best 2D platformers of all time (if not one of the best video games of all time), and it’s an absolute steal at $5. The game’s protagonist, Madeline, has come to Celeste Mountain to discover herself, and over the course of 10 or so hours, she’s put to the test. Rendered in SNES-reminiscent visuals, Celeste‘s gameplay solely revolves around jumping. Aided by expertly designed set pieces, the task is both challenging and immensely rewarding. Madeline’s journey is emotional and revealing, and this is one of the few games that accurately and unabashedly depicts mental illness.

$4.99 from Nintendo

Hades  $12.49 (50% off)

Stygian Blade
Supergiant Games

While Hades didn’t end up taking home the Game Awards’ Game of the Year title in 2020 (the honor belonged to The Last of Us Part II), it was one of our personal favorites that year and has only grown on us since then.

Hades is a roguelike action game that sends players to the underworld. In it, you play as Zagreus, the son of Hades, with the goal of escaping the underworld while developing relationships with other characters. Roguelikes are often criticized for punishing players after a run ends, causing them to lose much of their progress. While Hades does start you at the beginning after each run, you always unlock new abilities or dialogue options with other characters, making death feel less punishing.

Now is a great time to make sure you experience this indie all-star because Hades 2 is already in development.

$12.49 from Nintendo

Hollow Knight — $7.50 (50% off)

Hollow Knight Silksong Gameplay
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Much to the dismay of longtime fans, we didn’t get a new trailer or any new information about Hollow Knight: Silksong at Nintendo’s recent Indie World showcase. If you were confused about why viewers were spamming the live stream’s chat with Hollow Knight references, this steep discount is a good opportunity for you to find out what the series is all about.

The 2D Metroidvania-style game starring an insect knight with a needle for a sword masterfully weaves exploration and combat to deliver one of the most engrossing experiences in a crowded genre. The spacious map has numerous distinct biomes with various themes, dangers, and enemies to slay. Where Hollow Knight truly excels is in its sense of wonder. Every time you stumble upon a new area, it feels as if you are the first person to discover it.

$7.50 from Nintendo

Spiritfarer – $7.49 (75% off)

Image used with permission by copyright holder

An emotional journey that’s centered on the taboo topic of death, Spiritfarer is a wonderful management sim where you’ll help ferry spirits into the afterlife. The hand-drawn graphics keep everything lighthearted, and the unique story is among the best available on the Switch. Gameplay is open-ended, letting you farm, fish, mine, craft, and explore the world as you see fit. Throughout the 30-hour adventure, you’ll encounter dozens of memorable characters that will stick with you long after the credits roll — along with a story that is sure to tug on your heartstrings. Spiritfarer includes a local co-op mode, allowing a second player to join in on the action as Daffodil the cat. How can you say no to that?

$7.49 from Nintendo

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge — $20 (20% off)

Leonardo, Michaelangelo, Casey Jones, Splinter, and Raphael fighting foot ninjas.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge is a retro beat-’em-up game that’s way more fun than it should be in the year 2023. A master class in old-school co-op gaming, Shredder’s Revenge takes everything that was great about classic arcade fighters and adds modern mechanics for a simple, but stellar brawler. It throws players into the world of the Heroes in a Half Shell and gives them full reign to pummel every Foot Ninja and enemy in the way. Every mode in the game supports up to six players, so this is one of the best indie multiplayer games out there right now.

$19.99 from Nintendo

Cuphead & The Delicious Last Course — $19.70 (27% off)

Image used with permission by copyright holder

What can we say about Cuphead that hasn’t been said already? The original game was met with rave reviews in 2017, gaining high marks for its 1930s cartoon art style, challenging gameplay, and unique co-op action. StudioMDHR followed up on the award-winning title with some killer DLC content in The Delicious Last Course just last year. If you still haven’t given this game a shot, you can snag the main game and DLC right now in a really cheap bundle.

$19.70 from Nintendo

Slay the Spire — $10 (-50% off)

Slay the Spire's hero looks up at the Spire.
Image used with permission by copyright holder

Even if you don’t normally like card battlers, Slay the Spire might hook you.

Slay the Spire sees players work through a series of battles across three acts. Your deck is your weapon in this turn-based, single-player RPG. At first, success seems impossible. But the more runs you try, the more cards you’ll have in your pool at the start of the next. What makes Slay the Spire so addictive is how all of its moving parts come together. You have your deck, but you also have potions with stat buffs and relics that permanently alter your hero for that run. With multiple heroes to play as and an endless number of possibilities for each run, Slay the Spire gets better and better the more you play.

$9.99 from Nintendo

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Sam Hill
Sam Hill is a journalist and the gaming guides editor at Digital Trends. He's also written tech guides for Input and has…
Everything announced at Nintendo’s April 2023 Indie World showcase
A still from Rift of the Necrodancer's trailer.

Today, Nintendo held another Indie World showcase, where it showed off a lot of neat-looking indie games coming to Nintendo Switch over the next several months. This April 19 showcase didn't have any shocking announcements, but some successors to enjoyable indie games like Crypt of the Necrodancer and Blasphemous were revealed, and multiple games were shadow-dropped. If you're looking for a roundup of everything that was shown off, we have that right here for you.
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Rift of the NecroDancer Reveal Trailer
Brace Yourself Games is one of the premier rhythm game developers thanks to titles like Crypt of the Necrodancer and Cadence of Hyrule, and it announced a new game today. Titled Rift of the Necrodancer, this is a lane-based game where players rhythmically attack the monsters that come down each lane. The game also features minigames that more closely resemble the Rhythm Heaven series. Rift of the Necrodancer will be released later this year.
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Indie World Showcase 4.19.2023 - Nintendo Switch
As is to be expected with any Nintendo presentation, some games were shadow-dropped today. The most notable of these games was a port of the popular horror game Five Nights at Freddy's: Security Breach, but that wasn't the only game released today. Magnetism platformers Telsagrad Remastered and Teslagrad 2, as well as supernatural comedy RPG Shadows of Loathing, are also available today.
Blasphemous 2 was revealed
Blasphemous 2 - Announcement Trailer - Nintendo Switch
The Game Kitchen's Blasphemous made a name for itself as one of the most brutal Metroidvania's of the last decade, both in visual style and gameplay. During today's Indie World, the team revealed that is are at work on a sequel where players explore a place cursed by something ironically called The Miracle. When it comes to gameplay, players can expect three new weapons and will encounter weapon memories that expand their moveset. Blasphemous 2 will be released this summer.
Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals gets a release date
OXENFREE II: Lost Signals - Release Date Trailer - Nintendo Switch
Night School Studios and Netflix's horror-adventure game Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals has been in the works for quite a while, and it finally got a release date during today's Indie World showcase. We learned that Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals, which takes place five years after the events of the original and follows a woman named Camena investigating mysterious radio signals, will come out on July 12. This release date also applies to the PC, Mac, PlayStation 4, PS5, and mobile versions of the game. 
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Mineko's Night Market launches on September 26.
Pathea Games showed off My Time at Sandrock, a desert-themed sequel to farming sim My Time at Portia that is coming out sometime this summer.
Overcooked-like PlateUp! launches this October.
Digital board game Quilts & Cats of Calico launches this fall.
A Little to the Left: Cupboards & Drawers DLC launches in June.
Shovel Knight Pocket Dungeon's free DLC Puzzle Pack comes out this spring. 
Cult of the Lamb's Relics of the Old Faith update will be released on April 24.
Animal Well is coming to Nintendo Switch in early 2024.
Time-bending crime puzzle game Crime O'Clock comes out on June 30.
Paper Trail launches this August.
Little Kitty, Big City will be released in 2024. 
Chants of Sennaar got a September 5 release date.
Brotato will be released sometime in 2023.
Escape Academy: The Complete Edition comes to Switch this fall.
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Although the Nintendo Switch has some of the best AAA titles, the system has become known as an indie machine to many people. The portability of the Switch and Switch Lite makes them ideal for some of the best indie games, and dozens of small developers seem to love releasing their games on the hybrid console.

Better yet, plenty of previously released indie games, such as Hollow Knight, have received increased attention and acclaim after landing on the Switch. It's become a win-win for developers and Switch owners. If you're a new Switch owner or are simply looking for the best Switch games to play during your morning commute, we've put together a running list of the best indie games on the Nintendo Switch.
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