The Messenger
At first glance The Messenger looks to be a throwback to a lost age of NES platformers, but a short session of play reveals something far smarter hiding below the surface. Starting as a stellar action-platformer, The Messenger’s main schtick is portals which flip the world between 8-bit and 16-bit variants, opening new paths through puzzles. Combine that with witty humor and the brilliantly utilized Cloud Step mechanic — the ability to chain mid-air attacks into jumps in what can only be described a speedrunner’s wet dream — and you’ve got a surefire hit on your hands.
Strangely, around the halfway mark The Messenger morphs genre entirely into a metroidvania with far too much backtracking. This second chapter fails to land as well as the first, but The Messenger is well worth investing in for the opening half alone.
Moonlighter
It feels almost redundant at this point to bring up an indie game’s gorgeous art-style given how impressive every game on this list looks, but Moonlighter’s charming visuals hold a special place in our hearts. Moonlighter splits your time between Zelda-esque dungeon-crawling for items at night, and restocking your shop with goods to satisfy customers during the day.
Neither side quite has the depth of a dedicated title, but the two combine into a superb overall package of exploration, upgrades and price-estimation. Since launch Digital Sun Games has even added a bunch of free updates to liven the experience including new gear and familiars. The combat and price-guessing process stales slightly by the time you arrive at the final dungeon, but the way the stellar soundtrack lifts as you open your shop for the day still puts a smile on our face and will stick with us for quite some time.
Into the Breach
Into the Breach’s Switch release was delayed by a few months relative to other platforms, but oh boy was it worth the way to play this turn-based tactical gem in handheld mode. The premise is simple enough: You’re a team of mechs sent back in time to save the planet from a scourge of subterranean bugs. Levels take place on a 6x6 grid, your only task to survive four turns while protecting the city as best you can.
The beauty of Into the Breach is that every single turn is a unique puzzle. Enemies move before you do, lining up attacks on buildings and your units. Your job to take them down or, more commonly, mitigate as much damage as possible. Contained yet brilliantly head-scratching strategy that all Switch owners should give a try. Did we mention the music is ace too?
