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 tiny fox, a top-down adventure that looks like classic Zelda — and a secret in-game manual that turns the whole thing into a glorious puzzle box.
At a Glance
| Developer | TUNIC Team (Andrew Shouldice) |
| Release year | 2022 |
| Platforms | PC, Switch, PlayStation, Xbox |
| Subgenre | Action-adventure |
| Length | ~12 hours (main story) |
| Metacritic | 85 / 100 |
| Steam rating | Very Positive (~91%, 17,000+ reviews) |
| Steam Deck | Verified |
| Languages | 27 |
About the Game
Tunic, from solo developer Andrew Shouldice and a small team, looks at first like a charming homage to top-down Zelda: a little fox with a sword exploring a lush, isometric world of ruins and secrets. Then you start finding pages of an in-game instruction manual — written mostly in an invented, untranslatable language.
That manual is the masterstroke. Piecing together its diagrams, hand-drawn notes, and hidden hints is how you actually learn the game’s deepest secrets and mechanics — recreating the magic of poring over a cryptic booklet as a kid. The world is dense with layered puzzles that reward obsessive attention.
Beneath the cuteness is a surprisingly tough combat system with souls-like stamina and punishing bosses, plus secrets that run far deeper than they first appear. It’s an adventure about the joy of figuring things out, and few games reward curiosity so richly. On Switch, it’s a perfect cosy-yet-deep handheld pick.
Screenshots
Screenshots: official Steam media for Tunic.
Why It Made the List
Tunic earns its place for turning the humble instruction manual into the heart of a game. It’s gorgeous, mysterious, and full of “wait, WHAT?” discoveries — a love letter to the era of cryptic game booklets that’s also one of the smartest adventures in years.
What the Critics Say
Tunic holds a Metacritic score of 85. Critics adored its art, its manual conceit, and its layered secrets; the main caveat is that its combat can be surprisingly punishing.
What Players Say
On Steam it’s rated Very Positive across more than 17,000 reviews — about 91% positive. Players love the sense of discovery, though some are caught off guard by the difficulty spikes.
Praise & Criticism
Praise
- Ingenious in-game manual mechanic
- Gorgeous isometric world
- Deep, rewarding secrets
- Charming Zelda-like exploration
Criticism
- Combat is tougher than it looks
- Cryptic by design — can frustrate
- Some bosses spike hard
Games Like This
- Hollow Knight — exploration full of secrets
- CrossCode — puzzle-rich action-RPG
- Hyper Light Drifter — cryptic, combat-driven adventure
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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