▶ Indie World Showcase - 12.10.19 — Nintendo shared this 20-minute presentation earlier in the week highlighting a ton of new indie games coming to the Switch in 2020, including a new Golf Story game (called Sports Story), an adorable bird skateboarding game called Skatebird (I wonder if you can play as a hawk?), and Axiom Verge 2. Oh, the presentation also revealed that free-to-play monster-slaying action game Dauntless was dropping on the Switch immediately - it's availble to try now. Good stuff.

Nintendo // YouTube

REVIEW Call of Juarez: Gunsligner — Seems like this port is decent enough, even if the gameplay is now feeling a little dated.

Steven Green // Pure Nintendo 

The state of the Nintendo Switch in 2019 — This is a great look back at the the past twelve months and how the Switch platform held up. The year started with a smidge of  dissapointment (Metroid Prime 4 getting delayed), but overall it's been a real solid year, as highlighted in this piece. Related: I'll be running the State of Switch survey again in a month or two — if you've any ideas on questions I should be asking, please hit reply so we can chat.

Chris Kohler // Kotaku 

The Verge's gadgets of the decade — This is an awesome round-up of the tech that defined the 2010s. Yes, the Nintendo Switch features, but I'll let you click through to see where on the list of 100 it lands.

The Verge 

REVIEW ▶ Shovel Knight: King of Cards — An in-depth look at this send-off for Shovel Knight series, which combines platforming and card game mechanics. If you prefer here's a written review from Kat Bailey at US Gamer.

GameXplain // YouTube

The seven-year saga of Shovel Knight is finally over — The story of Shovel Knight's success over the past few years and thoughts on what's next for the studio.

Jason Schreier // Kotaku 

REVIEW SuperEpic: The Entertainment War — High praise for this indie title that launched last week: "Full of wit, great gameplay and memorable moments, SuperEpic is simply one of 2019's best indie games".

Darryl Edge // Cultured Vultures 

REVIEW Neverwinter Nights: Enhanced Edition — "an entertaining, engrossing and lengthy RPG" but "this port is a complete mess when it comes to performance".

Chris Scullion // Nintendo Life

REVIEW Trover Saves the Universe — "a hilarious twist on the puzzle-platformer genre". 

Jake Baldwin // Nintendo Life

REVIEW Riverbond — "overly simple and shallow adventure that dries up pretty quickly". 

Jordan Rudek // Nintendo World Report

Bravely Default 2 announced for Nintendo Switch

Tom Phillips // Eurogamer 

I went to Epic Games support to unlink my Nintendo Switch; I left with unwanted therapy

Ben Bayliss // DualShockers 

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered delayed by Square Enix — This was originally slated for a January release, but is now pushed back until the Summer. The ability to share your save file across platforms is being added.

Giuseppe Nelva // Twinfinite 

You can snag 10 free Nintendo Switch games this holiday — This is legit btw, but you've got to start today if you want to get in on it. Thanks to my sister for the heads up on this one!

Steven Petite // GameSpot 

▶ The lie that helped build Nintendo — This is a fascinating little documentary looking back at how Nintendo entered the European market in the latter half of the 1980s thanks to Swedish man Owe Bergsten. Worth adding to your Watch Later queue this one.

IGN // YouTube 

I feel seen playing Pokémon Sword and Shield — Touches upon Game Freak’s attempts to add diversity to one of gaming’s biggest franchises, and how the addition of PoC characters shouldn’t go unnoticed.

Jeffrey Rousseau // Super Jump Magazine 

Monday, December 16

• Travel Mosaics: A Paris Tour — A nonogram/picross puzzler with Zootopia(?) vibes.

Tuesday, December 17

• Rift Keeper — A 'challenging fast-paced' 2D roguelite platformer with plenty of loot.

Thursday, December 19

• Dual Brain Vol.1: Calculation — Mathematics. I'm sure every kid will want this for Christmas.
• Kuukiyomi: Consider It — Well this one certaintly sounds unique. Solve 100 problems, all based around being 'considerate' in Japan.
• Super Trench Attack — A seemingly lighthearted isometric war RPG/shooter.
• Offroad Racing — Buggies, ATVs and motorbikes go offroad in this 3D racer. 📦 (EU release)
• Melbits World — A cute co-op puzzle-platformer with Captain Toad vibes.

Friday, December 20

• JDM Racing — Track race/drift Japanese cars in this budget 3D racing game. (Dec 19 in U.S)
• 60 Parsecs — A dark comedy sci-fi adventure.
• Farabel — A strategy game in reverse. Start at the end, and level down.

Sunday, December 22

• Rescue Tale — Seems like a fairly straightforward platformer. (Already available in U.S)
• Clumsy Rush — A party game for two with hippos. Unsure if they are hungry. (Dec 23 in U.S)