An Indie Backlog curated overview. We round up the best indie games on Nintendo Switch and how professional critics and players received each one — the scores below are theirs, linked to the source.
A game about climbing a mountain — and about anxiety, self-doubt, and not giving up — wrapped in the tightest platforming ever made.
At a Glance
| Developer | Extremely OK Games (Maddy Makes Games) |
| Release year | 2018 |
| Platforms | PC, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox |
| Subgenre | Precision platformer |
| Length | ~8 hours (main story) |
| Metacritic | 88 / 100 |
| Steam rating | Overwhelmingly Positive (~97%, 140,000+ reviews) |
| Steam Deck | Verified |
| Languages | 9 |
About the Game
Celeste, from Maddy Thorson’s studio Extremely OK Games, is a precision platformer about Madeline, a young woman determined to climb Celeste Mountain. Every screen is a self-contained puzzle of jumps, dashes, and wall-grabs, and death is instant, frequent, and frictionless — you respawn in a fraction of a second, ready to try again.
What lifts it above other hard platformers is its heart. The mountain is a metaphor: Madeline’s climb is entangled with her struggle against anxiety and depression, embodied by a literal darker self she has to learn to accept. It’s a remarkably tender story told through a genre not known for them.
It’s also generous. A deep, optional layer of B-side and C-side stages offers some of the toughest platforming in any game, while a robust Assist Mode lets anyone tune the difficulty to finish the story. Lena Raine’s soundtrack is a modern classic. Few games are this hard and this kind at the same time.
Screenshots
Screenshots: official Steam media for Celeste.
Why It Made the List
Celeste makes the list because it’s a masterclass in design and empathy. The controls are perfect, the difficulty is honest, and the story treats both its player and its subject with real care. On Switch it’s the ideal “one more try” handheld game.
What the Critics Say
Celeste holds a Metacritic score of 88. Critics universally praised its tight controls, level design, music, and surprisingly moving story; criticism is hard to find beyond its steep challenge.
What Players Say
On Steam it’s rated Overwhelmingly Positive across more than 140,000 reviews — about 97% positive. Players cite the controls and the story in equal measure, and the optional Assist Mode is widely praised for its inclusivity.
Praise & Criticism
Praise
- Flawless, responsive controls
- Genuinely moving story about mental health
- Superb Lena Raine soundtrack
- Assist Mode makes it accessible to all
Criticism
- Core game is very challenging
- B/C-sides are brutally hard
- Pixel-precise platforming isn’t for everyone
Games Like This
- Gris — a gentler, painterly platformer about grief
- Hollow Knight — precise platforming meets exploration
- Ori and the Blind Forest — emotional, beautiful platforming
Where to Buy
Plain store links for now — swap in your affiliate-tagged URLs once you’ve joined Amazon Associates and the eBay Partner Network. (Steam and the eShop have no consumer affiliate program; those links are for convenience.)
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